Non Approval of OROP : The Enemy is within, the General Staff

Most ex-servicemen were having fond hopes that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce sanction of OROP in his Independence Day address, except me. Even the doyen of the movement General Satbir Singh expressed the hope that he was "hopeful", that OROP would be sanctioned.

I was however sure that nothing like this was going to happen and months back I had stated the same. At that time I had recieved a email from a respected member of the Ex Servicemen's Office  bearers that he was sure that the OROP letter duly sanctioning the demand would be out soon.   I was sceptical and I have been proved right.

The non approval of OROP for close to 4 decades cannot just be pinned to the Political leadership or that favorite bashing boy the "Babus" or the IAS lobby.  Let us look inwards and we will find that the fault to a great degree lies within  us and the politicians  make hay of it. In other words they have exploited the weakness of presentation of the demand and  played on the divide of the services. To use a uncharitable word "lack of guts" among the general staff to forcefully present  the soldiers case.

The demand emanated from about 1973 when the COAS was general Bewoor. Under his stewardship the pensions of servicemen were REDUCED and this general accepted  it without a murmur. Probably he was eying an appointment after he left office and did not want to upset his chances. In any case this general shamed himself for posterity and when the history of this movement is written , he will be the man marked out as the person responsible  for  the downslide going.

After he left so many army Chiefs came and went and the the demand for OROP went no where as none of the Chiefs forcefully pressed the point. There is news now, that 4 ex Chiefs have sent a letter to the President of India pointing out the pitfalls of non approval of OROP. That is fine, but these worthies owe an explanation to the rank and file of soldiers and airmen as what did they do when they were in service and sitting in the Chair to further the soldiers cause on OROP. Obviously nothing, as the Chiefs were interested in taking some small steps to please the government like reducing the liquor entitlement by 2 bottles or something like that. These chiefs also allowed a concession of FORM D for travel to be restricted. It was always a down slide and nothing upward came as the Chiefs to use an uncharitable word "feathered their own nests". The soldier be  dammed.

The scenario has not changed. We have the sorry spectacle of the former COAS General VK Singh not showing his face  at the venue of the OROP agitation and there are other officers who are  just small fry and not worth naming here, who  are thinking they have a great political future with the BJP. But they must remember that man proposes and god disposes and the last word on the political aspirations of these turncoats has not been written as yet.

The present army chief  General Dalbir Singh is a case in point. He is sitting in his chair and he is silent like the Spinx. His words to ex servicemen that OROP will be approved and  sanctioned by 30 April are blown away like the small breeze, yet he sits wearing his hat and creating an aura that he is a tough man.  The general should have come to the venue of the site where the ex servicemen are fasting and shown his solidarity, but such great and benevolent things can't be  expected from men who have risen up the ladder by any means and having reached the apex are hoping for another lease of life after retirement.

I will add that undergoing fasts and signing petitions  in blood is not the hallmark of a military soldier, a warrior. These will lead no where and the only way OROP will come is if the 3 service chiefs and some PSO's resign.  Otherwise mark my words , all can live in the fond hope that OROP in the classical sense will ever come.  The enemy is thus within and the COAS is the main culprit down 40 years of the Indian army history.

Lastly people may wonder why I always mention the COAS and not the chiefs of the other 2 services? The fact is that it is only the army that is an organised force all over the country and  other 2 services are just appendages. Look around and you will see in all nations only the army calls the shots: Burma, Pakistan, China, Russia etc.

The present ongoing agitation is another example of the COAS playing a double game. I recently read that General DS Suhag was a mediator between the  government and the reps of the ex-servicemen. I was stumped, how can this man be a mediator , when he as the first soldier and is supposed to represent the soldiers in their  representations to the government. Thus one can see that with like General Suhag, OROP will not come.

One Rank One Pension: Where do we Go from Here ?

The ex servicemen have all united and started an agitation for the sanction of a legitimate demand like One Rank One Pension. The demand which is festering for last 40 years took off with vigor only about a decade back. Some cosmetic changes were made by the Congress government under that stooge of the Gandhi family, Manmohan Singh, but the core demand of parity in pensions was left untouched.
The BJP under Narendra Modi  had made sanction of OROP an important poll plank of their election campaign, but it was an insincere promise and perhaps made just to garner votes. Right after the BJP came to power, the portends for sanction of OROP were ominous. The Finance , then the defence Minster Arun Jaitley a man with little horizon, set the ball rolling by asking the Ex servicemen's association to " Tone down their demand". He further said that politicians make promises, but all are not honored.
This was followed by the defence minister stating that nobody gets 100% satisfaction in life   and is never the norm and 80% satisfaction could be achieved. This was his thinking though he changed it a little later, but the fact is that 2 important functionaries were not happy with OROP. To queer the pitch Raj Nath Singh the Home Minister also voiced his opposition to OROP and Modi who was looking for a way out began to lean on these men to back track on OROP. The civil services led by the IAS lobby were in any case opposed to the very concept of OROP and they fed the GOI and Modi with data against OROP. Modi knowing all this was false,  yet acquiesced, because he was looking for a way out.
The ex-servicemens agitation is not having the desired effect as the leaders have decided to keep the movement apolitical. Thus opposition parties who supported the OROP  were turned away. I am aghast at this approach. You cannot win a battle without political support and just appealing and fasting for a demand leads nowhere. I wonder how the ESIS leaders could spurn political support ?
 The Government and Modi are really not concerned . They are a callous lot and  men who are 70-80-90 fasting and sitting in the hot sun is not a matter of concern for them. What then is the next step?
I have a gut feeling that OROP will never come and the reason is simple, the Army general staff have over a period of 6 decades starting with general Cariappa  frittered away their bargaining power by agreeing with the government at every stage. I do not wish to delineate all the privileges which were taken away with the agreement of the general staff, but suffice that the COAS is primarily responsible for this mess.
The general staff have created this mess and approval for OROP may never come ( or a watered down scheme come)  till the general staff cleans up the mess of 6 decades. Its not difficult and requires conviction and courage. But the men sitting and wearing hats and looking stern are really pussycats. Will these pussycats become tigers ? If they do OROP will come , otherwise its " By bye birdie"

Non Approval of OROP could well be Modi's Waterloo

Narendra Modi is not a young man like Rahul Gandhi and this fact does not seem to rub off on him.  Thus Modi has very little time to make a mark and Rahul who after his sabbath of 59 days is a rejuvenated man and like Muhammed Ali floating like a  butterfly and stinging like a bee. For this Narendra Damodar Modi himself has to blame.

The one most glaring example of his subterfuge and double talk is on the non approval of OROP. When he was not in power he was shouting from roof tops that if voted to power, he would sanction One Rank One Pension. He also got it incorporated in the BJP manifesto and even rajnath Singh the bland Home Minister while out of power was clear that OROP was a priority and once in power it would be like Alibaba and the magic lamp. The magic lamp being power.

Now more than one year has elapsed and Modi and his ilk have not only not sanctioned OROP, but are now looking for ways to dilute the very concept of OROP. He is making vague statements that show that basically he is a small man caught up in the vertex of power. Perhaps he is not aware of solemn promises and manifestos  and all he can think of is his power base.

Modi has let down the man in uniform and in that respect he is worse than Nehru. Does he realize the effect on morale of the army by not sanctioning OROP. Its a fallacy to think that OROP is only for retired men and the serving soldier is not involved. He is not aware of the spirit de corps and also that today's soldiers will be retired tomorrow. There is a strong bond between the two and by not sanctioning OROP he has hit at the roots of the army. But as I have  said Modi is a small man and his finance Minister more like a sheep in a lions skin. These men cannot understand what morale means. Pray, why did Modi make all those promises? Nobody was gunning for him?

The ESIS is now mounting a Maha Sammelan and hunger strike from 14 June. Modi has put himself in the line of fire and he must remember that the bell tolls for all and that includes he and his finance minster. These agitations will show to the world that Modi is a man who makes promises and breaks them. This will perhaps be his Waterloo and nobody should shed any tears if he is swept into the basket of history.

What Happens if OROP is not Approved but Diluted Version "Gifted"

The ex-servicemen are concerned and not without reason that One Rank One Pension is lingering on like the elusive Holy Grail. Dates and deadlines have come and gone and over the past 2 decades thousands of pensioners have gone from this world, hoping that OROP will come. They waited and waited till they passed from this world to the next.

This non approval is thus almost a criminal act. More so after Narendra Modi the Prime Minister himself announced that it was ordained that he was the man who will bring in OROP for soldiers. He made these announcements of his own violation, without any prompting. Yet OROP is nowhere approved and Modi and the BJP government is resorting to clichés and subterfuges.

What next? I am constrained to point out that have the concerned persons ex servicemen ever thought as to what they would do if OROP is not approved? What will they do in case the government by a ruse and some glib talk approves a watered down OROP. Modi could again announce this as an interim order and add that " very soon" he will ensure OROP is sanctioned. There is a real danger of this happening. The ex servicemen must gird up their lions for this shock.

Its my fervent hope that such a situation should not arise, yet there is real possibility of this happening. What to do then? Frankly I have no answer and can only state that unless the 3 service chiefs act decisively, the One Rank One Pension may not see the light as the servicemen want to see.

The 3 service chief have for long been chanting " yes sir, yes sir, three bags full". This is the time to break away as stooges of the government and talk hard and fast. The government must realise  the  danger of not approving this pension demand, which is just and true. But who will bell the cat?