Wednesday 30 March 2016

UFESM (JM) CALLS FOR REFERENDUM ON 
FUTURE COURSE OF ACTION
11 AM on 03 Apr, 2016 

I am not a member of UFESM (JM) but am happy that Gen Satbir and his dedicated team of veterans have taken the democratic step to evaluate and collectively decide our future course of action as a community, something that I have been suggesting for some time now. 

It must be understood by every Indian, that veterans are soldiers too, the soldiers whom Gen Slim immortalized with,  "A soldier never dies, he only fades away". We have the right not only to use our respective ranks on paper, but also wear them on appropriate occasions at our own discretion. 

I pity the intellectual fervour of those among us who see no wrong done to us as a community, by the present Govt. Even though the devaluation, demotion and denigration (d3), with only lip service paid to the uniformed, started immediately after independence, this Govt has been the worst of all.

For the first time, a govt has repeatedly and publicly denigrated its soldiers, who are the only past, present and the future defenders of the Nation's freedom, security and safety.

When I was commissioned in 1962, I read the Travel Regulations for the first time and was surprised to see that an officer on posting, was entitled to carry four horses with saeeses, at govt cost. The acquisition and upkeep of the horses were apparently at the officers' own cost. With our salary barely enough to survive like gentlemen that we were supposed to be, we could not have afforded to keep even half a horse. 

Our predecessors bore higher status than any of the civil services and were paid well enough to be able to afford not one but four horses with four saeeses! 

Today one may exclaim, "Why a horse is needed to be kept by a Defense officer?" Well, horse riding is a part of training of a gentleman cadet at IMA for some good reasons. 

The salaries of defense officers were slashed with the due concurrence of the then C-in-C, our very own Field Marshal. Why blame only the Govt!

Then came the 3rd CPC, after the stupendous, history making victory of 1971, when the status, honour, dignity and means to live a decent life, were blatantly and shamelessly taken away from the veteran soldiers, without a whimper by any one in the Defense Forces.

On the one hand, the pensions of soldiers were slashed from 70% to 50%, those of the civil services were zoomed from 33% to 50%.

As if this was not enough, the status of the Central police forces were raised beyond the official protocol and they were allowed to use higher badges of rank than hitherto, creating chaos in the civil-military interaction, so essential at the frequent times the soldiers are called up in aid to civil. To make 'confusion worse confounded', now the police forces brazenly, even wear the sacred uniform of the Army, an act barred by law, with impunity.

With every successive CPC, the inter-say status of the soldier was lowered and lowered and lowered, till in the 7th CPC, we are at the bottom of the hierarchial table. A soldier sepoy is graded as a class IV employee, in line with the Central govt's peon! 

Just imagine, a highly skilled soldier, trained and armed to the teeth with complex arms, ammunition and equipment, to kill an equally trained and armed enemy, is equated with an office peon!!! Can the soldier be further disgraced?

The OROP  saga is now known the World over and the international media has many an article on the shameless way this Govt has not only gone back on its solemn promises to the soldiers but even mocked at them for believing the pre-poll 'Election Jumlas'. They also, true to their wont, insist on calling an OR5Ps scheme as OROP. They never tire of not only telling the Nation that OROP has been sanctioned, but how the soldiers are being unreasonably demanding, doing their best to bring down the Nation's respect for the soldiers.

A soldier is bound by the Army Act and countless other rules and regulation, in addition to all the laws of the land. He, unlike the others, cannot agitate for his own rights. Who then is going to look after the soldiers' welfare and ensure that his rights, honour and dignity are not brutalized and trampled upon?

To a soldier, it is his honour, first and last. 
He dies for it. Throughout his life as an active soldier, he is primed for it through collective training. This Govt has done its best to deprive the soldier of his last vestige of  honour and dignity. 
This is dangerous. The Govt is playing with fire.

As I wrote before, time has come when we need to collectively re-evaluate our position vis-a-vis the Govt of the day and decide on a new course of action, if found necessary.

I commend the efforts of UFESM (JM), under the leadership of Gen Satbir and wish God speed to its fight for 'Restoration of the Honour and Dignity of the Soldier', so determinedly snatched away, bit by bit, by successive govts, since independence.


A RESPONSE TO MRINAL SUMAN'S RANTING ABOUT TRAITORS
(AT THE FOLLOWING URL :
http://www.sify.com/news/why-does-india-breed-so-
many-traitors-news-columns-qd3cvCeiadfdc.html)

Oh! how I wish Mrinal was not a veteran and that too an engineer officer. We have fought wars on the same side against the same enemy, May be, I have fought a few more wars than him. does it make me a bigger patriot, with bigger bragging rights? 

It is people like him who spiritedly, continuously and blasphemously chanted "Har har Namo, Ghar ghar Namo, Namo, Namo, Namo" in the run up to the last Parliamentary general elections. Most of them are, since, disillusioned. Not Mrinal for he is made of sterner stuff, the stuff all Parivarik people are made of. He is their mouth piece among us veterans who, within our life times, will most likely be witness to the total annihilation of the one institution that still commands respect of all our citizens, the Indian Defense Forces.

To him, just like his parivarik members, India is Hindu and Hindu is India, a Hindu Rashtra; damn be the Constitution of India. (COI). Swear by it, but all the time do everything to destroy it. Use the system to destroy the system. How else will their dream of a Hindu Rashtra come true !

How easily, just like his Goeblian colleagues of the Parivar, does he repeat proven lies to discredit before others, some of his ideological opponents, who are his fellow citizens.

First, let's deal with his honored clan. He, like the rest of us Indians, knows that their greatest ideologue prostrated himself before the British to beg mercy and be repatriated to the mainland. That ideologue of 'Hindu Rashtra' is their shining example of 'Patriotism'! Damn the COI, but still wear the 'mukhowta' of 'praise to its author', the Baba sahib, with whom I have the honour of sharing my birthday.

During the freedom struggle, when countless fighters laid down their lives by facing bullets or the gallows, his esteemed colleagues were cozying-up to the British. History of  India is a witness to their shamelessness.

I will not go over the events of partition for its pain and suffering, but after that, the Parivar started to dream big. For decades, the national diaspora treated them, despite their best efforts, as pariahs, but truly, they are made of sterner stuff. With just two seats in the Nation's Parliament, they plotted and planned, planned and plotted to polarize the Nation. Babri gave them their first big opportunity. They ceased it with both hands and never let it go. Damn be the COI. True Patriotism calls for it.

Their greatest lament : Why was the Country not declared a 'Hindu Rashtra' after partition. They had cozyed-up to the Brits but could not persuade them to divide the Nation into a Hindu & a Muslim one. And where would the Christians, the Sikhs, the Jains and the Buddhists have gone? Damn be the COI. True Patriotism calls for it.

And then came the greatest of all opportunities, the Parliamentary General Elections of 2014. The Parivar decided that half measures would not do and they had to go the whole hog. They had a ready made mascot, who had, twelve years before, proved his mettle. The founders of their political Party, their band wagon, were unceremoniously and mercilessly cast aside and the Parivar took over. No legal problems in an organization, registered as a NGO, taking part in political polarisation. Damn be the COI.  True Patriotism calls for it.

Pracharaks and ideologues were determinedly planted in key positions of the Govt. Even the bureaucracy was made to toe the line and make presentations to key members of the Parivar, in blatant violation of the 'Official Secrets' Act'. Which fool said that one had to follow it in letter and spirit to be branded as a nationalist ? Write your own version. Damn be the COI. True Patriotism calls for it.

The intolerance phase followed suit. One emotive issue after anotherVote for us or else .... Either for us or else an anti-national. Gaumata phase. Why only Gau? Every living being has a mata. Gandhiji regularly drank goat-mata's milk. The residents of the Thar Desert, drink Camel-mata's milk. The Laddakhis and the Tibbetians survive on Yak-mata's milk. Ban killing of all the matas or none. When you can damn the COI in every other way, why make fuss about only one issue? Oh!, how else will you be called a patriot !

The division of responsibilities followed soon, as decided by the 'Sir'. Speak in forked tongues. Confuse the Nation with the ultimate aim of Polarization. The head goes around the World proclaiming that Unity in Diversity was the real strength of India. Back home, his colleagues make every one chant Ram nam and Bharat Mata ki Jai. 

One day, the 'Sir' would say, "Every Indian MUST be taught to say, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'" and next day say, "No one should be forced to say", but immediately, one of the seniors of the Parivar proclaims, "any one refusing to say, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' should be shipped out of India". Damn be the COI. True Patriotism calls for it.

Why Mata? Why not Pita? Does the 'Vedanta', which Adi-Shankarachariya swore by, make any mention of 'Mata'? It refers to God as Pita. Why not 'Bharat Ki Jai'? Why 'Hindusthan Ki Jai', with its stress on 'Hindu'? Why not 'Jai Hind', with its stress on the geography of India? No; how else will they polarise the Nation emotively! Damn be the COI. True Patriotism calls for it.

Then the intolerance and coercion. Want to eat Beef, go to Pakistan. Don't want to say, 'Jai Mata', go to Pakistan. Criticise the Govt, be branded as an anti-national and seditious. Go to jail. Even the judiciary and of course all Indians, are made to believe the untruth by faking videos and marketing them as genuine. Damn be the COI. True Patriotism calls for it.

Faking videos has come to haunt the present Govt with the ISI giving it a dose of its own medicine in the form of a heavily doctored video of the confessions of a so called RAW spy. The Govt is protesting but the ISI is not listening, just the way this Govt refused to listen when almost the whole country protested the tested and proven fake Kanahiya videos. Even today the Govt is spreading lies about the anti-national activities of Kanahiya and his brood at JNU, based on the same fake and doctored videos 

Mrinal, unlike a veteran, has taken recourse to falsehood, when he says, "All Defense functions end with the resounding cry of, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'". We in the Forces say, 'Jai Hind' between all ranks from OR to General. This is true Patriotism.

Personally, I wish my Hindu friends, with 'Ram, Ram'. That does not make me a Hindu; which any case is not a religion; it is a Community, like all others. I simply honour their belief in Ram. As an Indian First and last, I must honour the faith of all my fellow Indians. I, therefore, say, 'Satsriakaal' to Sikhs, (A Sardar was my room=mate in IMA); 'Alla Karim' to Muslims; but to members of my own Community, I say, 'Good morning/suprabhat', good AN or good evening. I am part of them and, therefore, do not have to call upon the name of 'Jesus' to prove my affinity. This is true Patriotism.

How many of Mrinal's adopted community of so called 'Bharat-Mata Premis can sing the whole National Anthem and Bande Mataram, with correct lyrics and tune? Has he ever tried to put  this hall mark of True Patriotism to test on his comrades? 

Who or what is bringing bad name to our Nation, revered for its saints, yoga, Buddha and the Mahatma, not for its Savarkars and Golwalkars. 


18-yr-old Dilkash was attacked in a Delhi park. Photo by-Gajendra Yadav
THE MADARSA STUDENT WITH HIS ARM BROKEN BECAUSE HE REFUSED TO CHANT, "BHARAT MATA KI JAI"

When innocents are brutalised and killed in the name of religion, 'gaumata abhiyan', false accusations of beef eating, it brings bad name internationally. When fake charges of anti-nationalism are levied with the help of doctored and fake videos against innocents, summarily locking them up, it brings a bad name to our Country internationally. When A serving soldier's parent is brutally murdered in his own house on trumped up charges, by a whipped-up mob led by Hindu fanatics, it brings bad name to India, that is Bharat. When people are openly threatened by Hindu fanatics in high places and the Govt simply looks on, it demoralises the citizens and causes havoc to the fair name of our Fatherland, the country of my forefathers for hundreds of generations. When the Govt goes back on its solemn promises to the defenders of the Nation and mocks at them for believing 'Election Jumlas', it not only slurs as a Nation, it also imperils its safety. This is called 'playing with fire'. When this Govt pulls at and pushes around peacefully agitating veterans, in full live view of the entire world, the world around us reacts un-favourably. When the Govts, not one but three, cock a hoop at its other constitutional arms, just  to please a Guruji, it does little to enhance the rule of law. Govt is in the dock, just like all the other law breakers, with the only difference being the side to which lawless power of the law, the police, belongs to. Need I say more Mrinal ?

Mrinal and many of his ilk, have deliberately equated 'Hinduism' with 'Hindutwa'. Hinduism is a Catholic, (Universal : Vishwam Kutumbkam), Philosophy; Hindutwa is an ideology. The two are like cake and chalk; water and oil; the former runs deep and silent; the latter floats shallow and is incendiary. Our 10000 years' culture has survived because the Philosophy always prevailed over the Dogma. Philosophy of the Vedas, not its rituals; philosophy of the Upanishads, not their rituals; and last but not the least, philosophy of the Vedant and Srimad Bhagwat Gita, with no rituals at all.

Did Gautam use force to make people prostrate before him and acknowledge him as the 'Buddha'? did any of the Rishis and Munis use force to propagate their teachings? What did Narad do to change the heart of a hardened dacoit and transform him into a Muni?

Let us not destroy the soul of our country with dogma. Let us do our damndest best to preserve that spirit which made Swami Vivekananda, address the people of a foreign country and of different faiths, on foreign soil as, "My sisters and brothers ...".

I have said it before and I say it again, Patriotism is NOT  to be worn on ones sleeves, It must burn bright in every Indian's Heart.

Saturday 26 March 2016


HAPPY EASTER 2016 FOR ALL 
MY SISTERS, BROTHERS & FRIENDS
OF BHARAT - OUR LAND

The season of giving and forgiving, 
first yourself; 
with the gift of forgiveness, 
and then all others.




Breathes There The Man 
with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said, 
 This is my own, my native land! 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd, 
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe go mark him well 
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, 
shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.
Sir Walter Scott

Friday 25 March 2016

A LETTER TO THE RM 
FROM W/O A VETERAN

(SHRI MANOHAR PARRIKAR)
(THE RM - NOT THE 'W'!)


Respected Shri Parrikarji,


The Indian youth join Army for many reasons. Some are romantics filled with patriotism and altruistic concern for the welfare of country. Some are looking for a job to support their poverty ridden family and some just blunder in. But they serve unto death for a higher reason, that is, `Guardian Attitude’. The Guardian Attitude is generated through a regime of tough training and strict discipline and strengthened by camaraderie between soldiers and officers and shared sense of glorious past which are hallmark of Military.


Very idea of Guardianship has to be rooted in the concepts of honour, higher purpose, and belief that the soldier-citizen is a standard bearer, who embodies the superior virtues of men’ but are loath to self-publicize. Consequently `the military elite, like other leadership groups is inhibited in proclaiming its special virtues’. 


The Indian military leader ship has, perceptibly not, been able to match up the shenanigans of a bureaucracy steeped in traditions of Delhi Durbar and unable to safeguard organisational interests of the military. This leaves elected leaders with responsibility to ensure that fiscal pedantry and bureaucratic skulduggery do not kill Guardian Attitude of military by depriving or stealing the special affections showered on it by a grateful society through special pay and perks given to soldiers and officers.

Examples which highlight progressive degradation of military since 1947, denial of fair wages and reduction in pension and recent recommendation for mass punishment by 7th CPC on military because some senior officers allegedly abused provisions of disability pension are matters of history and enough is available in public domain hence not repeated here. I am, h
owever, keen to know your response to the following issues:-

•     One hears a common refrain from `interested’ 
       elements, especially bureaucracy that Armed 
       Forces are manpower happy. But it would come 
       as surprise to you that while three services 
       spend 37 per cent of their budget on `Revenue’ 
       account while the figure for `Revenue’ 
       expenditure of Civil Wing is massive 63 per cent! 
       Do you have any plans to review the `Outcomes’ 
       from this huge expenditure? 

•     As per Report of 7th CPC the MoD has 
       sanctioned posts of 5,85,000 civilians, which is 
       nearly half the strength of three Services. In 
       view of increased mechanization and IT enabled 
       offices has a review of their efficacy and efficient 
       been undertaken with a view to right-size it?

•     Civil element of the MoD has higher ratio of 
       Group A services at 4 per cent and Group B at 15 
       percent as against the Army, which has 3.79 
       percent officer and 12 percent JCOs against 86 
       percent Other Rank. As a result, not only less 
       hands are available for actual work on site on an 
       average expenditure on a civilian employee of 
       MoD is higher.

•     Please glance at page 28 of 7th CPC report and 

       you will find that MoD grossly understated 
      expenditure on its civilian staff. It will be 
      worthwhile to know whether it was done 
      intentionally.

•     You may also wish to check as to how the MoD is 

       spending more than Rs. 1000 Crore per annum 
       on pay, allowances and establishment of 
       Ministry 
       of Finance personnel! Do you genuinely need 
       such a large number of finance guys to manage 
       MoD budget or is it a case of freeloading at the 
       cost of soldiers? 

•     No wonder MoD spent Rs. 1883 on itself Crores 

       in last fiscal (Refer demand No. 21 of Union 
       Budget 2015-16). This amount is more than 
       combined total budget of MHA, MHRD, MEA 
       and 
       a few other ministries combined. Do you plan to 
       undertake any measure to reduce this 
       expenditure?

•     There are 62 Cantonments in India. Each of 
      these has a CEO and DEO. These two IDES 
      officials, who are equal to Major/ Colonel, occupy 
      large lavishly appointed bungalows which are 
      maintained by a retinue of staff! Do you have any 
      plans to find out as to how are these facilities 
      funded?

•    Military Engineering Service (MES) spends 60 

      percent of its budget on Revenue account! Is that 
      fair for an organisation which it only meant to 
      supervise works to spend Rs. 7200 Crores on pay 
      and allowances to supervise works worth 
      Rs.4800 Crores executed by contractors?

•    DRDO, purportedly a `Research’ organisation 
      spends 61 per cent of its budget on revenue 
      account. Thus leaving only 39 per cent for 
      'Research’!

•    The Defence Minister and other ministers of MoD 

      are entitled to civilian staff including civilian 
      staff cars and civilian drivers. Do you plan to 
      relieve Army drivers and any other combatants 
      attached to your office to let them perform their 
      primary duties in Army?

•     As a CM you must have enjoyed facilities of 
      having a Camp Office at home. Are there any 
      plans to do away with this archaic concept which 
      allows ministers and civil officials to garner staff 
      and other resources like electricity for personal 
      purpose at cost to public exchequer?

•    Are there any plans to remove/ reduce MTS and 

      telephone attendants from residences and offices 
      of government officials and ministers of MoD?

I close with a fervent hope of a reply and positive reaction to issues raised.

Best regards

Sincerely yours,

Thursday 24 March 2016


The title above is a link to an article written by Col Ajai Shukla, a fellow veteran, and published in the BS. Before you read the Article, I need to spell out a few more things laid out in Defense Service Regulations.

If my memory does not fail me, (30 yrs since I last referred to it), two paragraphs of it deal with execution of works for civilians, only when it can be done as a part of scheduled training. The cost of the work is assessed and is sanctioned by the formation commander. The civil party pays up, upfront, a part of which is deposited by the unit in the treasury and the rest goes to the regimental fund of the unit executing the work.

All routine training is carried out by engineer units in location with the resources authorised to it. Bridging training, however, is not considered routine. Unit level bridging training is carried out at a special location with equipment specially authorised for such training. The units do not carry out such unit level training with their own authorised equipment for very good reasons, mentioned in the Article by Ajai.

This route was, however not taken, as I can see it for the reason to save a large amount of money for the AoL, kind courtesy, not one but three govts, UP, Delhi and Central. Poor NGT activists! They were up against not just AoL but the combined might of the two state govts and the almighty GoI!!!

Whether it was or was not a public function is an academic discussion, given the approval of three govts to it. The moment the Delhi govt gave its sanction to a function where lakhs of people from all over the world were slated to come, the responsibility of law and order and infra became the responsibility of the state govt. In this particular case, since Delhi police is under the HM, law and order was the GOIs responsibility, exercised through the Lt Governor. 

As one can see, nothing would have been possible without the sanction of the Delhi govt and its requisition of three bridges. Why did the govt of Delhi, under Mr Kejriwal, bitterly opposed to the GoI, not only give approval to the function, but also requisition three floating bridges over the Yamuna?

If any one is to be blamed for this deployment of Army Engineers against their written objections, it is not the GoI but the Govt of Delhi, under Mr Kejriwal.

Ajai's article does not bring out the exact source of the bridging equipment used. Was it WE, 1st line or 2nd line ? 

It would be reprehensible if the equipment was WE or 1st line WR. The decision to deploy it would then be a callous one, at the cost of the Defense preparedness of our Nation.

It would also be interesting to know how much of the damage to the flood plains of Yamuna and the environment have since been undone, as was being touted by the AoL. It is a given that the National Media is hardly interested, but is the Nation interested ?

Wednesday 23 March 2016

HOLIKA 
SLAYING OF THE DEMON
 A RITUAL TO SIGNIFY
 DESTRUCTION OF THE EVIL

Hope all of my sisters, brothers and friends of Bharat vidhivat observed Holika Puja in somewhat the following manner and lit only a nominal Holika, (fire), to spare the environment further pollution :


  •     Took bath & wore fresh clothes.
  •     Prepared a puja thali containing a kalash of water, haldi, kumkum, chandan, rice grains,     flowers, coconut, jaggery and gulal.
  •     Offered these to the small puja fire, (Holika).
  •     Chanted the following simple Narasimha Maha Mantra -
                    à¤‰à¤—्रं वीरं महा विष्णुम ज्वलन्तम सर्वतो मुखम
            नृसिंहं भीषणम भद्रम मृत्युर्मृत्युम नाममि:अहम
        (Ugram Veeram Maha Vishnum Jwalantam Sarvato Mukham
       Nrisimham Bheeshanam Bhadram Mritoymrityum Namamyaham)
  •     Did parikrama or pradakshina (circumambulation) of Holika, sprinkling water from                 the kalash while walking around Holika.
  •        Distributed pieces of the coconut, offered to the Holika, as Prasad  to your family &                  friends. 
  •        Once the Holika fire extinguished, applied its ashes on your forehead and took some                home too. 
QED

Now For the Holi Day :


HAPPY HOLI


The Festival of Dry Colours 

Save Water : The Most precious Commodity now

Monday 21 March 2016

WHITHER BHARAT?

A Rejoinder to Rakesh Chibber’s ‘Historian’s Rant’ (His blog, which he invited me to read, is reproduced at the end of my rejoinder).

Dear Rakesh,

Whereas, I have no wish to enter into a discussion on the merits and demerits of either Guha or his writings/speeches, I definitely have a few things to say about some of the things that you have written in your above mentioned blog.

It has become fashionable to criticize Nehru. Yes, Nehru made a few monumental mistakes, which scarred the psyche of the Nation for years, till we were able to erase it with an outstandingly crushing victory in 1971. I am happy to have been an active participant of that operation. What, however, can never be overlooked is Nehru's vision in giving the Country the solid base of its heavy industries, without which an impoverished country like ours, made to live on imports from England, from mill made cloth from Manchester to heavy industrial products from Birmingham, would never have been what it is today. 

NDA I started the process of spinning crores, by selling just a few of these assets, to reduce their financing deficits. Ask an economist and he will tell you the same.

Today we insinuate that he grew to be a banyan tree, not to provide shelter but to disallow anything else to grow under it. Someone recently passed a remark that the banyan of ‘Nehruism’ has get eaten hollow by white ants and shall soon be uprooted, allowing the people of the Nation to grow freely. A joke. 

Never known a banyan to be attacked by white ants. Its roots grow deep.
Ironically, just yesterday, the PM of India, in the BJP's national conclave, is reported to have advised his party-men to reshape the party into a banyan tree, to give shade to all kinds of people, from all walks of life.

Soldiers have been progressively devalued since independence. Nehru and Indira are blamed for their sense of insecurity. What insecurity is bugging the present dispensation to speed-up that process of devaluation exponentially. The present Govt seems hell bent to grind the soldier to dust, nose down, under the sole of its dirty shoes. Strong words, but metaphorically true.

In the run -up to the last parliamentary general elections, no less than the PM candidate of the Party in power since,   repeatedly berated the then UPA govt  for not giving the soldier his due. He then solemnly promised to give them the true OROP, within 100 days of coming to power. After the election, those promises were said to be 'Election Jumla' and the soldiers were blamed for being simpletons to believe in the ‘Jumlas’. A cruel joke at the expense of not only the soldiers, but also the veer naris.

What did the RM say as recently as a few days back, to the invited few, (veterans), "This far and no further. The Govt has done enough". A cruel joke again.

A few of us still sing praises of the Chappan Chaati, (As he, more than once, called himself), while abusing the others in his party, who are accused of letting him down by denying the soldiers and the veer naris their rights. A man who projects himself as the strongest leader on the Earth, pretends to be helpless before his own colleagues! A joke of the Century.

The fact is that there is a well thought-out, unholy and structured plan, rapidly unfolding itself before the Nation.

Chappan Chaati says, "I will talk only of development and unity in diversity"; the others are commanded to do everything in the diametrically opposite direction. All failures would then be pinned on the ‘others’ and the 'Chappan Chaati', will remain unsullied and the darling of the Nation, to be voted back to power again and again and again. Masterly Plan !

I am unable to agree with your idea about our 'Hindu' ancestry.  

Our social and cultural heritage is not less than 10,000 yrs old. Read Tilak. The word 'Hindu' was not even coined till comparatively recently. In this matter, let me quote Swami Shraddhasudhasharananada :

"The fact is that BOTH the words "Hindu" and "India" have foreign origin. The word "Hindu" is neither a Sanskrit word nor is this word found in any of the native dialects and languages of India. It should be noted that "Hindu" is NOT a religious word at all. There is no reference of the word "Hindu" in the Ancient Vedic Scriptures, the Upanishads or the Vedanta.

It is said that the Persians used to refer to the Indus river, (Presently flowing partly in India and partly in Pakistan), as 'Sindhu'. The Persians, however, could not pronounce the letter "S" correctly in their native tongue and mispronounced it as "H." Thus, for the ancient Persians, the word "Sindhu" became "Hindu." The ancient Persian Cuneiform inscriptions and the Zend Avesta refer to the word "Hindu" as a geographic name rather than a religious name. When the Persian King Darious 1 extended his empire up to the borders of the Indian subcontinent in 517 BC, some people of the Indian subcontinent became part of his Empire and Army. Thus for a very long time the ancient Persians referred to these people as "Hindus". The ancient Greeks and Armenians followed the same pronunciation, and gradually the name stuck.

The word "India" also has a similar foreign origin. Originally, the native Indians used to address the Indian subcontinent as "Bharat". As a matter of fact in Mahabharat,which is one of the two "Itihasa", we find reference of the word "Bharat". As per legend, the land ruled by the great King "Bharata" was called Bharat. This too was much before coinage of the word Hindu."

In  recent times, we have, spun a religious web around the word 'Hindu'. Even more, the land of Bharat, my Bharat Mahan, has now become the land of 'Bharat Mata'. 

The original, (And the very first), pictorial description of Bharat Mata, drawn by Abnindra Nath Tagore, has since been reshaped into ‘Ma Durga’. Personally, most of us love that description because of the power it represents, but a section, (Not all), of Muslims prefer to refer to their country as 'Father Land', just as our Aryan brothers, (Germans), across the continents, prefer to refer to. This section of Muslims has a problem in referring to the country as a 'Motherland'. If they are happy saying, 'Jai Hind', why force them to bow to Mother India's depiction as Devi Durga and make them shout Jai Bharat Ma? Why call them anti-national? 

We in the Defense Forces say, 'Jai Hind'. 

The time is not far when a missive from the Parivar will change that too to 'Jai Bharat Mata' !!

Going by the present logic being touted by the fanatics of the Parivar, all those, especially the politicians, who can't sing the National Anthem, must be booked as anti-nationals.

Incidentally, I am aware of a strong and unabated subterranean current of propaganda, to declare the present National Anthem as a poem written by Tagore  in praise of the British King of the time and, therefore, unfit to be the National Anthem of our Republic and, therefore, to be replaced with Bande Mataram. My chest swells by a few inches while singing the latter song, but even more so while singing the National Anthem, which I do in an uninhibited manner, whenever and wherever I hear its chords, vocal or instrumental, without caring a hoot about who around me thought what.

The present trends are disturbing. The visible wave of intolerance, apparent in a number of attacks, by vigilantes, on unsuspecting individuals, without any action by the authorities, is  reprehensible too.

Tolerance is not a Hindu custom but was built into our culture 10000 years ago, when the Aryans came over to our doorstep moving Southwards from thousands of Kms up North and cohabited with the then residents of Bharat, who were strong in philosophy, unlike the Aryans, who were strong in rituals, and formed a composite culture, enshrined in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Vedanta, Srimad Bhagwat Gita and countless other philosophies, (Read Tilak).

The Parivar, whose 'Guruji' has eruditely written volumes in praise of Hitler and the Nazi led holocaust of the Jews, (He wrote that India and Indians have a lot of good things to learn from the Nazis), are hell bent upon imposing their version of culture, where you are a nationalist only and only if you agree with them. Otherwise you are branded as an anti-national. This portends great danger to the unity of our diverse Bharat.

We the soldiers, the protectors of the Nations safety and security must fight, till our last breath, to see this danger off.


'Mera Bharat’ is Mahan not because of a few vocally fissiparous people of our Country, going around today, spreading poison, but because we still have largely retained the 'Unity in Diversity'. 

Let's fight tooth and nail to preserve that unity.

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By Rakesh Chibber

On 17th March 2016,  I came across a news item on the Zee News Online that an ‘Eminent Historian’ of the country Mr Ramchandra Guha, who also alternates as an expert on cricket, spoke at t he inaugural session of a literary festival in New Delhi. As per Zee News Mr Guha, the historian, had this to say and I quote:

“The rising of Hindu nationalism in the country is not new. It happened immediately after Partition and during Ram Janmabhoomi movement, and both were orchestrated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevek Sangh (RSS). It has severely affected the secular, cultural and political fabric of the country, and I hope that the situation shouldn`t escalate to that level.”  He also noted that Hindu fundamentalism is more threatening than Islamic terrorism in India. “The reason is within India, Hindus are 85 per cent. I am terrified at the thought of Hindu majoritarianism, because that is what we were not”, adding that Islamic terrorism is a dangerous phenomenon in the global scenario.

He goes on to talk about how the most dangerous politicians in the country were Amit shah and Azam Khan and “BJP is the most anti-intellectual party and they failed to produce a single scholar in Gujarat after being in power for many years. You can`t have spokespersons as Anupam Kher, Praveen Togadia or Smriti Irani, who will only drive discourse further into the mud. As long as the RSS has the role in the political dispensation, you will never get right-wing intellectuals, but you get right-wing ideologists,”

While Mr Guha is entitled to his views on politics and politicians as per his political leanings, what got my goat, so to speak, was his rather condescending remark that “Everyone has their own role. Soldiers have their place and students have their own. The attack on universities is worrisome,” insinuating thereby that soldiers were not students or had not been students and should not interfere in the so called academic pursuit of the students of our universities. In his scheme of things “Scholarship has a place in moulding the consciousness of the nation. The tendency to belittle scholars, scholarships and universities is unfortunate. Though one should not exaggerate how widespread it is, what is happening around JNU is worrisome”.

Mr Guha who is regarded as a Historian has authored books like `India After Gandhi`, `Makers of Modern India`, `Patriots and Partisans` and `Gandhi Before India` and felt that “the situation was not as hopeless as portrayed by media, but it could be more hopeful, as the interest in books is also increasing” while referring to the controversy at the Jawaharlal Nehru university. Guha’s new book `Democrats and Dissenters` is likely to hit the stands in October, as per Zee News.

Mr. Guha considers himself as a Historian, and his area of Historical research is restricted to India of 20th century and specifically the history shaped by the two great Indians of that century i.e. Mr. MK Gandhi and Mr. JL Nehru. I must confess here that other than reading India after Gandhi, I have not read all his historical researches, but have heard him speak on Television and You Tube and have read a number of his articles which are published in the Main Stream Media as Op Eds. 

From what I have read it comes out quite clearly that Mr. Guha is a diehard Nehru Fan, and for him Nehru could do no wrong and the initial direction given by Nehru to the country is the reason India is such a great country. He is an out an out Congress supporter though he writes at times on the inadequacies of the present Congress leadership. Although he tries to project himself as a balanced political commentator, but I am afraid his political biases are pretty evident. He is a heavily left leaning ‘intellectual’ who dismisses any so called ‘Right Wing’ thought as inadequate and pedestrian, and in keeping with the contempt the left leaning historians have for anything saffron, he considers himself as the champion of ‘Left liberal thought’ and the self appropriated title of  protectors of ‘Secular ideals’. 

I have no problems with Mr. Guha’s leftist thinking as long as he restricts himself to criticizing the Right Wing politics and it’s champion the RSS, but I do take umbrage to Mr. Guha intruding in my space i.e. the Armed Forces and my religious belief. And therefore, I shall restrict my rejoinder to these two aspects.
Mr. Guha has been a long critic of imposition of Armed Forces Special Powers Act and has written extensively on the subject, to the extent of making some unsavory comments on the functioning of the Armed Forces. 

In one of his articles on Manipur he wrote about ‘the massive and at times overbearing presence of the Army’ and how the locals despised the Assam Rifles. While Mr. Guha is free to air his views about the Indian Army’s functioning, I find it rather appalling that Mr. Guha should deny me and the other veterans of the Indian Armed Forces the opportunity to air our views on the goings on in a University, of which some of us have been recipient of the graduation degrees. 

Equally appalling is the thought in the so called Left Liberal World that soldiers should do soldiering and not interfere in what goes on in the other institutions of the country, in the instance case the JNU. While the soldier is restricted by his oath to his country and the special restrictions imposed on him due to Army Act, during the course of his service, to assume that the soldier should not have an opinion on matters of concern to the well being of the country, even after he has hung his uniform is rather condescending and questions the thinking ability of a soldier. 

Mr Guha should realize that the soldiers also have gone through colleges and are at times quite well read and knowledgeable about the issues of national concern. 

To come to the case in point regarding JNU, it is surprising that Mr. Guha should feel that the soldiers of the country should keep quiet even when slogan alluding to war against the country and breaking it up in pieces are being openly shouted in the name of free speech. If nationalism and patriotism are not the sole propriety article of the Armed Forces, then neither is the intellectual space the sole prerogative of the so called ‘Left Liberals’ who of late are being referred to as ‘Adarsh Liberals’, due to their myopic politically correct views and double standards with regards to acceptance of Freedom of Expressions of people ideologically at variance to the Leftist world view. 

It would be contra factual to assume that the ex soldiers cannot have political opinions or ability to understand the political shenanigans of the campus politics. Be that as it may, it is high time that the soldiers when out of uniform, should be able to take studied and well considered view on issues of security and integrity of the country, whether on the streets of J&K and North East or in the campuses of universities like JNU and Jadhavpur University, and more importantly be able to articulate their views at the appropriate forum.

The other aspect of Mr. Guha’s talk that I disagree with is his insinuation that Hindu fundamentalism is more dangerous than Islamic terrorism. He professes to be afraid of Hindu majoritarianism, because India is 85percent Hindu country. What Mr. Guha tends to overlook, is the fact that, because India is 85 percent Hindu, Mr. Guha has the freedom to abuse the majority religion of the country without fear of any backlash and retaliation. 

India has a rich history of never imposing its ancient religion on anyone through fear or intimidation. Hinduism believes that the entire world is one big family or ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ and that there is one Truth but the path to it may vary. Or ‘Ekum sat vipra bahudha vadanti’ which literally means “that which exists is One, sages call it by various names”. This is the spiritual heritage of India, where in every one has the right to follow his or her belief without fear of discrimination. 

Unfortunately this cannot be said of many other countries of the world that follow different beliefs. And yet Mr. Guha felt it necessary to belittle the rich tradition of religious tolerance of this great country. But then I presume it was more due to Mr. Guha’s ideological compulsions rather than his religious belief which made him say such things. Perhaps it may also be an attempt to create controversy ahead of his impending release of his book, to boost its sales that he made such a remark which is in line with his limited thinking on the issue of Hinduism, and therefore needs to be dismissed as rant of an Adarsh Liberal with the contempt that it deserves.


Mr. Guha had once written that ‘The threat to India from Hindutva bigotry was at its most intense from about 1989 to about 2004’ which was the period when this self confessed Nehru dynasty fan’s favorite family was not at the helm of power. He was out of favour with the political dispensation at the centre of that time and had lost his relevance as an intellectual. It seems Mr. Guha has become irrelevant again.