On OROP Open Letter to Hon'ble PM Mr. Modi

 A copy of open letter from a Veteran is below:

Col Bimal N Bhatia (retd)​      ​

Independent Assessor and Coach at Corporate and Individual Levels

Fauji ke Dil Ki Baat

Dear Mr Modi,

For a long time India (Bharat Varsh) has been wanting a leader who means business. And when you came the country was delighted.

            I’ll come to the point. And the true story at the end will never leave your mind.

            Your pic receiving the Bangladesh Liberation War Honour on behalf of former PM Atal Behai Vajpayee from the Bangladesh President was front paged this morning. Captivating was your speech on that occasion, as it always is.

            You talked about how as a youth activist you had come to Delhi in response to Vajpayee’s call for satyagraha for the liberation of Bangladesh.  You described yourself as ‘one of the crores who wanted this vision to be realized’.

            You then, in your inimitable style, went on to deliver the ultimate message. You did it with the emphasis it deserved, spiritually buoyed by the very meaning of it all. You said : “Bharat ke faujion ne Bangladesh ke lie apna khhoon bahane se pehle ek baar bhi nahin socha.” (Indian Defence Forces personnel unhesitatingly gave their lives for the liberation of Bangladesh.)

            Then you paused, waiting for the applause to die down.

            Just as you were extolling the sacrifices of the Indian Armed Forces, riding high on confidence based on their  virtue which has for years been taken for granted, the same faujis which took part in that historical war were planning a peaceful satyagraha in Delhi to be followed by relay hunger strikes all over India.

            These faujis – some of them just out of their teens – had already packed their haversacks and were poised for battle, ready for the ultimate sacrifice when you decided to come to Delhi for the ‘satyagraha’.

            To press for their decades old demand of the OROP these faujis and many of their seniors who led them in the war on both fronts – Western and Eastern – alongwith thousands of others are now forced into planning this peaceful satyagraha.

            Surely you cannot be unaware of the OROP which you also used as your bugle call to head for Delhi and occupy the PM’s chair.

            The efforts of Indian Ex-Servicemen League (IESL) steered by the indefatigable and now wheelchair bound Lt Col Inderjit Singh, Maj Gen Satbir Singh and  Gp Capt Gandhi with the active support of countless others including Shri Rajeev Chandrashekhar, MP have been consistently stonewalled by our able bureaucrats.

            Shri Chandrashekhar has even refused to accept increased pay and perks of Members of Parliament till the Govt approves OROP. They want it in the form that has been accepted in Parliament without dilution.

            Modiji, I’ll let you in on one true story which you’ll find interesting and apt. Your bureaucrats will not be amused.

            Paramahansa Yogananda recognised as one of the preeminent spiritual figures narrates this in his widely-read autobiography. “Several years after Father had retired on a pension, an accountant from England came to India to examine the books of Bengal - Nagpur Railway. The amazed investigator discovered that father had never applied for overdue bonuses.

            “He did the work of three men!” the accountant told the company. “He has Rs 1,25000 ($ 41,250) owing to him as back compensation.” The treasurer sent Yogananda’s father a cheque for that amount. Yogananda cites this example to convey a spiritual message of evenmindedness in gain or loss like his father. That was in early 1900s.

            Did that make you sit up Modiji?

            Now turn to your bureaucrats and ask them about the Major Dhanapalan case. They should tell you about how in 1986 the babus very cleverly shortchanged the Armed Forces of their rank pay. The simplistic faujis swallowed it unknowingly but many years later one Major Dhanapalan found this out.

            Ask your babus about how the GOI opposed Major Dhanapalan all the way upto the Supreme Court (SC) which ordered that arrears be paid. Any sensible Govt would have paid up other similarly affected officers. Remember the British story?

            But countless others were forced into taking recourse to court and faced similar hurdles – consistent opposition by the GOI. When the SC ordered that arrears be paid with interest the Govt requested that a bulk of the interest be condoned.

            Who created this mess of shortchanging the faujis and lining the coffers of the Govt? Was the responsibility fixed? What was the motive? These are the questions that any sensible person would ask. Modiji did you know about this scam against many faujis?

            Now you be the judge and see why a mess is being made out of the OROP. Many veterans have died waiting for the elusive OROP. Can you ever compensate those who have gone to their maker?

            Never in history have the armed forces done as much for their country’s security while at the same time being consistently neglected as in India. You know about the old saying, ‘Doomed is the King who makes his armies fight for their just pay’.

            One more point. How many politicians and bureaucrats have their sons and daughters in the armed forces?

            Thank you sir for that moving speech about us faujis and our sacrifices.

            It remains our belief that you are a leader who means us well but are just not being given the whole story.

Jai Hind