Today, the 62 day of relay hunger strike of veterans for
OROP, the agitation attracted unprecedented national attention.
The NDMC and Delhi Police to an unwise decision to evict the
agitating ex-service men from the venue of their agitation, Jantar Mantar. One wonders whose brain child it was.
Mercifully, so to say, the decision was reversed by the timely intervention of
MHA. Otherwise situation could have gotten out of hand.
There was an optimistic expectation that the PM would
announce OROP In his speech on 15 Aug on the lines of the definition agreed and
approved by the parliament. But the hope got shattered after the meeting with
FM, on 12 Aug, who came with new proposal suggesting 2011 as the year of
reckoning. This naturally gave way to the apprehension that dilution in the
implementation is in the offing which was unacceptable to IESM. Meanwhile , the
letter from former four Chiefs of Staff too drew serious concern among one and
all. It said volumes in few words. May it serve as an eye opener for the Govt.
Eagles were eyeing the prey and trying hard to sweep on them.
Political parties of all hues are trying their best to take advantage. Sri
Manish Tiwari said that OROP was sanctioned by the UPA govt an funds were
allocated. How brazen one can be. No wonder such blunders come from a person
who can name a person fugitive when no case , no FIR, no legal action initiated
against him. Mr. Sidharth Nath Singh of BJP, as usual, repeated the often heard
cliché that OROP is a commitment made by PM and will be implemented. And
personalities who cared nil for the past 62 days suddenly thought that they
should express solidarity with veterans, so Sri Aravind Kejriwal tweeted that OROP must be approved
immediately, as if it was delayed
because he did not tweet till now. To crown it all Sri Rahul Gandhi, who
had time to take up the cause of FTII students and lead them to the Hon
President of India visited the venue after veterans sat in Dharna for 61 days .
He was received with dignity notwithstanding some chanting “GO BACK” but was
not allowed to make a political speech.
One really wonders as to why the Defense Minister/any other
Govt Reps. Or some one representing PMO has not visited and assuaged the
agitated Veterans so far. Why is the
Govt making it a suspense thriller? Surely we are not awaiting release of a
Alfred Hitchcok mistery. Please shed the cloak of secrecy and talk to the veterans,
they are a patriotic fraternity. Govt will only gain not by taking them in
confidence. Don’t divulge, at least assuage their concerns.
The IESM has scrupulously stayed apolitical, in tune with the
tradition of Indian Armed Forces .That is the true legacy of our defense
Service and will remain so forever.
Lots of hope are pinned on the speech of the PM from the
ramparts of Red Fort tomorrow on the occasion of Independence Day.
Stop press:
The press conference by Defense Minister today at 1530 hrs
shattered all hopes till now nurtured. He said that there are” technical
difficulties” but will implement the promise given by the Govt. There is nothing new in the
statement . Just repeating what he has been saying always
So ,OROP remains a mirage
No comments:
Post a Comment