IESM: Capt Sidhu's 40 years march to Justice

Retired Army Captain expresses bitterness


1. Read your write-up on Capt Sidhu's effort, which has resulted in what is an unprecedented but richly deserved put-down for the Govt.
2. You will also be proud to hear that Capt Chanan Singh Sidhu, who was posted at Pathankot after the '71 war, was very much a brave and dauntless soldier: even without his right arm, he would drive a Rajdoot motorcycle all the time, of course with a prosthetic attachment, and a steel claw like device to hold the handlebar! He was a good friend of most of us IAF officers posted at Pathankot, particularly in No 2 Mess. I got to see him often, because he was very close to my room-mate, Flt Lt AG Chitre {now Gp Capt AG Chitre (retd)}. One never found him complaining about the his unfortunate injury.
3. There are a few like Capt Sidhu, some who have been more fortunate in being able to rise to high ranks in the Army, but they all deserve our salutes!
Regards,
Ravi Mani
Wg Cdr(Retd)

Dear Veterans,
Today evening I was watching Times Now News. Arnab Goswami anchored the bulletin. Top of the show was the famous Supreme Courts' condemnation of the treatment meted out to the Veterans. The Hero, Capt CS Siddhu was shown live. A tall man, Sardar, looking every inch a soldier, must have been quite handsome in his younger days, which is evident from his bearing even today. 1970 to 2010, is a very long march indeed. Spanning four decades, fighting for the last vicissitude of pride & justice, his victory may well be termed as symbolic. But for the consolation that all the rest of Emergency Commissioned Officers of 1965 vintage & the Short Commissioned Officers from then on, as per his own words, 'will stand to gain'.

His march led him to India gate in 2006, where on 22 March, he burnt his artificial Arm to the full glare of the public & the media, surrounded by his colleagues who were also without a leg or arm. The same month Gen JJ Singh, our previous COAS, was shown in a clip stating that the justice will be done to the Veteran. Another clip was shown of Pranab Mukerjee, the then RM, who also assured of help. The only help the Veteran received was to see the case being dragged from Court to Court. Even the favourable Verdict of the Punjab & Haryana HIgh Court which the Veteran received, was contested by the Army under the orders of the MOD, which led to such a humiliating judgement from the Supreme court. The Govt Pleader could hardly manage to salvage some decency by requesting the Court for the removal of some critical comments, from the written order.

Capt CS Siddhu, has lost his valuable 40 years before some semblance of justice is done. In this long period, most of the affected Officers would have reached their heavenly abode. Like Siddhu rightly pointed out, having served as Class 1 Gazetted Officer, he could not take to begging, which could have been more lucrative as the Court itself pointed out. He also said that till 1985, his pension was just Rs 380/- pm.

In the march of IESM also, we are witnessing such morale boosters like Maj Dhanapalan & now Capt Siddhu. Unfortunately, Siddhu belonged to a different class. He was not a Permanent Commission Officer. Class within a Class!! Hence the plight of the EC & SSRC Officers were overlooked by almost all the ESM Organisations. Is it a wake up call to all of them?
Veteran Raman