Mail From Col Siddhartha Bose,
Sir,
I greatly appreciate the way you have communicated the
subtle issues related to the apathy shown towards Veterans
by the government. You have given a befitting reply but
I wonder what effect will it have on these hard-shelled
Politicians.As on date, the Para military
is more on their agenda than the Armed Forces. I just
happened to visit some areas of Uttranchal. Despite the
support to ESM given by the Khanduri Government, they
performed miserably because of reasons known to all. I also
happened to visit the recently developed SSB and CRPF
locations in the State. They seem to be better off
financially and the state of living is better than the
Regular Army who are there for ages in dilapidated
condition.
If you see the general state of empathy, a war widow
gets less financial and administrative support by the
Government than a case of Road accident of a drunken idiot.
The recent case of a SP being killed in an ambush by
Naxalites in Rajnandgaon ( CG ) is an eyeopener. The family
has got nearly Rs 70 lakhs in kind and cash besides full
PAY ( not pension ) for the period of his balance
service. Further, a job has been offered, a house has been
allotted and all amenities has been provided. The way he
conducted the operations would have attracted a court
martial offence in the Army as he was solely responsible for
the massacre of all Police men who died while approaching
the site.
I would like to cite a case of Late Maj S P Dutta, AMC who
died in UNISOM ( Somalia ).
His father was an employee of MP AG ( which included CG too)
The family is settled in Raipur since past 30 years. The
officer did his medical from Raipur Govt Medical College.
His widow has lost her mental balance after the demise of
the Husband and only child which happened nearly
simultaneously and is undergoing treatment at various places
in the country. The Widowed mother of the Late Officer is
mostly staying alone here in misery as the Daughter-in -law
is in a bad state herself and being treated elsewhere.
I tried to take up the case but the Government
relented. Moreover, the Department of Sainik Kalyan too
supported that the widow and widowed mother of the officer
deserves no grant and even the DGR supported that. We all
live for ourselves and have no love lost for our brother
veteran. This is a sorry state.
I would like veterans to ponder as to where do we
go from here. We just cannot keep cursing the Politicians
and the Parties. We have to take some concrete steps. If
Politicians and the Parties have no love lost, why should we
have any love for them. Let us create our own Party and
Politicians from within. Whether it is Praveen Davar ( who
happens to be my course mate ) or BC Khanduri or to say
Jaswant Singh; from the core of their heart, they are all
Soldiers First and they have the Motto ' Nation First
' before them.
There are many more amongst us who would like to
join the fray but are not getting a right launch pad.
Veterans like you should take on the mantle and lets
have some representation in the Centre and State Assemblies
by 2014.
On the direction of Core Committee of IESM and also
on the request of Sh Brij Mohan Agarwal ( a senior minister
of CG ) , I accompanied him and canvassed for Rajnath Singh
at Ghaziabad. The complete activity was in the hands of CG
Ministers and I basically looked into the ESM and Servicemen
votes. Rajnath was a new face and was up against all odds
but he won only because of ESM votes.
What I wish to convey is that if we all think commonly
and work in a common direction, Veterans will surely have
their say in the Parliament by next elections. We only
have to communicate that Veterans have come together and now
are on warpath. Even if some of us decide to support another
party and are benefited because of loyalty , still the
veterans overall will gain. Lot many Veterans are active in
Fourth Estate who can support our cause. If all moves
towards right direction, many Veterans ( financially sound )
may come forward to render financial support.
Jai Hind
Col Siddhartha Bose
CG State Convener IESM
C-2 Tagore Nagar
Raipur ( CG ) 492001
Mob : +91 9993032720
Tele : 0771 4263030
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