OROP : ARRIVAL OF JESUS CHRIST THE TRUTH AT JANTAR MANTAR

SOURCE:
 http://ex-airman.blogspot.in/

 

IN MEMORY OF   मेरे मेरे बिछड़े हुए  दिन

                              
                                        आब में गांधी बनके आऊंगा

© Provided by Hindustan Times
              Colonel Pushpendra Singh
                                  and
                  Hawaldar Major Singh
have begun a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding OROP (Image via Twitter: @ANI)




              OROP : ARRIVAL OF JESUS CHRIST 
                          THE TRUTH
                                   AT
                  JANTAR MANTAR

 

when the Nation was dressing itself for the celebration of its 69th Independence day On 15 august 2015 ,The most shameful incident happened at Jantar Mantar on the dawn of 14th august wherein unarmed & peacefully agitating Octogenarian veterans for OROP were manhandled by Delhi police-A price for dedicating his youthful days to the Nation 

VETERANS BEGIN FAST UNTO DEATH AT JANTAR MANTAR

Two Veterans  begin Fast unto death at Jantar Mantar w.e.f.17/08/2015 along with Relay Hunger Strike. Two of them one being Ex-commissioned officer & another Sub Major have Volunteered to undertake fast unto death in demand of OROP for Veterans.
 

 This seems to be unique in the history of armed forces of India to have gone for fast un to death in demand of their rightful dues.Obviously this will set a bad precedent & will demoralize the serving soldiers too.

 

  BJP the so called votary of Nationalism has given way to Nationalism for power. The Common people expected Much from the Chaiwala  turned Prime minister But he turned to be a please loving king on assumption of Power with durbar having Ministers representing corporate lobbies.

 It is imperative  that he will become history after 4 years & the people of India will never elect him as Prime minister again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OROP :SON OF A SOLDIER

                           OROP :SON OF A SOLDIER


Over the last 60-odd days, one had watched in horror as retired soldiers were forced to launch an agitation to press for the implementation of OROP, a legitimate demand upheld by the highest courts of the land. Ever since the 1950s, the political and bureaucratic classes have put their heads together and have destroyed the Indian Armed Forces systematically. The first culprit in this sordid game was none other than Prime Minister Nehru himself. Under the garb of establishing civil supremacy over the military, not only did he do everything he could to clip the wings of people like Generals Thimayya and Thorat, he deliberately tampered with the system and placed his own man as the CGS who then functioned as the de facto Army Chief. And we all know what was the result of that in '62.

However, despite all the injustices dished out to him, the Indian soldier has time and again come to the nations rescue, quite willing to fight on despite all the nonsense that goes on behind his back by way of scams. Just how the babus in conjunction with their political bosses work to milk the Ministry of Defence, year after year returning truck loads of money, has been spelled out time and again. Yet, no one seems to care beyond a point, being quite content to offer just lip service to the subject.

Until 14 August and the fateful morning at Jantar Mantar, the gallant General Satbir and his protesting fellow soldiers, some of them in their 80s, had even been ignored by the mainstream media. But then, some ignorant half-wit in the police hierarchy, completely unmindful of whom he was dealing with, ham-handedly decided to 'piss into the wind' and sent men in khaki to 'evict' the veterans! Just what were they thinking? General Satbir's timely call to General VK Singh may have defused a potentially explosive situation, but the damage had been done.

Just imagine – had any veteran got hurt, its unlikely that this government would have lasted its remaining three-and-a-half years!
I have three suggestions. First, for General Satbir and the other veterans. Don't worry about OROP beyond a point, that is your right and you will get it, the Finance Minister and his cabal of babus notwithstanding. Instead, please expand the scope of the agitation. Ever since 1973 when pensions were reduced from 70% to a lower level, not only did successive governments fail to cater for equalization of pensions, they also failed to ensure the LATERAL INDUCTION of soldiers in other fields like the paramilitary. From the country and the Army's point of view, this is CRITICAL and yet it is nowhere on anybody's radar. Please add this to your demand, it has long term implications, and today you have EVERY INDIAN behind you.
The second suggestion is for our PM; the OROP agitation is not going to go away, so regardless of what web the babus and the FM spins around you, give the soldier what is his due, AND DO IT FAST. The damage being done to your reputation with every passing hour will not get undone when you do waive the magic wand, for waive it you eventually must. Also, please understand the damage being done to our fighting forces by the system you have inherited. Just last week, a serving Major General has won his case in the AFT and the Supreme Court who have both upheld his petition that he was victimized by the Corps and Army Commander for having acted against those guilty in the Jorhat Case. In any other country, this would have seen heads roll. Its an open secret that the absolute top levels in the Army are occupied by people who are in positions way above their competence levels. Put your ear to the ground and listen to what the rank and file are saying – the good guys are being weeded out. You must reverse this trend and help insulate the Army from constant interference especially in promotions.

My third suggestion is for our esteemed President – Sir, the hell with protocol, you as the Supreme Commander need to walk down Raisna Hill and sit with the men you command. Just for once in Independent India, let us see someone who is willing to honour the IMA credo which goes something like
'your country comes first, each and every time; your men next, each and every time; your own comfort and ease comes last, each and every time.'
And finally, having burnt my bridges with the PM and the President with my unsolicited advice, if I may, a word for the youthful Congress scion: Next time your advisors find you a 'cause', be it OROP or FTII, just pause for a second before you take the plunge. If you must go and try to get some publicity, then buy yourself one of those fake glasses, noses and mustachios so when you are seen by the rest of the country on TV screens, the people are not reminded of how your government foisted on the country a President whose only claim to fame was loyalty to your family! 

I think the time has come when the country needs to stand up and be counted with the veterans who are braving this endless humiliation, regardless of which party they support. This is a national issue, a just cause and needs to be treated as such. These men may be old, some may not live long enough to even benefit from OROP, but it is the principle that counts.

KUNAL VERMA

SON OF A SOLDIER

   

OROP : OPAQUENESS CREATED BY BABUs IS DISGUSTING

   OROP : REFERENCE TO  http://www.indianmilitary.info/


                                                    COMMENT


Sir,

 I was expecting & waiting for this type or some thing like this type of missive to appear on your 'BLOG' for the last couple of months. Thank God that Delhi Police along with the contingent of CPO(FORCE),[- I do desist to use the concoction  'PARAMILITARY' for CPOs because these forces are policing forces & not military in nature  organizationally-], did not appear with weapons on the site. A major disaster thus was avoided because CRP by temperament on such occasions by its ill conceived  training has developed subconscious reflex action to use physical contact power  & in this case also they did the same and armed forces have similar reflex to snatch the weapon & hit back. THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A MAJOR DISATER CULMINATING IN TO A MASSACCCE  had the weapons had been there( JANTAR MANTAR JALLIANWALA).

 SIR, because it didn't happen doesn't mean the incident can be pushed under the carpet. Having said so let us come to the major issue of OROP as raised by  the missive in the blog


                       Unlike others Civilians,  IAS, IPS & CPOs, Indian Armed Forces(AFS) have got  no platform  except the CHIEFs OF AFS  STAFF to discuss or express the  professional or  administrative problems with the executive which under democracy should lie with the Political leadership but in India the same has been usurped by the Bureaucracy, which in its high  handedness has even pushed the COAS to a mere  DUMMY in the GOVERNMENTAL Bureaucratic web wherein  it has become next to impossible for the Chief to have an audience with his own Prime Minister. Chief  was expected to view his concerns to the Prime Minister via proxies . Even,  till date it is not known who is responsible for Defense  of   India, Defense Secretary or Chief of Armed Forces. There is no  Joint/ National  DIRECTIVE existing on WAR . It is a tragic suicidal situation.  A DEFENSE SECRETARY HAS BEEN MADE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEFENCE OF INDIA WITHOUT ANY RESPONSIBILITY &   CHIEFs  OF   RESPECTIVE SERVICES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEFENCE  OF INDIA WITHOUT ANY POWERS.  It is tragic that having fought numerous wars since 1947 only once in 1971 that war directive was issued. Reason is simple "BABUs" were shown the door by the Chief & results are KNOWN.

  TO DAY THE GROUND FACT IS OUR WAR PREPAREDNESS IS WORSE THAN EVEN  1962

   In 1962 there was a WILL to fight but after
14 August 2015 it will require a NATIONAL JUDICIAL COMMISSION  UNDER SERVING CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA to find  out ways & means to restore the confidence of the FIGHTING MAN

 SITUATION IS SO BAD INDIA REQUIRES URGENTLY A BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION. IT IS THE NEED OF HOUR

                    SIR, your anguish is understandable & is on the expected LINES OF text book pattern. Keeping in view the OUTLINE picture what I have painted above it will be naïve to underestimate the worries of THINKING SOLDIERS  and in todays electronic digital media even the illiterate is literate  & thinking and naturally  he is a worried responsible man. Todays soldier is worried both on professional and  personal  accounts. With the opaqueness of the bureaucratic system where in even the SERVICES HEADQUARTER are in  blind. No wonder those angry reactions by KEY BOARD WARRIORS

                    NATION ONE DAY WILL THANK THESE  KEYBOARD WARRIORS WHO ARE KEEPING THEIR EARS TO THE GROUND & UNWIITINGLY ARE TRANSMITTING THE ACTUAL GROUND  REALITIES. ORGAIZATION SHOULD MAKE USE OF THEIR INFORMATION RATHER THAN MUFFLING THEM

                                 Now coming to the crux  of OROP. The fire for tea pot was lit with the advent of 3CPC, when the Nation was recovering from the financial damages of 1971 war.  Babu's with one sided staffed CPC  bulldozed their way by reducing the PENSIONs of JCOs, NCOs & ORs to 50 percent from 75 percent   &    Officers   remained at 50 percent  since at that time most of officers retired at 45 yrs ( Age was increased in stages to 48-50-52 to 54) & increased their own to 50 percent from 33 percent. I have a simple QUESTION. How the pension funds were created?? Answer is simple they stole from DEFENCE PENSION FUNDS which was I believe an accumulation of  " ONE LAKH & THIRYSEVEN CRORE RUPEES" against approximately  "TWENTY SEVEN THOUSAND CRORE RUPEES"  These figures will require some research,( unofficially it is corroborated by BABUs) but the results will be approximately the same. Some correction were made in 1967/69 but as usual the cut  off date was made & old pensioners who fought WW-I ,WW-II, 1948, 1961, 1962,1965 &1971 BUT RETIRED PRIOR TO CUT OFF DATE WERE LEFT IN THE ""LURCH""

                BABUs INCREASED THEIR OWN PENSIONS BY SIMPLY STEALING THE FUNDS FROM THE NATIONAL DEFENSE PENSION FUNDS BY SIMPLE ARITHMATIC. STEAL 25PERCENT OF A JAWAN & INCRESE OWN BY THE SAME AMOUNT ( OFCOURSE WITH 33 YRS RULE TO EARN FULL PENSION. THIS 33YRS RULE REDUCED THE JAWANS PENSION FURTHER TO 37 PERCENT. a  SMAAAAAL  JUMP FROM 75 PERCENT).

                         One  need not enter into MACRO OR MICRO detail all that happened from 4 CPC  to  6 CPC. It is well documented  in the ARCHIEVES of the SUPREME COURT & SIR  You are fully aware of it. ALL THESE YEARS  CAN BE SUMMARISED & WERE SUMMARISED BY THE SUPREME COURT -

 """PLEASE DONT MAKE BEGGARS OF SOLDIERS""

                     THE ERA 4CPC TO 6 CPC CAN BE SUMMARISED IN SIMLPE WORD

   '' EXPOSURE of  BABU  PAY COMMISSION SCAM BY MAJOR BHANAPALLAN""
     

  By 2006 the pot which was kept on fire to brew tea was forgotten, all the water had evaporated & the  metal  of the pot itself had turned red. Major Generals were insulted by reducing their pensions to less than of a Lt Col  & for some time BABUs  had  the audacity of reducing athe Lt Gens also to the same status. I do recollect in one of the articles Senior Journalist  KULDIP NAYYAR  asked the powers to be of BABUs to rectify the anomaly , reply given was the aim was to teach them a lesson.

 THIS WAS THE TURNING POINT SIR. JUNIORS LIKE ME LOST ALL FAITH IN THE  SYSTEM

 Lower ranks including self were seething with anger. GENERAL WHOSE ONE COMMAND CAN TURN THE HISTORY UPSIDE DOWN
 being humiliated in this manner to satisfy a BABU is simply "SACRILEGE"

                        SERVICES  HQ MAINTAINED A STUDIED SILENCE. Nobody had any doubt about the matter being pursued but serious doubts arose on the efficacy of the Chiefs when the matter was dragged to the courts in full public glare of the Nation.   

THE POT STILL KEPT ON BURNING  

                          Now with   MODI Governance coming in serious doubts have cropped up. WHO IS THE GOVERNMENT?   Babu  or  Minister !!   WHAT NEGOTIATIONS?    When three or more Parliamentary Committees ,Two Parliaments, Two Governments, Two Defense Ministers, Two  Finance Ministers have scrutinised  all the aspects of OROP & all querries replied there to, who 

                                               OR

 which is this authority want to bargain, & want to bargain what. WHO ARE THIS UNCONSTITUTIONAL POWERS who are trying to override the legal governance. Armed Forces are not traders, SIR Soldiers don't bargain, they are not demanding, veterans are simply asking WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS ALREADY SANCTIONED.

                            NOW THE SERIOUS DOUBTS HAVE AROSEN???? WHO IS THE GOVERNMENT.


             HISTORICALLY   SOLDIERS

                        ARE ALLERGIC 

                                   TO 

        OPAQUENESS  & ENVIORNMENT
                                   OF
 OPAQUENESS  CREATED BY BABUs IS DISGUSTING TO THE PSYCHE OF A SOLDIER &  IT IS THE DUTY OF THE HEADS  OF THE FAMILY TO CONFRONT  THE  OPAQUENESS
                























                               
                        

                

OROP ;I DEMAND MY RIGHT - A SOLDIER ON THE STREET.

      I DEMAND 'IZZAT' MY RIGHT

                         - A SOLDIER
                                  ON
                         THE STREET.  


                         DONT FORCE ME
                                 TO
APPLY MY SCHOOL HEADMASTER'S   PARTING SCHOOL LEAVING ADVICE

               " TO  DEMAND JUSTICE
 WHILE  DEALING WITH RASCALS
                        BE  A  RASCAL"

            WE TAKE IT FOR GRANTED

              THERE ARE NO RASCALS

           
The average age of the Army Man is 23 years.
He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is
considered by society as half man, half boy.

 Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer in the capital of
his country, but old enough to die for his country.

 
He's a recent school or college graduate;
he was probably an average student from one of the Kendriya Vidyalayas,
pursued some form of sport activities, drives a rickety bicycle,
and had a girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left for
NDA/IMA,

or

 swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.


 
He listens to rock and roll or hip -hop or bhangra or gazals and a 155mm
howitzer.


 He is 5 or 7 kilos lighter now than when he was at home because he is
working or fighting the insurgents or standing guard on the icy Himalayas
from before dawn to well after dusk or he is at Mumbai engaging the
terrorists.


 He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him,
but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time
in the dark.
He can recite to you the nome​nclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one
effectively if he must.

 He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

 He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march.

 He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without
spirit or individual dignity.


 His pride and self-respect, he does not lack.

He is self-sufficient.

 He has two sets of combat dress: he washes one and wears the other.

 He keeps his water bottle full and his feet dry.

 He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.

 He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own wounds.

If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his
food.
He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you
run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his
hands.

 He can save your life - or take it, because he's been trained for both.

 He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still
find ironic humor in it all.

 He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short
lifetime.

 He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat
and is unashamed to do so.

 He feels every note of the Jana Gana Mana vibrate through his body while at
rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those
around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hands from their
pockets, or even stop talking.


 In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right
to be disrespectful.


 Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying
the price for our freedom.
 

 A tricolour, somewhere in his uniform,

 A tricolour, he holds high,

 A tricolour he unfurls with pride after every misson.

 Sometimes he comes home wrapped in one.

 Beardless or not, he is not a boy.

 He is your nation's Fighting Man that has kept this country free and
defended your right to Freedom.

 He has experienced deprivation and adversity, and has seen his buddies
falling to bullets and maimed and blown.

 
And he smiles at the irony of the IAS babu and politician reducing his
status year after year and the unkindest cut of all, even reducing his
salary and asking why he should get 14 eggs a week free!

 And when he silently whispers in protest, the same politician and babu aghast, suggest
he's MUTINYING!

Wake up citizens of India! Let's begin discriminating between the saviours of India and destroyers

Are you with the Faujis

If you are, then share this till it reaches every Patriotic Indian.

🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 JAI HIND🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳
to our friends on the border.
























 

OROP : आज एक भिकारी सरकार ने ठुल्लों के हाथो में लाठी थमाई और आज बूढ़े हो चुके सिपाही को तुमने हिकारत से दुत्कारा है

   

   आज  १५ अगस्त २०१५ के उदय पर 

 एक भिकारी सरकार ने

बूढ़े हो चुके सिपाही को  तिरस्कार से मारा है॥

  Composed by an officer.... who quit prematurely due  to personal reasons.
A Shaurya Chakra awardee.

आज बूढ़े हो चुके सिपाही को तुमने हिकारत से दुत्कारा है

 उसकी बूढी हड्डियों को तुमने

 तिरस्कार से मारा है॥

 

 

 

 

याद करो जब भारत माँ पर संकट गहरा छाया था

 जवाँ मर्द था यही सिपाही

 जो इससे बचाने आया था॥

 

 

 

 

तुम सो रहे थे चैन से

 ओढ़े चादर रेशम की

 तब यही सिपाही बर्फ में लड़ा

 तुम्हारी नींद नहीं कम की॥

 

 

 

 

तुम्हारी आज़ादी के हक़ को कभी नहीं गैरों को दिया

 तुमने उसके इस एहसान का

 बदला यूँ डंडो से दिया ॥

 

 

 

 

 

लूट खसोट तिजोरी भरते बाबू लोग मुस्काते हैं

 पागल हैं दीवाने फौजी

 जान लुटाए जाते हैं ॥

 

 

 

 

सर्वोच्च चीफ को गवर्नर बनने की

 गाजर जो दिखाई जाती है

 ठुल्लों के हाथो में जब तब

 लाठी थमाई जाती है ॥

 

 

 

 

इस देश का दुर्भाग्य कि इसकी

 सेना को मारा जाता है

 सेना की आँखों के सामने

 गैर मुल्क का झंडा फेहराया जाता है ॥

 

 

 

 

संसद में सैंकड़ो करोड़ बिना काम उड़ाए जाते हैं

 गैर मुल्कों को झूठी शान में अरबो दिलाये जातें हैं ॥

 

 

 

 

खुद के सैनिक भूखे रहे

 पर हक़ वो मांग नहीं सकते

 ये कैसी आज़ादी है यारों

 जहां बाबुओं की ग़ुलामी से भाग नहीं सकते ॥

 

 

 

 

 

आज सपने में ऊपर वाले से जवाब जरूर लाऊंगा

 बाबूजी तुम ऐश करो

 कल मैं तो आज़ादी नहीं मनाऊंगा ॥

 

 

 

 

आज जंतर मन्तर पर उस बूढ़े सिपाही ने मार नहीं खाई

 आज मार खायी है इस संसद की आत्मा ने,

इस देश की इज़्ज़त ने ॥

 

 

 

 

तुम अपने ही रक्षक को मार बैठे हो

 जिस डाली की छाँव में रहते थे,

उसी को काट बैठे हो ॥

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OROP : INDIA's JALLIANWALA BAAG IN MAKING

SOURCE:
http://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/premvir-das-a-question-of-readiness-115081302038_1.html

            Premvir Das: A Question of Readiness

                                       By

                               Premvir Das 

 

To invite indiscipline in the ranks of ex-servicemen is slowly but surely going to lead to unpredictable conduct among those still serving

   

 August 13, 2015


Two recent columns in prominent national dailies by persons who have held very senior positions in the armed forces, merit serious consideration of all those in government or outside, as their views can be brushed aside only to the nation's great disadvantage. Both of them, Lieutenant General Vijay Oberoi, a former vice chief of the army, and Admiral Arun Prakash, an erstwhile navy chief, have distinguished themselves in war and in peace in the service of their country and in safeguarding its honour, and are "soldier-scholars" of impeccable professional integrity. And both have commanded large bodies of disciplined men who would lay down their lives at their one command. The impact of what they have said is closely tied to the combat readiness of India's military.




 Fighting capabilities revolve around two basic parameters viz. what the armed forces have, read materiel, and the people who have to use it, read men. These are two sides of the same coin and cannot be delinked. If one looks at the first of them, the equipment status of the military has been commented upon all too frequently in recent times to bear reiteration. It will be enough to say that our most potent artillery - the 155 mm gun - is now over 25 years old, mechanised vehicles three decades dated in their technology are deemed frontline, and the main weapon carried in the hands of the infantry soldier, the INSAS rifle, is a relic of the 1980s-90s. The main armour, the T-90 Russian-origin tank (also made in India under licence) was first procured two decades ago. In the navy, the latest frontline submarine is over 20 years old; several others are much older.


Eight of the 18 frontline frigates and destroyers have been in service for three decades or more. The air force is, possibly, a little better with its Sukhoi 30 aircraft - but what it has in quality is outweighed by what it does not have in numbers. This story can go on. To top this, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General, India's armed forces are seriously deficient in the reserves of ordnance that they should mandatorily have in stock. So, materiel is not an area where we can justifiably claim satisfaction; on the contrary, it is a sector which must arouse great concern. Yet, given this serious state of affairs, neither of the two persons quoted above have stressed hardware as a crippling inadequacy.




 This brings me to the second, and obverse, face of the capability coin - the men. Here, the issues are recruitment of desired numbers of the right quality, and then training them step-by-step to become suitable for every rung of the ladder that needs to be climbed, both by officers and other ranks. Crucial to this entire process is their motivation to carry out tasks assigned without hesitation and at one single command. Indeed, these attributes are not easily acquired and could take far more time and attention than the purchase of equipment which essentially needs financial resources and firm decision making.



 It is this second parameter that both Mr Oberoi and Mr Prakash fear might be in danger of getting compromised. It is not that they have bemoaned inadequacies - and, indeed, there are few if any so far - but what they have focused on is what might happen if things of concern to them are not dealt with quickly and in a satisfactory way. Here also, the reference is more indirect than direct. In short, they have highlighted the indivisible relationship, nay kinship, which exists and will always exist between those in uniform and those who have worn it earlier and are sometimes, condescendingly, referred to as "veterans". Their emphasis is on this linkage and the impact that the issues raised by one can or will have on the other. And, nothing, can act as a catalyst either way more than the current fire raging around "One Rank One Pension" - OROP for short.




 To any ordinary thinking person, the OROP issue should be a non-issue. If a person retiring at a certain rank today after having served for a specified number of years earns a pension X, then why should a person who retired at the same rank and with the same time spent in service 10 years earlier, or 20 for that matter, not receive the same? This equivalence is, in fact, recognised already. An officer who retired as a vice chief or chief several years ago earns the same pension benefit as the equal rank person who steps out of uniform today. It is logical, therefore, for the others to argue that this very equivalence should apply to them. For some inexplicable reason both this government and its predecessor have made this issue seem more intractable than it may be; bureaucratic rigmarole and resistance and the inability of the political leadership to overcome both seem to have added to the mess. All this has resulted in a spate of rumours and otherwise unwholesome actions by different parties. For example, there are stories going round that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is enraged that the ex-servicemen in Amritsar voted for his Congress rival, Amarinder Singh, in 2014 - which led to his defeat - and, therefore, has no love lost for their cause. The ex-servicemen, or at least a quite large segment of them, have taken to agitation, an unimaginable mode of conduct until now.

But this is not about OROP or its "whys" and "wherefores". The greater concern is what the effect of this ongoing confrontation may have on the serving personnel. Just about every ex-serviceman has one or more relatives in the uniformed community and their recourse to fasts and strikes cannot but fail to have an impact; regimental affiliations in which serving and retired are seen as one "family" is another very strong bond. The ex-servicemen community is as disciplined as the serving one and to invite indiscipline in its ranks is slowly but surely going to lead to unpredictable conduct in the other - which could be disastrous.






 It would be naïve of the government to think that the "veterans" are a spent force and can be delinked from the uniformed men and, therefore, taken lightly. Nothing can be further from the truth. Wisdom lies in recognising this reality sooner rather than later, before the situation becomes difficult to retrieve.


Hopefully, this will happen on 15 August, as is being rumoured, when the prime minister stands on the ramparts of Red Fort. If things are not set right soon, there may be more of the Bharatiya Janata Party meeting Mr Jaitley's fate when the electoral battle is joined again in 2019, unless worse happens in the time in between. But the damage already done will not be easy to repair; one fallout already visible is the clearly falling confidence among veterans in the PM's credibility.

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The writer is a former commander-in-chief of the Eastern Naval Command. He has also served on the task force constituted by the previous NDA government to review higher defence management.

OROP : Raisina Hill Still Short-Changing India’s Soldiers

SOURCE:
http://swarajyamag.com/politics/raisina-hill-still-short-changing-indias-soldiers/















OROP : Raisina Hill Still Short-Changing India’s Soldiers

Jay Bhattacharjee

Why One Rank-One Pension is a non-negotiable right of our soldiers, and why any delay in its implementation is unacceptable. 


                                    Pericles : Funeral Oration



 : “But none of these Athenian soldiers allowed either wealth with its prospect of future enjoyment to unnerve his spirit, or poverty with its hope of a day of freedom and riches to tempt him to shrink from danger. No, holding that vengeance upon their enemies was more to be desired than any personal blessings, and reckoning this to be the most glorious of hazards, they joyfully determined to accept the risk, to make sure of their vengeance, and to let their wishes wait; and while committing to hope the uncertainty of final success, in the business before them they thought fit to act boldly and trust in themselves. Thus, choosing to die resisting, rather than to live submitting, they fled only from dishonour, but met danger face to face, and after one brief moment, while at the summit of their fortune, escaped, not from their fear, but from their glory.”





This oration was recorded by the Greek historian Thucydides in the second book of his epic work, History of the Peloponnesian War. It is the classic ode to soldiers in a democracy (as Athens indisputably was) who fight for the protection of their country’s ideals. Many centuries later, Abe Lincoln, drawing upon the oratory of Pericles, made his historic speech at Gettysburg on the 19th November 1863, that resonates in our minds even today.

“…we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground … It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the great task remaining before us… The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract…The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”

The relevance of all this in the India of the second decade of the twenty first century is something that  will  be  apparent  to anyone who wants to reflect on the issue.

 This is because the soldiers and defenders of the Indian Republic are today in a different frontline and fighting a war that they would never have wanted to –

         a war against their political masters and their bureaucratic henchmen, for something that is their right and ought to have been granted to them years earlier.


Why have things come to this pass ?


When the Narendra Modi government assumed office just a year ago, it generated hopes and aspirations among hundreds of millions of the country’s citizens. This was notwithstanding a few semi-academic exercises by some self-professed psephologists that labelled the electoral verdict as a minority vote. However, even among voters who were not supporters of the BJP-NDA combine, there was genuine goodwill for the new regime and expectations that it would deliver results, after ten years of appalling misgovernment and graft.


Among the groups that pinned their hopes most enthusiastically on the current occupants of Raisina Hill were the nation’s soldiers and defenders, retired and serving. This group of brave warriors, although not more than 7 to 8 million citizens in numbers, had been among the primary victims of seven decades of Nehruvian / Congress neglect and discrimination, and even outright perfidy, as many would say.


The Prime Minister, in his earlier avatar as a candidate for the PM’s post, had made the most welcome gesture of addressing a large number of rallies of ex-servicemen, where he had categorically assured the brave warriors who had given their best years to defend their country, that their legitimate demands would be met by him and his party if they were voted to power. The oldest and most justifiable demand of the retired faujis was the One Rank One Pension (OROP) policy. This had been hanging fire in the fiendish corridors of power in Delhi’s North Block and South Block and other assorted offices in the capitol’s Lutyens zone for decades. I will shortly come to the basic definition of OROP and its legitimacy.

(Credits: AFP PHOTO/MOD/VIJAY KUMAR )

                          


When Modi first announced his public support for OROP in a rally in Haryana in September 2013, preponderantly attended by ex-servicemen, I enthusiastically applauded him. Thereafter, OROP was featured in the BJP’s election manifesto. After taking over as Prime Minister, Modi reiterated his and his government’s commitment to OROP a number of times.


However, the scenario at the operational level was quite different. The two nodal offices that are key to the implementation of OROP are the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Finance Ministry (MOF), not necessarily ranked in any order of priority. The three Services chiefs (Army, Navy and Air Force) are quite peripheral in the entire exercise. That is another story altogether.


For the benefit of the general reader, it would now be appropriate to define OROP, explain its history and analyse the reasons why it is such a genuine and legitimate demand of our soldiers and warriors. Shorn of all complexities and verbiage, OROP means that the same pension would be paid to armed forces personnel in the same rank who have retired at different times, after having put in the same years of service. In other words, a Naik or Subedar Major who has hung up his boots in 1998 (and is drawing a pittance of a pension) will be paid the same pension as their counterpart retiring today. Also, future increases in pensions will also be extended automatically to past pensioners. Naturally, this policy would also be equally applicable to officers of all ranks in the three services.


To explain this a bit further, so that the enormity of the crime being committed by the babus and the netas in Delhi becomes more apparent, it should be emphasised that an Indian soldier, airman or navy person retires at around the age of 37 approximately, while a civilian factotum (irrespective of his / her position in the pecking order) retires at 60. Officers, too, below the rank of Lt. General (and equivalent) retire much earlier than their babu peers. Therefore, the jawan and the middle-aged officer who left the forces 15 years ago, had to contend with enormous pressures to sustain their families and rear their children. And they still continue with the pittance of the pension they received. OROP merely makes up for the deficit of all these years, a deficit that was not merely financial but was equally a moral failure.


OROP has been exhaustively studied and researched for more than a decade. Around 12 years ago, in 2003, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence recommended it, and said most categorically that it was “a debt” the Indian Republic had to discharge, a debt that the Union Government must honour and pay. Eight years later, the Koshyari Committee was set up in March 2011 to study OROP in depth and make its recommendations. This Committee submitted its detailed report to Parliament in Dec 2011, unequivocally and robustly supporting the grant of OROP. It was hardly surprising that the UPA bunch of Manmohan Singh, Anthony, Chidambaran and the rest of the cabal sat on the matter and basically told the armed forces to take a running jump.


Therefore, Modi’s promises and assurances came as a breath of fresh air, even to cynical analysts like me and others in my group. However, the huge hopes built up during the election campaign and the change of guard in Raisina Hill a year ago, started withering and evaporating pretty quickly. Paraphrasing the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, we started wondering whether “there is always a degree of ridicule that attends a disappointment, though often very unjustly, if the expectation was reasonably grounded.” Even worse was the nagging doubt whether the new government was following Francis Bacon’s dictum that a government can “hold men’s hearts by hopes when it cannot by satisfaction”.


The first blow was struck by the new regime’s part-time Defence Minister Arun Jaitley a few months after the change of guard. A delegation of senior retired warriors who met the Raksha Mantri (RM), as the position is referred to in the terminology of Delhi’s babus, was stunned by the encounter. From all available accounts, Jaitley breezed into the scheduled meeting more than an hour late, made no effort to have eye contact with the visiting group and then moralised and hectored to them that they should reduce their expectations of what OROP entails, or words to that effect. The man’s stint as RM lasted a few months more and there is almost unanimous consent not just in the armed forces but in the country as a whole that the five odd months that Jaitley spent as RM were completely wasted.



Manohar Parrikar’s appointment as a full-time RM on the 9th November 2014 was widely welcomed. He came to the capital after building up an impeccable reputation as Goa’s Chief Minister. He had other things going for him as well – his simple, non-VIP style of functioning and his credentials as an IIT-trained engineer. The country’s fauji’s were cautiously optimistic, but after Jaitley, anybody else was an improvement. Even I was rooting for him, until Parrikar was struck by the deadly Delhi virus, a.k.a. the Raisina Hill syndrome. At a media interaction, Parrikar made a bizarre statement that only “80 per cent of OROP will be paid… because there is never 100 per cent in everything”.


Since then, the Modi government has been behaving as if it is participating in one of the tamasha performances in the Maharashtra of yore or the Bengali jatra shows that were once so popular in rural Bengal. Everything is a caricature, including the periodic homilies by the sutradhar, the off-stage commentator who explains the nuances of the play’s plot to the less-than clued-up audience. Periodic deadlines are announced or subtly hinted to the waiting media. The poor soldiers and warriors are treated like the proverbial serfs waiting to be fed crumbs from the tables of the masters. The piece-de resistance, sadly, has been two recent pronouncements by the PM and the RM after the 26th May (the first anniversary of the change of guard in the country) came and went.



Basically, the two worthies have now stated that the entire issue has still not been settled and there is no clear time-table for the implementation of OROP. The PM’s homily was the more disturbing of the two – he said that the definition of OROP was not clear. No, Mr. PM, this just won’t pass, simply because your stand is completely incorrect and factually wrong. OROP has been defined so clearly and categorically that any ordinary mortal, let alone someone of your abilities and stature, will never take this stand. I am afraid you are being disingenuous or the babus have taken you for a gigantic ride. I will be the happiest person on earth if my assessments spelt out here are proved wrong,


The Indian veteran is not somebody you treat as a doorman, Mr. Prime Minister. To say (quite correctly, I may add) that the Congress cabal did nothing for our veterans for many decades does not absolve you and your cabinet. Your babus are trying their best to sell you the lemon that OROP is vague, unworkable etc. but do please rise above their level and call their bluff. Remember the words of Harry Truman, who after being one of the world’s most powerful figures, left for home in his own car when he retired as America’s President, refused all benefits from his country’s exchequer and used his own funds to post his letters : “A president either is constantly on top of events or, if he hesitates, events will soon be on top of him.”
The Indian jawan, who has done his best for our country, expects, nay demands, that you do your best for him now. You and your government should stop treating the veterans as if they are asking for hand-outs, when all they are doing is demanding their dues that they were promised. Indeed, you and your administration should realise that there would be nothing for you to hand out if these intrepid warriors had not sacrificed their lives and limbs. Let me end by reminding you, Prime Minister, of Chanakya’s adage on the Emperor’s duties towards his soldiers. For a man of your erudition and knowledge of Indian history, I surely do not have to provide you the exact words.


But for your babus educated in various institutions that set great store by Western thought, let me remind them of the English saying about adoring God and the soldier in times of war and danger. The good poet goes on to add that “when the danger is passed and all things righted, God is forgotten and the soldier slighted”.


Surely, the BJP-NDA government would not like to be remembered in the annals of history for having committed this cardinal sin.