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| On the eve of Independence Day, BJP's police targetted ex-servicemen | | One Rank One Pension & Jantar Mantar Episode | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 14: Had anybody ever imagined that the Delhi Police, which is under Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, will ever target and cane-charge our brave ex-servicemen, who sacrificed their all for the defence of the country, but, sadly, it happened today and that too on the eve of Independence Day. Our dedicated ex-servicemen/veterans had been sitting on peaceful relay hunger strike at Jantar Mantar for 61 days urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fulfill his commitment that he would implement One Rank One Pension (OROP), but all of their passionate pleas and the 61-day-old dharna didn't move the Modi Government. Narendra Modi himself had made commitment to this effect during the Lok Sabha election campaign and he had also reassured the war veterans that he would implement OROP after becoming Prime Minister.
On Friday, many war veterans declared that the ex-servicemen of all ranks across the nation would observe the Independence Day as a day of protest against the insensitive and ungrateful political leadership (read the Prime Minister and his colleagues in the government). Some of them even declared that they would observe the Independence Day as "Black Day" to register their disgust against the authorities in case the Prime Minister failed to announce implementation of OROP in his Red Fort Independence Day speech.
It appears all this didn't go well with the BJP. How else should one interpret what the BJP-controlled New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC) and the Rajnath Singh-controlled police did to the peaceful hunger strikers at Jantar Mantar? On Friday morning, the NDMC and the police asked all protesters to leave Jantar Mantar for 24 hours, until Independence Day celebrations were complete. When the peaceful ex-servicemen were sitting on dharna on the 62nd day, the police swung into action to forcibly evict them from Jantar Mantar. The police action resulted in a scuffle with infuriated ex-servicemen also taking on the police.
The DCP Vijay Singh (New Delhi) said that the NDMC had planned a drive to clear the area for Friday and Saturday. "All protesters were told on Thursday to vacate Jantar Mantar, but the OROP protesters are adamant not to leave. That is why the police are forcibly removing them," he said. However, United Front of Ex-Servicemen spokesperson Col Anil Kaul (retd) rejected all the suggestions of the Delhi police and asserted that "we have the permission needed to hold the protest and have been protesting peacefully". "This is just an attempt to get rid of us, as they don't have an answer to our demands," he further said.
Soon, however, the BJP leadership realized that the action of the BJP-controlled NDMC and police could boomerang and dent its image across the country, the police under the instructions of their political masters, called off the eviction exercise and let the protesters continue with their demonstrations. "We have not given any permission to continue, but we will not be evicting them anymore," said Vijay Kumar. He refused to cite any reasons for the change in decision which he said was a joint one by the police and NDMC.
Notwithstanding the fact that the NDMC and the Delhi Police allowed the protesting ex-servicemen to continue their relay hunger strike at the same venue and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announced that the BJP-led NDA is committed to implement OROP rule, the damage has been done. The BJP has alienated the entire community of ex-servicemen, as also even the servicing forces by its action which no Indian national would appreciate. The fact of the matter is that the BJP has been alienated the people across the country with each passing day like it happened in Jammu region where the party has become an object of contempt and ridicule.
In the meantime, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi lambasted the Modi Government for its negative attitude towards ex-servicemen and asked the Prime Minister to make an announcement on OROP without losing a single moment. |
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