Five lessons I learnt from the One Rank One Pension stand off

[Zarvan]

COLONEL R HARIHARAN
@colhari2

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Fortunately for about 20 lakh veterans of the armed forces, the One Rank One Pension (OROP) issue is in the national limelight. Perhaps this was one of the rare issues where most of the op-ed writers unanimously supported the veterans. The veterans have been struggling in their lives and the agitation continues from the far corners of Tamil Nadu to the remote deserts of Rajasthan. But this article is not about the OROP issue! It had been taken up eloquently by the veterans leading the struggle. I have learnt five things from this seemingly never-ending struggle, which shows that even at a ripe old age, one can learn new lessons in life. Here they are:

• Government cannot be trusted to deliver its promises: This is a lesson the "aam janata" (common man) learnt long ago. But soldiers both in and out of uniform have been brought up in the traditional but naive belief that the government is the "mai baap" who will look after them. This covenant has been broken perhaps irrevocably. Even if the government now implements the OROP tailored to suit its convenience, I doubt whether it will ever regain the unique position it occupied in the soldier’s mind. Now every government order runs the risk of being suspect, probably for the very right reasons. This can change only when it makes the armed forces a part of the decision-making process in matters relating to national security. But many of us don’t believe it would happen in this country which has kept the armed forces at arm's length for over six decades of independence. That is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s "Maan ki baat" on OROP cut no ice with the veterans.
• There is no rule of law for the soldier: The government has not complied with a number of Supreme Court judgements on the granting of OROP. Who will enforce them if the government stubbornly refuses to do so? Only politicians can twist the law to their end. If there is any doubt, look at the Lalit Modi case where politicians of all hues managed to keep him away from the long arm of the law.
• Civil society exists for a select few: Despite the veterans raising a lot of noise and the media going on high octave on the OROP issue, there is a deafening silence from the civil society. The plight of the disabled soldier or his widow living in abject poverty because they have not been paid their dues does not move them. Their hearts bleed only for select few: an extremist shot dead to "protect the public" or animals tested in laboratories.
• Agitation is the only way:Actually it has taken 40 years for the OROP - an issue that veterans consider gross injustice - to get noticed by the nation. That shows veterans are reckoned very low, probably just above the visually handicapped, in the ranks of national preoccupation. The nation sat up and started noticing the issue only when veterans used the electoral bandwagon to extract promises from political parties. But it has not worked. So agitation has to continue. But nobody bothers with Jantar Mantar-type agitations because they are a daily phenomenon. The more inconvenient it is for the public, the faster is the state’s response as indicated by caste agitations to block national highways in the vicinity of Delhi-NCR. But I doubt whether the veterans have the collective mindset to indulge in unlawful actions after a lifetime of discipline and order.
• Command is going to be difficult within the armed forces. When the covenant of trust is broken at the top it will have its adverse fall out. It will impact the armed forces’ command and control set up from the top to the unit level at the bottom. As it is, the pernicious social ills of caste, political animosity, inequality, absence of equitable justice have made unit command a delicate task. It could become more difficult now.

I know these are cynical lessons. After spending three decades of the best part of my life in the Army based on values we love, perhaps the country has managed to turn me into cynic.

The worm has turned. That is "Bharat Mahan" for you! Jai Hind!

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Five lessons I learnt from the One Rank One Pension stand off

 

[SrNair]

OROP is indeed a game changer for Veterans.If they implement OROP within this year ,after the 7th pay commission almost all exservicemen from jawan to general will get huge sum ,Jawans will jump in to middle class directly.


I hope these agitation will help to change the stupidity of bureacrats.

 

[livingdead]

somebody tell me why its a good idea. I understand one party will benefit and thats why they demand, but why is it right?(no sob story, no emotional blackmailing please)