Daughter Desh Ki

By Shahana

It was a rainy midnight in July in an exhausted little city called Poona. I was fast asleep when all of a sudden I heard someone breathe very heavily, almost choking with utter shock and bewilderment. I woke up with a start only to see Maa staring at the television wide-eyed and terrified.

There it was —NDTV on full volume with Barkha Dutt reporting some flood, scandal, or some such thing which at that point did not matter. Maa pointed at the ticker, which was rolling the same news over and over, as if to make sure it was drilled deep into my cerebrum that the commanding officer of 22 Rashtriya Rifles has been shot in a terrorist encounter in the valley of Sopore. I stared in utter disbelief. One only knew people or knew of people who met with circumstances such as these, but knowing that this time it was my father at the receiving end of the bullet was just the one thing I could not fathom.

Sam Bahadur is Bharat's Ratna

[Those of us who served under the Sam Bahadur will remember him for ever. But will the nation remember? Here is an article by Major General Ashok Mehta suggesting that the Bharat Ratna be conferred posthumously on Sam Manekshaw, India's only Field Marshal.]

By Ashok K Mehta

Around Independence Day each year, military heroes are remembered mainly due to the prodding by the media (one news channel did a special show, remembering the armed forces). Grudgingly the Government commemorates Vijay Diwas and only the Army celebrates the victory in Kargil, one of the most difficult and self-disadvantaged Infantry battles won by our soldiers. Yet warriors are forgotten quickly.

Cricketers on the other hand, are adulated 24x7, making cricket the de facto national sport and its players the idols of the country. Government Ministers, officials and others yearn to be associated with the game and its heroes as it brings fame, money and power. Cricket has been besmirched with corruption and market forces have overwhelmed the game. A young first time politician and potential Foreign Minister became its first hit-wicket casualty.

An ode to the Indian soldier

March 09, 2011   7:57:38 PM
Manvendra Singh

While India has chosen to forget the sacrifices of its soldiers in foreign land, Sri Lanka has erected a memorial in honour of the IPKF’s fallen heroes.

I was on the lookout for Harpal’s name. Like all those who knew him I too had been devastated by the loss of the Ropar Khalsa. He had that infectious persona. I had last seen him at his unit mess, during the 1987 cricket world cup. Even as the country partook in its cricket craze, there were those who didn’t have that luxury, as they were at war for India.

The Grateful Dead

This is not about any rock band of the same name as the title. I have been writing about the way people have chosen to ignore the war dead in this country. Many Indian soldiers in the heavens of warriors must be grateful they are dead. They have been spared of the ignominy politicians have been heaping upon soldiers, insulting the memories of their dead comrades. This piece is bout one more such instance.

In Bangalore, or Bengaluru to be politically correct, the Karnataka government has suddenly dropped the project for national memorial for war heroes - after completing 80% if earth work in work order if Rs 12.62 crores -that is about Rs 9 crores.
As the media reports said the government has taken a sudden U-turn on the decision to build a memorial to the 1971 Bangladesh war heroes at the Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park.

It had earlier resisted the pleas of residents of the Krishna Apartment Owners’ Association (KAOA) who were against the constuction as they felt it was eating into the "green lung" of the park in their midst. When the government refused to budge they approached the Karnataka High Court. However, after the High Court allowed the work to proceed, the Association had taken the issue to the Supreme Court. The apex court had scheduled the next hearing on the case on July 26.

The memorial was to be maintained by a trust chaired by the Chief Minister, with highranking army officers as its members.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP and chairman of the National Military Memorial Committee, commenting on the latest government move said “The decision could have been taken much earlier by the CM. This would have spared tremendous cost, money and time spent by many people of our city, and most importantly, spared the many families of martyrs and veterans the humiliation and trauma of this unseemly controversy.” But who cares for such niceties, Mr Chandrasekhar?

Apologising to the families of martyrs and veterans for "this unseemly and unfortunate controversy," he said he had been "subjected to many personal attacks during this whole episode by some socalled elite citizens of our city." But is it any surprise, with elitism creeping in the midst of political-bureaucracy-business mafia in power everywhere? Every issue is being used to exercise power and not achieve results. Chandrasekhar went on to "reassure families of these martyrs that a large majority of citizens have the greatest regard and respect for them and their loved ones...” We are delighted to hear such words; but with due apologies to him, they sound hollow when they are uttered in the wake of one more act of ignominy.

The Times News Network had speculated whether the cause for the government volte face was Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s recent outbursts against the Yeddyurappa government on the Lokayukta and tardy flood relief works. I will not be surprised if this is true. He would not be the first chief minister to do so to settle political scores.

Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has promised the legislative council to "look for new space far better than the present one." So we can expect the charade to continue for another two to three years before a site is selected. And the same people who took the botched decision earlier are supposed to act on this!

The work on the ground for the memorial has stopped at Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain Park. According to media reports the project engineer had said that all civil works were almost done. They quoted him as saying “We will have to pay as per the tenders finalized for the earth work completed till date." That is at least Rs 9 crores of public money down the drain. But who cares about public money, when the public themselves don't bother?

The KAOA secretary had some advice to the memorial committe. He asked it to identify "a bigger, better, non-controversial site in a place that’s accessible to all, taking the local residents along for their valuable suggestions and support." That is a lofty thought never applied to the way things are done in this country. As he said the process "most importantly, it should be transparent." Is he talking about government decision making in India? Opaqueness is the life blood of politicians and bureaucracy in this country.

I have always wondered why the government has to build memorials for the war dead in this country? Where is the civil society? They should take a look at the Matthew Hickley's 20 September 2007 report in the Daily Mail, UK.

Or they may take a look at the decision of the Westminster Council to permit the construction of an open style pavilion costing £ 3.5 million pounds for a memorial to the war dead of Bomber Command at the Piccadilly entrance to Green Park. The memorial, to be built by 2012, will commemorate the 55,573 crew of Bomber Command, with an average age of 22, who were killed in World War II.

But then, we are not living in the UK. The reality here is to forget the war dead and pander the nethas by making cut outs and statues out of public money. I suppose that is our culture.

Raw Deal for Veterans

For a long time Indian veterans have been complaining of not implementing 'One Rank One Pay'(known by the acronym OROP) scheme agreed upon by the Government of India. Nobody seems to understand the grievance on OROP. Senior veteran Lt Gen Harwant Singh explains what OROP is all about in an article published in the daily The Tribune, on March 27, 2009. It is reproduced here courtesy the Tribune.

Raw Deal for Veterans: Demystifying one rank one pension

by Lt-Gen Harwant Singh (retd) Chandigarh, March 27, 2010,

Veterans recently went to Rashtrapati Bhavan to return the sixth pack of medals to the President of India. But the President could not be there to receive the medals, so they came back disappointed. For a veteran, his medals are his most valued and cherished possession. These are heirlooms for their families.

Medals are earned under difficult conditions. Some by laying down life during war and in fighting insurgents, others for gallantry in the face of the enemy and yet some others for wounds suffered during operations. For veterans to part with their medals is an extreme step of desperation, caused by frustration and distress. Why have the veterans been driven to such a state of anguish!

Successive Central Pay Commissions (CPCs) repeatedly and viciously lowered the pay and status of defence personnel. To mention just two cases, DIG of police, whose pay and status was in between that of a Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel now stands equated with a Brigadier for pay etc. DIG rank comes after 14 years service while that of a Brigadier after 26-28 years. So absurd has been the dispensation that a Brigadier was given more pension than a Major-General. The Sixth Pay Commission introduced a dozen more anomalies.

The Fourth Pay Commission granted rank pay up to the rank of Brigadiers. Through sleight of hand, the Ministry of Defence deducted the amount of rank pay from the basic pay. Later, the Supreme Court has finally set it right. The Supreme Court had also noted, in an indirect manner, the un-tenability of granting different pensions to persons of the same rank, irrespective of their date of retirement.

The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) at Chandigarh has drawn the government’s attention to the Supreme Court’s point and has given the Central Government four months to resolve the issue. Left to bureaucracy, nothing much can be expected. Therefore, the veterans decided to continue their struggle for One Rank One Pension (OROP).

Successive Presidents, Prime Ministers, Defence Ministers and the chairperson of the Congress party, at various times, accepted the grant of OROP. However, the bureaucracy has been frightening the political executive that giving OROP to the defence services will open a Pandora’s Box. Every other government employee will ask for the same. This is patently false and mendacious contention.

In all, 83 per cent of defence services personnel retire between the ages of 34 and 37 years. Another 5 to 12 per cent retire at the ages between 44 and 52 years. Only 0.35 per cent retire at the age of 60. While all civil employees serve up to the age of 60 years, they step up to the top of their respective pay bands, get all the three Assured Career Progressions (ACPs) and consequently not only draw increasing pay but end up with much higher pension.

The 83 per cent of military personnel who retire at 34-37 age, that is after 17 years service, do not qualify for even the second ACP which comes into play only after 20 years service. Since some may not grasp the import of this gross injustice, more appropriately a mischief, spelling out the monetary position would be in order, but a little later.

Subsequent to the ham-handed dispensation of the Sixth Central Pay Commission which drew strong response from the defence services headquarters, the government appointed a Committee of Secretaries to go into these anomalies. In the Sixth Central Pay Commission, the villain of the piece was the IAS officer on this Commission.

Now when the Committee of Secretaries was constituted to address the anomalies, the same IAS officer also formed part of this committee. Thus, it became a case where the prosecutor also formed part of the jury! The committee endlessly dragged its feet and finally omitted OROP in its recommendations.

A comparison of the total amount drawn in terms of pay and pension by a soldier and pay by his counterpart in the civil by the time both reach the age of 60 years is Rs 33.3 lakh more for the civil servant; this figure at the age of 70 is Rs 42.670 lakh. At age 75, it is Rs 47.310 lakh. In the case of a Havaldar, his equivalent in the civil, at age 60, would get Rs 20.261 lakh more and this figure is Rs 26.639 lakh at age 70 and at 75 it is Rs 29.828 lakh. In the case of a Subedar, these figures at ages 60, 70 and 75 years are Rs 13.979 lakh, Rs 18.911 lakh and Rs 21.277 lakh respectively, more for the civil servant.

A soldier retiring at 35 years of age will live through at least four Central Pay Commissions and suffer their dispensations for retirees. Whereas his counterpart in the civil will not only continue to benefit from successive CPCs while still in service for an additional 25 years, but on retirement will be effected by just one CPC, assuming 70 years as the average age expectancy. Therefore, even if OROP is granted, defence personnel will continue to suffer these gross disadvantages.

Similar figures are available for officers. The disparities are due to early retirement, delayed and extremely limited promotions in higher ranks. All these features are service imperatives. Within the defence services, earlier retirees are further disadvantaged. A soldier who retired prior to January 1, 2006 will get far less pension than a soldier who retired after this date. For a Havaldar who retired prior to this date, his pension is less than a Sepoy who retired after this date.
The ad-hoc compensation promised to the other ranks is completely inadequate and fails to address the core issue of OROP. Similar situation prevails in the case of officers. Only one with severely impaired vision, limited intelligence and/or deep seated bias can miss the incongruity in this working.

The above disparities are independent of X factor which apply to only defence personnel. About 15 per cent of soldiers get the opportunity to live with their families for a period of one to two years in their entire service. In the case of others (including officers), only 40 to 50 per cent of their service, they live with their families. Then there are other travails of service such as harsh living conditions in uncongenial and high altitude areas which results in approximately 5000 of them being annually boarded out on medical grounds. Thousands live with ailments and continue to serve.

Then there is the curtailment on fundamental rights and harsh military law to contend with. Entry into the officer cadre has become the last career choice for the country’s youth. Consequently, huge shortages persist.

Few seem to realise the strong bonding that exists between the veterans and the serving. There is continued interaction between units and their retired personnel and that is how units sustain the regimental spirit and traditions.

During leave, the serving come in contact with the retired and the dissatisfaction of the later gets passed to the serving. Therefore, there is the danger of spill-over effect of this disenchantment and disgruntlement of the veterans passing on to the serving. It will indeed be a sad day for the country when this distress is fully transferred to the serving.

The demand for OROP is fair and just and is only a part-compensation for early retirement, extremely limited promotions and a miniscule recompense for a hard and risk filled career. The political executive ought to realise the injustice being done to the soldier and accept in good grace, what is fair and what is just.