Deepak Sethi
As feared, the Neta-Babu nexus has played a fraud on the veterans with this OROP notification. I, like many others, had anticipated this trickery.

I am sharing below an excerpt from my book "OPERATION JANTAR MANTAR" which covers precisely the same eventuality.


SNEAK PEEK 3

“Scale and form of our protest will depend upon the contingency,” said Tipsy. “Let’s consider them. Best case scenario is: Govt accepts OROP without any dilution. Do we still continue our protest, given that we had earlier decided that OROP is only the start of our struggle for honour and justice?”

Tipsy answered it himself, “I don’t think we will since; 

 1. Govt’s acceptance of OROP will likely be on the condition that we stop our agitation right away. 

 2. Our agitation has gone on for over three months now, under gruelling conditions. Given their age and health most ESM will want to return home.

  3. Public and media won’t support us, and will view us as being unreasonable and obstinate.”

“Another important issue is that our goal of securing ‘honour and justice’ isn’t well-defined. Are there any clear-cut benchmarks? Let’s say, it has three components; 

 A. Restoring the eroded inter se parity with civil services; 

 B. Systemic changes in Pay Commission structure, DESW etc. 

 C. Reform Higher Defence Organization as recommended by various Committees. 

 The big question is how long will it take to attain them? What form of agitation can last that long.”

“I agree entirely,” Subbu said. “I do understand our angst about ‘honour and justice’. But how do we achieve it? Undoing 67 years of Machiavellian mischief of the Babus in one stroke isn’t possible. It reminds me of mythological movies. 

Picture this; All Chiefs perform long penance to please the Lord, chanting 

 ‘Namo, Namo, Sainiko ke Bhagya Vidhaata, hamara sammaan lauta do’. 

 The Lord is pleased and says, 

 ‘Tathaastu’ and voila, we suddenly find we’ve become superior to all the ‘asuras’ of Babu-lok. Aisa ho to mazaa aa jayega.”

After the loud guffaws, it took a while for everyone to regain composure. The point was valid; Subbu had this innate gift of driving home his point, using slang, naughty jokes, hyperbole, or whatever. All concluded that although our grievances and overall objectives were valid, a prolonged agitation, maybe in a different form, will be required to attain them. Unless of course, a political tsunami or a major disruptive crisis triggers an immediate and total overhaul of the system.

Tipsy resumed his contingency analysis. The next scenario is; 

Govt puts OROP in cold storage, using any ploy like referring it to the 7th Pay Commission. Then the choice is clear; the agitation will have to continue. Even if evicted from Jantar Mantar, it must continue in an escalated form. It will be most essential to retain support from the public and Media.

“In my reckoning there’s a third contingency, which will be most tricky. What if the Govt takes a middle path and announces OROP unilaterally, based on a tinkered definition or some other dilution?”

“Can they do that?” asked Subbu.

“Oh yes they can,” replied Gen Satveer. “It’ll be unethical since negotiations are still on, but they can claim we’re being unduly adamant. It’ll be a fait accompli. Govt will deposit pensions as per its terms, and ignore our protests. Will the ESM refuse such ‘incorrect’ pensions? Obviously no.”

“Will we then give up and suspend the agitation?”

“No Subbu, we won’t. But we’ll have to strategize afresh. Do we take the legal route, or do we resume our agitation in a different form? It’ll be a long fight. However, I’m not sure if we’ll be able to mobilize veterans on this scale again.”