LT GEN (EMERITUS) RAJ KADYAN PVSM,AVSM AND VSM ADDRESSING THE RALLY
Brig Luktuke from Pune getting the Blood signatures from the Veteran's women Folk
Gp Capt VK Gandhi giving blood for the signatures
REPORT OF RALLY ON 12 NOVEMBER 2011 SATURDAY AT JANTAR MANTAR
Dear Veterans
The rally started at 1000h on 12 November 2011 Saturday at Jantar Mantar. By 1100h the venue was full.
The rally was attended by more than 3000 ex-servicemen from sepoys to Generals and more than 100 families. Veterans' of all three services recorded their presence and protest against the policies of the Government. The mood in the rally was upbeat and all veterans exuded confidence and thanked IESM for taking up the problems of ex-servicemen and bringing them to the center stage. Ex-servicemen were very appreciative of the help being given by the pension, ECHS and CSD div of IESM. In general all had exhorted the IESM leadership to continue the fight on behalf of ex-servicemen and their families with the Government till their demands were accepted by the Government. They all supported the method of protest of depositing the medals with the President and vowed to remain peaceful and within the bounds of law in our protest morchas and rallies.
The delegation from following states attended the rally.
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Bihar
3. Chandigarh
4. Delhi
5. Gujrat
6. Haryana
7. Himachal Pradesh
8. Jharkhand
9. Jammu & Kashmir
10. Kerala
11. Madhya Pradesh
12. Maharashtra
13. Punjab
14. Rajasthan
15. Tamil Nadu
16. Uttarkhand
17. Uttar Pradesh
Speakers; more than 25 speakers including women speakers addressed the rally. They exhorted the Governing body of IESM to increase pressure on the Government and confirmed their resolve that ex-servicemen would not accept anything less than full OROP. 84 year Sub Sharma came from Sangrur and addressed the rally.
Gist of Speeches; All the speakers were applauded by the crowd. All speakers encouraged the IESM to continue the fight for fulfillment of demands of ex-servicemen and fight for justice and equality. Speakers after speaker blamed the Government for the poor state of ex-servicemen and their families. All present shouted that we would not rest till OROP is granted for all ORs, JCOs and officers'.
Speakers were thankful to IESM, that on representation of IESM Government had accepted that in all future correspondence on behalf of the Government only the word JCO and OR would be used and the acronym PBOR would not be used. This decision was hailed by all present.
Speakers also criticized the Government policies of neglecting the defense personnel after extracting juice from their life and thereafter forgetting them. Army personnel are forced to retire after service of 20 years and at the age of 37 to 40 years. This is the time in their life when they have maximum responsibilities and have old parents to look after but are without a job and on meager pension. It should be the responsibility of the Government to give them job till 60 years of age as is the case of all Government employees.
Speakers warned all present and the ex-servicemen community at large to be very careful from few disgruntled veterans, who had been expelled from IESM for their anti IESM activities. These veterans were spreading rumors and were collecting funds on the name of IESM. This activity by these expelled veterans was a fraud on the ex-servicemen community. All ex-servicemen were requested to give membership fee and donations only by cheque in favour of IESM a/c no 06162000001330.
Speakers also expected more improvement in ECHS and canteen facilities where in they wanted these services to be extended to all the ex-servicemen in villages, where bulk of the ex-servicemen settle after retirement.
All the speakers were unanimous in demanding more pension for widows. They expressed that the widows were the most neglected segment of ex-servicemen family. It was surprising that the Govt did not pay any attention to the widow of a soldier who had given his life for protecting the nation.
Maj Gen Satbir Singh SM, Vice Chairman of IESM; Maj Gen Satbir Singh recounted the sacrifices made by the ex-servicemen and asked the Government that why did a sepoy who had fought in 1962 against the Chinese army, in 1965 and 1971 against the Pakistani army, in 1999 in Kargil war should get less pension than the sepoy who was retiring today or after 1 Jan 2006. He roared and wanted answer to the following questions from the Government.
Had their sacrifices been less than the sacrifices made by soldiers who are retiring today?
Was their life less important than the one's retiring or serving today?
Were they lesser citizens of Mother India than the one's retiring today?
Were their families lesser citizens of Mother India than the families of the one are retiring today?
Did those soldiers and heroes faced softer bullets than the one's facing today?
Did they live in better conditions than the one's living today?
Did they serve Mother India less than the one's serving today?
If answer to all of the above questions was NO then why should, the army personnel who retired earlier than the 1 Jan 2006, draw less pension than the army personnel who were retiring today? He questioned the Government that even Supreme Court had accepted that Government could not give different pension based on their date of retirement to the two army personnel of the same rank and length of service. He exhorted all present to go back to their villages and unite all your brothers so that we could put up a united fight against the policies of the Government. He further said that the Government only listens to vote bank and with our numbers of 22 lac ex-servicemen we can influence a vote bank of more than one crore votes hence we should all get united and force the Government to accept our demands. He invited all ex-servicemen associations in India to come forward and join hands with IESM and fight for the right of ex-servicemen. He exhorted all present and asked if a Govt does not grant OROP; Does it have a right to get our vote. All shouted back NO, NO, NO, absolute NO. He asked all to vote for the party and candidate who promises to support and ask his party to grant OROP to ex-servicemen, all raised their hands and supported the resolution. He asked do we pass the resolution today that all ex-servicemen would vote for only that party which would grant us the OROP. All present raised their hands in support of the resolution and vowed that they support the resolution. He asked do we pass the resolution that ex-servicemen would not vote for UPA (congress party and its allied parties) since they had steadfastly opposed and did not give OROP to Ex-servicemen. General Satbir Singh informed the audience that together we have about 4 crore votes and can easily influence the result of 65 to 70 parliamentary constituencies and about 250 legislative assembly seats. It was important for all of us to understand the power of our vote and use it in support of our demands.
The following important resolutions were unanimously passed by raising hands by all attendees with words “Jai Hind” and – Yes, renting the air:-
(a) Ex-servicemen would continue with their struggle till their demands are met.
(b) Ex-servicemen would not take back the medals already deposited with the president but will continue to deposit the more medals in future.
(c) The parties in power in the States would be requested to support their demand of OROP and have a resolution passed in their State Assemblies. If they did not do so, the Party in power in the State would have no right to ask for the ‘Votes’ ex- servicemen in any future elections.
(d) The present party in power (UPA) has not granted OROP (the just demand of Ex- servicemen). Ex-servicemen therefore vowed not to vote for UPA (Congress party and allied parties) in next election. The ex-servicemen would be voting for any party/candidate which would promise to give OROP to ex-servicemen.
He said that today was a very sad day in the history of India, because an army person who had never hesitated to give his blood for the Mother India was forced to sign a memorandum with his blood to the President (Supreme commander of defense forces in India). He said this was because our supreme commander, on whose order we had all given our life and blood to protect the integrity of our Mother land, had refused to listen to our legitimate demands.
He also informed the gathering that ex-servicemen had deposited 22000 medals at six occasions to the President for safe custody as mark of protest till our demand of OROP was granted by the Govt. Another 8000 medals were held with IESM as these had not been accepted by the Madame President in person. Approx 3000 medals had been received today for depositing with the President. These were on display for the world to see and note that the Supreme commander of armed forces whom ex-servicemen had served without asking a question and gave our life had disowned us and has even refused to meet the ex-servicemen.
Gen Satbir Singh informed the house that there was no shortage of funds with the Government but refusing to pay the ex-servicemen and the widows. It was a very sad day in history of India. This policy of the Government had lowered the morale of forces and veterans.
He roared and asked all to join in this fight for our rights and make the Government realize that ex-servicemen were very unhappy and angry with the treatment being given to them.
All present roared back and shouted that Gen Satbir tum lado hum tumhare saathe hain.
Lt General (Emeritus) Raj Kadyan PVSM,AVSM and VSM Chairman of IESM; Lt Gen Raj Kadyan informed all that our novel method of protest had been very effective and Government, for the first time, had accepted the principle of OROP in the speech of the President in both houses of Parliament. This could be possible only because of insurmountable pressure created by IESM by depositing the medals to the President time and again. He informed all present that he had been getting hints through many officials that the Government had enhanced pension of ex-servicemen hence ex-servicemen should now honorably take back the medals. He asked all present if they were satisfied with whatever the Government had given and all shouted back NO, NO, NO. All present further shouted that we would not take the medals back till OROP for all ex-servicemen was approved by the Government.
Gen Kadyan informed all that ex-servicemen were only depositing the medals for safe custody with the President as mark of unhappiness and protest for government's refusal to accept their genuine and long pending demand of OROP. We would honorably take back our medals as and when our demand of OROP was approved by the Government. Ex-servicemen can continue using the decorations and continue to enjoy all benefits which go with the medal as we are only depositing the medals and not repeat not returning them.
Gen Raj Kadyan informed the august gathering that on three different occasions Parliamentary committee on defense has recommended OROP for ex-servicemen but the bureaucracy has refused to accept this recommendation. Now another committee called the petition committee, (under the leadership of Sh Bhagat Singh Koshiari MP Rajya Sabha) had been constituted to study the demands of ex-servicemen and give recommendation on the demand of OROP of ex-servicemen on the petition of honorable MP (Rajya Sabha) Sh Rajeev Chandrashekhar. IESM and other organizations had made strong presentation to the committee in favor of OROP. This committee would be submitting its report to the Parliament in winter session starting from 22 Nov 11. He was hopeful that the report of petition committee was likely to favor OROP. Sh Chandra Shekhar MP Rajya Sabha was of the opinion that the success rate of the petition committee recommendation being accepted by the Government was very high.
Genral Kadyan further stated that it was beyond our comprehension that while granting increase in pension for our ORs and JCOs the Government completely forgot our widow sisters. IESM had written a letter to the Government and also met the RM but it did not yield results. Thereafter He wrote to Madam Sonia Gandhi and requested her to meet a delegation of 200 widows. Madam Sonia Gandhi's office had confirmed that she had still not recovered from the illness and hence was not in a position to accept the delegation of widows. Her office had directed the delegation to meet the RM. A delegation of widows numbering 10 members would now be meeting the RM on 14 November and he was hopeful that widows would soon get justice and increase in pension.
General Kadyan made a point that a soldier should be able to cast his vote on the place of his posting. Voting was fundamental right of every citizen of India it was not understood as why Government was constantly denying this fundamental right to the soldiers of India. He further announce that IESM would support this plan of voting on the place of posting by the soldier but it would be the responsibility of the Army HQ to register name of every soldier on his place of posting. This would enhance our voting strength and soldiers would have a greater say in policies of the country. Ex-servicemen would then be able to exert more pressure on the Government in favor of our demands.
Gen Kadyan further informed the gathering that the fight for OROP with the Government would be long and difficult. Ex-servicemen would have to keep patience and prepare for a long fight. He said it was difficult to give any time frame for the approval of OROP but he was very confident that our resolve and perseverance, to keep increasing the pressure on Government, would certainly bear fruit and OROP would be granted sooner than later. He informed that the countrymen had now understood the difficulties of the ex-servicemen and were sympathetic to our demands. This was evident by the court cases being disposed in favor of the ex-servicemen.
He reminded the ex-servicemen that the protest would remain peaceful and within the bounds of law. Ex-servicemen enjoyed a very special place in society and have a very good image of a disciplined person in the society. We would ensure that this image was maintained as society looked up to ex-servicemen as a strong and a model citizen.
He informed the gathering that IESM had deposited 22000 medals at five different occasions. Every time IESM delegation was met by a junior officer at the Rashtrapati Bhavan despite our request to Madam President to accept the medals herself. This time also he had written to the President to accept the medals in person from the delegation and give us the date and time for the meeting. He had not received any reply and hence he had written to the Rashtrapati Bhavan that IESM would be constrained to go to the press and people of the country and inform them that, the Supreme Commander under whose order soldiers happily lay down their life, had declined to even grant an audience to the brave soldiers and had refused to listen to their litany of woes. However a memorandum on behalf of the ex-servicemen would be handed over to the staff at Rashtrapati bhavan. The gathering approved this plan with a loud uproar.
The Gathering shouted slogans
OROP le ke rahenge le ke rahenge.
Fouji ekta zindabad zindabad.
Chairman thanked all for coming for the rally despite their other pressing works.
Medal Deposit; The table was handled by veteran Hony Lt Kameshwar Pandy. Ex-servicemen enthusiastically and voluntarily deposited their medals. A total of 3000 medals were collected including the ones received from various states, brought by their representatives. The medals were displayed proudly for all to see that Supreme Commander had even refused to grant an audience to her loyal soldiers.
Signature in Blood campaign; This table was handled by Brig Luktuke and veterans representing Pune Maharashtra. Veterans' were voluntarily queuing up to sign in their blood on the memorandum. Widows were more enthusiastic to sigh and register their agony against the Government apathy to their problem. There was not even a single minute free on this table and by 1300h more than 400 veterans had come forward voluntarily for withdrawal of blood signatures.
Admin arrangements; Water, tea and lunch arrangements were made for the gathering. It was appreciated by the veterans. All members of the Core group whole heartedly participated in making the rally comfortable for the veterans.
Press coverage; Press and media in India and abroad covered the event. INDIA TV, Day & Night news and PTC channels were present in full form and had recorded the proceedings of the rally. World media has also reported the event.
Membership; More than 200 members joined IESM during the rally.
Donations; IESM is very thankful to all veterans who had wholeheartedly contributed funds for the rally. IESM appreciates the contribution of all veterans and expressed that this money would be put to intensify the struggle for OROP and realizing the dreams of all veterans and widows.
IESM gives special thanks to Hony Brig A Lal Padam-shree,MD Dr Lal's Path lab, who sponsored the blood signature campaign with equipment and specialist medical cover from Dr Lal's Path lab.
IESM thanks all the veterans in making the rally successful.
IESM thanks all the veterans for donating generously for the cause of ex-servicemen.
THE FIGHT FOR OROP IS LIKELY TO BE LONG AND DIFFICULT. IESM REQUESTS ALL THE VETERANS' AND SUPPORTERS TO DONATE GENEROUSLY FOR VETERANS' CAUSE. PLEASE MAKE THE CHEQUES IN FAVOUR OF 'INDIAN EX-SERVICEMEN MOVEMENT A/C NO 06162000001330.
The Rally was closed at 1500h.
Gp Capt VK Gandhi VSM
Gen Sec IESM
L - 48, Sector - 25,
NOIDA. 201301
Tele no 01202519440
Mobile 09810541222
13 November 2011
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REPORTS OF THE RALLY COVERED BY NEWS PAPERS IS GIVEN ON NEXT PAGE
REPORT FROM INDIAN EXPRESS PUNE
SOME IMPORTANT PICTURES OF THE RALLY HELD AT JANTAR MANTAR
ON 12 NOVEMBER 2011 FROM 1000H TO 1500H
