Do you think you die for your country?

Jul 29, 2009
A question to Soldiers
If there was a natural calamity in the country---army is called in. If law and order goes awry, soldiers are roped in. If a child gets stuck in a bore-well pit, soldiers are mustered to save the innocent life. No one punishes the guys responsible for such acts of omission and commission. In the bargain, if a soldier loses a life, they play act a drama as if they care too much but none does. There are many a widows of soldiers, who are fighting their lonely battles---no one is coming forward to help them except some ESM (Ex Servicemen) organisations such as IESL and IESM---whom no one listens---not even the army.
Once NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR, while in Germany, had made a remark on the army's recent projection of anomalies in the Sixth Pay Commission. He retorted to the questioner," Don't worry we will sort out the bast**ds" or words to that effect. He did not know that MILITARY ATTACHE was also listening and who, then, faxed it to his chief. You know what happened then. The three chiefs walked up to the PM with resignation letters in hand. The recent case of OROP (One rank One Pension) is an interesting testimony to how bureaucracy fools everyone.
Don't you know the way the soldiers have been fooled by this announcement in the parliament by our respectable Finance Minister on July 6 2009, when he vociferously announced implementation of ONE RANK ONE PENSION for the armed forces. Undoubtedly, it was an attempt to divide soldiers by announcing it ONLY for PBOR (PERSONS BELOW OFFICERS RANK). The govt has, thus, tried to create a wedge amongst officers and PBOR. Even the so called grant of OROP to PBOR is a fallacy. Unfortunately the UPA government is trying to exploit this by allowing some ex- Major in Delhi distributing leaflets on this. It is an utter nonsense. What the government has done is to bring at par the pre- 96 retirees with pre- 2006 retirees, which is only a minuscule segment of pensioners. The bulk of the pensioners ly in the post- 1996 and pre- 2006 category, which has been left untouched by the government. This is how our bureaucracy makes fool out of everyone and this is how the politicians willingly play into the hands of bureaucrats. I bet if Pranab Mukkherjee knows as to what harm he has done to the armed forces by approving this Machiavellian strategy of bureaucrats. To them, it is NOT the NATIONAL INTERESTS that matter but their PERSONAL INTERESTS.
They had done the same thing during implementation and formulation of proposals for armed forces by SIXTH PAY COMMISSION. It is only due to near- rebellious situation in the armed forces that the govt reluctantly accepted it. Now the same bureaucrats have played another dirty trick with the army and the ESM. They do not realize by tampering with the ARMED FORCES and its disciplined ethics, they are endangering the security and integrity of the nation. Just imagine what happens, if the armed forces whither away like police or any other government organization! Bureaucrats and politicians had broken the back of police and made them ineffective. Thus Law and order has become a serious problem. Like Committed bureaucracy and committed police officials----they want soldiers also to be committed to political parties. If it happens, your national security be damned.
THERE IS A VITAL NEED TO KEEP THE ARMED FORCES APOLITICAL. But some wise Congressmen think KARGIL-99 was not their war but BJPs---similarly BJP will think that 1971 or 1965 wars were not theirs but of the Congress. What happens to soldiers? They too are being cultivated to divide the army. Would Congress's soldiers like to die for BJP's war? The question is ridiculous but this is what Mr Rashid----- a Congress MP, meant when he ridiculed the celebrations of VIJAY DIVAS. No congressman asked him to shut up. How disgusting?
Col Rajender Singh (Retd)
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Do you think you die for your country? Question to the soldiers

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I am a post graduate in Defence Management from Chennai Univ and trained in Media Communication and Publicity at IIMC (Indian Institute Of Mass communications), New Delhi. After leaving the army, I had been CEO of a hospitality company for a year and a half, between 2006 to 2007. I blog on NETLOG, B click here...>>