OROP Movement is not on Right Track

I have been receiving mails from the ESI about the  agitation. A relay hunger strike has commenced , but what is the result ? Not a single BJP  leader of any standing has appeared at the venue of the hunger strikers and worse the retired ex soldiers , now with the BJP like General VK Singh and Gen Khanduri have conspicuously avoided the venue.  It shows the BJP led by Modi is in no mood to approve OROP. This is the hard reality and despite sounding negative, I must state that this relay fast may achieve nothing.

In the email received by me, it is stated that the movement is apolitical and as such the former MOS Jitendra  Singh and Congress leader Captain Amrinder Singh who wanted to join the hunger strikers were turned away. Nothing could be more sillier than this. The need of the hour is to garner political support and talking that the movement is apolitical is all hogwash.  It was wrong to turn away the Congress leaders. I wonder if one goes by logic than Captain Amrinder Singh is a military veteran and had every right to be there.

Sometimes it appears to me that the leaders of the movement are just trying to ingratiate themselves with the ruling party and hope that their demand will be met. They feel that  BJP will accept the demand with a hunger strike. I am afraid this is fallacious thinking and hoping the Modi government will approve OROP  on this fast or  by these relay fasts and petition signed with blood is not likely. In fact nothing much has happened or will happen. The need of the hour is to build up Political support. Why even approaching the RSS  should be top priority.

Lastly I have stated a hundred times that till the army chief  puts pressure on the government OROP may never come in the classical sense. Who is talking go the COAS? I hope somebody is doing it. To my mind the approach of appealing to the Modi government is not going to lead anywhere. Lastly the army chief must act. In case he raises his hands and does nothing, then OROP may never see light of day. The movement must also garner political support and the RSS. There is no other way.

Will Narendra Modi Announce One Rank One Pension on 26 May ?

The demand for One Rank One Pension is festering for over 2 decades or maybe longer, but it gathered steam from 2008-09 when the servicemen felt that just plain talk was not having an effect. Many veterans returned their medals to the President , but the Congress government was not moved and just sat tight on the demand. To say the least this was a callous approach and showed that the Congress party( it has been in power since 1947) was not interested in the army and its ilk. Nehru had downgraded the army and paid a terrible price with his reputation in tatters.

One man cam on the scene and he was narendra Modi. He started his election campaign  with a speech to ex-servicemen in Rewari, where he promised that in case voted to power, he would sanction OROP. Even after he won, he still announced that OROP would be approved.

Now one year has elapsed and on 26 May the BJP government will have completed one year in Office. The demand for various reasons ,  not the least by opposition from the finance Minster Mr. Arun Jaitley has not been approved. Jaitley is typical small time politician who does not know what historical perspective is.

But there is hope and now after a relentless agitation by ex servicemen, the OROP may be on the anvil of approval. There is a chance that Modi on his return from China and Korea may approve this demand on the first anniversary of the BJP government. One can't be sure in Indian politics , but perhaps Modi is a cut above an ordinary mortal and may very well announce the success of OROP. One can just keep the fingers crossed as there is many a slip between the cup and the lip

Silence on One Rank One Pension is Ominous

One Rank One Pension(OROP) has been on the agenda of the ex-service men for well nigh 3 decades. At long last there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel, but is it an illusion like the proverbial lights that float around an Indian graveyard ? One is aware that in an Indian or Hindu crematorium  when the wind blows strongly the phosphorus of the burnt bones flies in the wind and creates a sensation of lights. People who watch this sometimes feel its the work of spirits, while in fact it is a natural phenomena  and an illusion is created.

I am constrained to note that OROP is perhaps in a similar stage like the lights in the graveyard  and despite tremendous work by General Satbir Singh and his able colleagues the sanction letter which should have been issued by the Modi government has not seen the light of the day. This does appear inexcusable and one can have a lurking feeling that all this may finally just become a non -starter. After all the demand  has been there for decades and many Army COAS have come and gone and some have even joined the ruling party, but the proverbial letter never came to being issued.

The fact is the political leadership be it Congress or BJP have a different agenda. What is that agenda?   It is to just win the next election  and attend to those measures that can bring votes on a  vast scale. The poor serviceman, does not figure in the scheme of things. This is nothing new and is part of our history right from the day when Jawharlal Nehru was Prime Minister from 1947 onwards. That day onwards the forces became low in the priority of the government and Congress party.

The BJP is part of the scenario and one cannot forget that Atal Bihari Vajpayee a BJP leader was Prime Minister of India right from 1998-2004. Yet he did nothing and then followed 10 years of Congress party led rule, where again nothing was done. The entire political exercise was as I have said , is with a view to win the election. Make a promise and then conveniently forget it. This is called selective amnesia and both the BJP and Congress are guilty of it.

There are many reasons for this apathy towards the services and the least of it is not the attitude and tail wagging by the general staff. These men failed to exert themselves and allowed them to go along with the drift of government policy. I think India must be the only country in the world where the veterans  have to face odds weighted against them by a ministry that construes them as alien. One cannot count the countless times the Ministry of defense has gone to court against its own soldiers. It's a record that can make a sensible man hang his head in shame, but not the ministry mandarins and their political bosses.  All said and done it's the political bosses who formulate the policy and then ask the civil servants to follow up.

 This does sound pessimistic, but maybe something good will finally come. I cant be sure, but  now resentment is at its peak and any more delay by the government on OROP, may well lead to a dire state. The government should not forget, that it is the army that is keeping India united and not the IAS fraternity. Remove the army from Kashmir and the North East and then see what happens. Modi is a prudent man and one hopes he will bite the bullet. Frankly there is no choice.

OROP is Approved: All Credit to Narendra Modi and General Satbir Singh

One Rank One Pension was one demand that was bedeviling the ex-servicemen. I recollect that this demand was simmering for many decades and despite all efforts of the Ex Servicemen Organization the demand was nowhere near consummation.  One of the major reasons for this state of affairs was the complete failure of the general staff to convince the governments in any way  on the need for this demand to be met.

The Ex-servicemen agitated and many distinguished soldiers returned their medals , but the government was  unbowed. It made some window dressings but the core demand was never accepted. This demand is legitimate , yet successive Chiefs of Staff had a zero influence on the government and the demand continued to fester. There were agitations and meetings and rallies, but the government knowing the weakness of the Chiefs of Staff of the 3 services just ignored the demand of OROP.  The bigger blame goes to the COAS, the army chief who while heading the largest armed force in the country was reduced to a cipher. Considering the army was literally safeguarding the unity of India the failure of the COAS to have any influence or his inability to assert is baffling. One can conclude that the Chiefs never pressed their point home with any force.

The UPA government was in power for 10 years and despite umpteen representations the demand of OROP was ignored. The arrival of Narendra Modi on the scene changed all that. Here was a man who believed in following up what he promised. He started his election campaign with a rally in Haryana of ex servicemen and he promised OROP.

With the BJP in power, it was expected that the demand would be approved. But the most influential ministers in the cabinet the finance minister and the defense minister were not convinced about OROP as demanded by ex servicemen. I will remind readers of two statements of these 2 worthies.
a) The finance Minister , Mr Arun Jaitley in a chat with the ex servicemen's reps  asked them to 'tone down' their demand.
b) The RM Mr Panicker talked of 80% satisfaction and said that in life nobody gets 100% satisfaction.

There were also insidious leaks from the MOD against OROP to test the reactions. At this critical juncture General Satbir Singh and his group of the Ex Servicemen's association did yeoman's service by repeatedly reminding the BJP government of its promise and as asking for approval of OROP.

The stage was set for another long agitation. I have no doubt that Narendra Modi who had in a  soldiers rally had  announced the approval of OROP cracked the whip. He is the man who disciplined the 2 ministers and soon the ball for OROP began to roll. Credit must historically go to Narendra Modi. But for him the OROP would never have come.

We are told the tables are with the finance ministry, but there is an air of secrecy about them and we will have to wait and see what emerges. The COAS was again ineffective as he could not prevail on the MOD to even have a single officer in the deliberations of the tables. I must again express the gratitude of all soldiers  to general Satbir Singh. His is a name  that will be remembered for long , but for him the pressure on Modi to  get the ball rolling would not have occurred.

The Biggest Stake Holder in Unity of India the Army treated Scurvily by Modi and BJP

India is a diverse nation with ethnic races and diverse regions and cultures. This nation was made into a cohesive entity by the British who brought far flung areas like Naga Land into the state of India. How did the British make India into a nation? In this they used the Indian Army officered mostly by the English as  their main  instrument. After the British left India in 1947, the leadership under Nehru and others should have consolidated the Republic But for a strange phobia of the army, the leadership began a policy of neglect of the armed forces. Perks and privileges were denied and latest weaponry not arranged.

The army was allowed to go to seed. During this time insurrections came to the fore in many parts of India and Hindu-Muslim riots began with great frequency.  The army was called in to handle these movements , some of which called for secession from India. Right from 1955, when Mr Phizo raised the banner of revolt in Nagaland, the army was called in to stop the secessionist movements. Such movements however continued to spread and the result was that almost 40% of India is gripped by groups who want either to secede from India or change the basis of the constitution. It is the army which has become the biggest stake holder in the unity of India as politicians have played a dangerous game and many actions like article 370 of the constitution and inner line permits in the North East have contributed to these balkanizaton tendencies in India. 

The political leadership has not recognized this fact and right from the time of Nehru and now Narendra Modi  the governments are in a denial mode as far as the army is concerned.. Perks and privileges are regularly watered down and a long pending demand of One Rank One Pension(OROP) not honored, despite two parliaments and two different political parties ( Congress and BJP) having accepted it as a national necessity.

Nehru was known as a man who was allergic to the armed forces and he paid a terrible price for him and India. It was expected  that with the arrival of the BJP and Narendra Modi, things would change and the old policy of denial of rights to the army would change, especially when Narendra Modi became prime minister. This man went and even addressed troops that OROP is approved and sanctioned. Unfortunately the reality is different as the Narendra Modi government has under pressure from its own top leadership and the bureaucracy decided that the promises made to the army be watered down or not accepted. A nefarious scheme bordering on evil is launched and the  honor and dignity of the army and its retired personnel given short shrift.OROP is not approved and some insidious proposals to water down the proposal floated.

The BJP government is no better than previous regimes and Narendra Modi is perhaps another Nehru. The failure to recognize the army as an instrument of national prestige and the biggest stake holder in the unity of India  will have dire consequences.Such antics do not do justice to the army which unfortunately also has a weak leadership, that is non-assertive.

What of the future? the failure to accede to genuine demands like OROP won't be good for India. In the long run it can have disastrous consequences. Another sad part of this story is the role of soldier politicians like Colonel Rathore and general VK Singh who have been towing the official BJP line. One wonders how they feel in not getting legitimate demands honored by the political leadership, presently headed by Narendra Modi.

India is at the cross roads and the future course of the nation can be in peril. Nehru paid a terrible price and one wonders whether Modi will have to answer also. One hopes that a change in the political thinking takes place and old soldiers and army be thought off , not as  a necessarily evil, but a exponent of the glory of india. narendra Modi will have to answer this question to future historians.

Devious Plan by Modi Government to Divide the Armed Forces and not Sanction OROP

The BJP government led by Narendra Modi does not seem to have learn't any lessons from history and the conduct of Pandit Nehru. In one stroke Pandit Nehru reduced the finest fighting machine in Asia to a toothless tiger, resulting in a massive defeat at the hands of China. India never recovered from that blow and since then has played second fiddle to china in all matters. Nehru's greatest blunder was lowering the morale of the armed forces mainly as he down graded the perks and privileges of the army and never gave it the weaponry it needed. He seemed to be unaware of Mao's dictum that"power comes out of the barrel of a gun".

He paid a heavy price and had his international reputation in tatters as he died a broken man. Only if he had made the army an instrument of power and not relied on civil servants to down grade the finest fighting machine in Asia. Nareendra Modi as Prime Minister seems to be suffering from the same mental block. It is a pity that he appears again to be led by notions that negate the army as an instrument of power. An example is the non-sanction of a promise made by him from the rooftops. I mm referring to his call that OROP( One Rank One Pension) would be sanctioned. Now he is sulking behind the skirts of the finance Minister Mr Jaitley and the Defense Minister Mr Parrikar. These worthies have diluted the concept of the OROP. Worse they have devised a nefarious plan to sanction some money for the other ranks leaving the officer fraternity out of the OROP.

The attempt is to divide the armed forces by creating a vertical split between theD officers and the other ranks. One cannot think of a more sinister scheme than this. Perhaps one can even label it as evil. Major General Satbir Singh the Chairman of the Ex Servicemen Association has written a forthright letter to the 3 service chiefs. He has pointed out the dangers of implementing this scheme and asked the Service Chiefs to meet Modi and other political leaders of the BJP to get this nefarious scheme nipped in the bud. Modi and party do no realize the danger this divide will bring with it. At one stroke a vertical split will be created and the efficacy of the armed forces will suffer.You cannot have a divide in the army which is a cohesive fighting force. It is surprising the Narendra Modi is not aware about such trivial things. He is again playing with fire and there is every chance that he will lead a great nation down an abyss. Perhaps Modi does not understand the politics of power and military might in the comity of nations. the present dispensation treats the military no better than a necessary evil, giving the distinction to India of being the only country in the world where soldiers and veterans have to fight prolonged battles in civil courts to get their dues. Is Modi listening ?

Musings on One rank One Pension and the Perfidy of Modi and the BJP

Recently at the Singapore club an interesting talk commenced with some officers of the Singapore air force, retired like me. The talk inevitably turned to the Indian armed forces. I was surprised as to how abreast the foreign officers were of the affairs in the Indian armed force, in particular the army. The gist of the conversation was that the Indian army was losing its cutting edge and in the years to come would be so demoralized that it will not or could not hold India together and the balkanization of India was inevitable.

This appeared to me a farfetched thought, but the fact is that the armed forces right from the time of Nehru has been downgraded at every step and their perks and privileges pruned at every opportunity. This is surprising as a country like India facing an insurgency in the Indian heartland led by Maoists and independence movements in the North east as well as calculated terrorism in Kashmir are a neglected lot. The government be it of Nehru or Modi have not grasped that if India is to stay united it is only due to the army.

Nehru had his reasons as he feared a military coup and thus let the finest fighting machine in India go to seed, culminating in a massive defeat with China. Indira Gandhi was the best as the armed forces gave her a name in history for ever with the cutting to size of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh. I remember in 1984 on R Day she sanctioned free rations for officers as well. Unfortunately Modi has talked about sanction of OROP, the most contentious item in the list of demands of the services. He promised, but like Humpty Dumpty has had a great fall. He has changed his mind and now is silent as his cabinet ministers Jaitley and Parrikar go about dousing the flames in the hearts of the servicemen. To say they are misled by the bureaucracy is a misnomer, for no civil servant can oppose something, if the government wants to give. It happened during the time free rations were sanctioned and again if the Modi and the government want OROP, it can be a reality.

There is apathy in the BJP government towards the armed forces. I wonder how they are better off than the Congress and Nehru. A decision of 2 parliaments has been negated by Modi. I am afraid he is the man; if he wanted would Jaitley and Parrikar not acquiescence?

 A lot of blame must also go to our top brass, the army in particular, where successive chiefs for personal gain (maybe) have acquiesced with the government in demoting themselves and the soldiers under their command. If right from the time of Cariappa the armed forces commanders had put their foot down this state of affairs where the retired armed forces personnel are literally begging for OROP would never have happened. Coming to OROP, I am afraid that what we understand in the classical concept of OROP will not be sanctioned. I hope to god I am wrong, but 2 or 3 decades hence the Indian state will have to pay a heavy price for the antics of the political leaders from the time of Nehru to Narendra Modi.