The
Delhi Defence Review has reviewed my book, Maimed by the System (2018).
If you haven't read it, please do so,
these stories need to be shared, told and assimilated. All purchase links available
at www.navdeep.info
The
review by Saryu Bansal can be
accessed by clicking here.
The
following is its reproduction:
Being Maimed by the System: A note
Saryu Bansal
‘The
moment that justice must be paid for by the victim of injustice it becomes
itself injustice’, said Benjamin R Tucker.
No
contemporary published work elucidates this quote more than the book, Maimed
by the System, a book that needed, no demanded, to be written. This book
encompasses the struggle and strife of military personnel, veterans, disabled
soldiers and their families who fought the system to get was legally due to
them anyway.
As
such, the book in question, which is a revised edition, has been authored
by Major Navdeep Singh, a practicing advocate at the Punjab and Haryana
High Court and a (former) Territorial Army officer.
The
book is in two parts – the first comprises 22 accounts of the travails and
tribulations of soldiers and their families who have had to fight protracted
battles with a seemingly unsympathetic system, to claim their rights,
post-disability. The second part compiles selected works of the author
published on various platforms. This part also recounts the problems faced by
the men in uniform at the hands of apathetic institutions, governments and
policy makers.
The
idea behind the book is to foreground the difficulties faced by soldiers and
their kin, and to make contemporary society aware of the prevalent situation,
in the hope that it will serve as a catalyst for galvanizing support to change
the narrative. It must be said, that this book could not have come from a more
befitting person, someone who has been a witness and stakeholder on both sides,
having served as a soldier and now is a part of the legal system.
Though
the preface mentions that these are also stories of hope and triumph, they
sometimes leave the reader with a sense of despair. Consider the case of
disabled soldier, Bachan Singh, who fought in Cairo in World War II. Released
by the Army on grounds of disability, he had to fight for six decades to get
his pension, and received it at the age of 98, only to pass away right after.
In those decades of penury, he lived in a Gurudwara for sustenance. It seems
that the system not only takes away the financial support that is due to our
soldiers, but also strips them and their families of their right to a dignified
existence. The adage ‘justice delayed is justice denied’, rings hard and true,
one would think.
Now
the book itself is a relatively easy read and is devoid of unnecessary military
and legal jargon. The stories are succinct, to the point, including only
relevant details. However, the stories could do with direct quotes from the
soldiers and their families, to make the reader feel their pain even more
acutely. Despite this, the book achieves what the author had set out to do. It
is a well-researched book, clearly bringing forth the lackadaisical attitude of
the system towards giving those who have served and lost, what they deserve.
The book reveals how policies are misinterpreted and end up being held above
the Constitution and the law. The author believes that ‘judgments repeatedly
rendered by Courts are not applied to other affected parties based upon principles
settled therein and equally and similarly placed individuals are forced to
litigate on same issues again and again and again.’
However,
as the author says, the aim of this book is to inspire us to do good, and not
complacently sit on our hands. Efforts on his part, and that of others, are
perhaps beginning to bear fruit. The amount of litigation has definitely come
down, but much is yet to be achieved. And that is why this book had to be
written and demands to be read, because all of us have to fight for the rights
of those who fought for us, day in and day out.
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