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Sunday, July 27, 2014

NDTV’s “The Buck Stops Here” from Kargil: How our soldiers are treated by the system!

You may want to squeeze out some time to watch this important panel discussion on NDTV's “The Buck Stops Here” with Barkha Dutt, live from Kargil.

The Central theme of the discussion was the treatment meted out by the system to our military veterans, especially our disabled and war disabled soldiers.

The panelists were Former Vice Chief Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, Former Defence Secretary Mr Ajay Prasad, NDTV’s Senior Editor (Defence) Mr Nitin Gokhale, Member of Parliament Mr Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Maj Navdeep Singh, Advocate Punjab & Haryana High Court.


12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great Show. Highlighted the apathy of the Babus

Anonymous said...

Deear Maj Navdeep,

Saw other day you all in NDTV...the program was very touching.

Just wish to clarify one doubt...I am a Battle Casualty in "OP Rakshak" with 40% of disability. Won't I be applicable for War Injury pension at the time of my retirement..?

Request clarify please.

Regards.

Anonymous said...

Bizarre location complete with tiny flags.....

Col Tarlochan Singh said...

Col Tarlochan Singh.
Excellent and very appropriate for the occasion. Accurately brought out the real powers which want the Indian Defence forces to be weakened. Hope some one from the ruling dispensation saw and the program and learnt a few lessons to correct the wrong being done to the defence forces before it is too late for the nation.

capital P said...

Should 've been interesting to know the bureaucrats view point...is not the bureaucracy to blame for lotz of ill in the services !!

ANUPAM TIWARI said...

heavy heart is what I have after seeing this talk......shameful that system cannot do anything but reason for not giving paltry pension....jai hind hai....

Cdr (Retd) KK Chaudhary said...

I watched it. It was wonderful. Lt Gen Oberoi was at his best and Maj Navdeep brought out the points very emphatically. The Ex Def Sec had no option but to support what the truth was. Good show.

Rajax said...

Lessons learnt after Kargil have not been implemented and stonewalling the declassification of 62 War Archives has diverted attention from the fact that we fought in Sri Lanka - another war and learnt a lesson - MoD and the Civil Bureauacracy are absolutely clueless in handling responsibility. 1971 was an exception simply because the Chief could walk up to the PM instead of clueless bureaucrats handling the affairs. It is time for the COSC. The MoD to be disbanded and replaced by IDS with professional Military at the helm of affairs + Civilians only in an advisory role. Including in Financial Matters.

KK Punchhi said...

There should be a new slogan coined for the servicemen .... "The bullet stops here"

Alok Asthana said...

Apathy of India towards the soldier is a reality. The mindset of 120 crore people does not change through occasional TV programs or even a change in government. The message of the nation is clear - Take your pay and whatever allowances applicable as per the order of the day and scoot. If you look carefully, that happens everywhere. Don't we all survey the pros and cons of a job and decide whether to take it up or not? Why crib later? My take is that if you wish to join the army for a pretty good life while you are in service, join it. But if you are looking to have the country hail you, forget it. Be realistic while making the initial choice. I made that choice after getting impressed by the NDA blazer my cousin wore on term breaks. Never regretted it. Expectations from India? Nah! But if the call is made, I'll treat them the same way as they treat me.

Col Puneet Tewari (Retd) said...

Thank you, Navdeep,
The one thing that stood out once again was the indifference and antagonism of the babus, in spite of the ‘correct’ statements made by the civil servant present. The babus seem to be the only people in this country unmoved by the heroism and sacrifices of the soldier. In fact, the more the services are praised, the more the babus seem to dig in their heels against the military.
As Mr Chandrashekhar said, the reason why the bureaucracy is so vehemently anti-military is beyond me. It can’t be mere jealousy of the respect commanded by the services among the common man or the fact that the babu remains Shri ---, whatever his rank in the civil services, while every soldier has a title which he justly and proudly uses by right. Or is it because they are referred to as ‘babus’, (usually derisively) whatever their rank. It is up to them to gain the respect of society; cynically hurting the services because they are respected far more than them is odious.
The ‘correct’ statements made by the ex defence secretary are so typical of the babus – say the right thing but do nothing on the ground. When he was defence secretary, did he correct this harassment of soldiers ? – a large number of the present cases would have been current in his time too.
Two other aspects that convey the attitude of these guys. The attempt to include the service HQs in culpability of incorrect policies he knows are actually decided only by the civil bureaucracy. Gen Oberoi corrected Mr Arun Prasad. The second may be minor, but could the gentleman have not changed his body language (the imperious look) in view of the solemnity of the occasion. Or maybe the ‘obedient’ look is only reserved for politicians that matter at that time.
Col Puneet Tewari (Retired)

Anonymous said...

Dear Maj Navdeep,
The Min of Roads and Transport has issued an office memorandum which states that exemption from toll is not available to soldiers who are not moving on duty in their personal vehicles.May I request you to clarify this issue in your blog.