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Analysis | Share This Page | |||||||||
An Army for Elections! |
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by Dr. Rajinder Puri |
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There are longstanding and most valid demands by army personnel that have been ignored callously by politicians of all hues who never tire of hypocritically shedding crocodile tears for soldiers who lay down their lives in the line of duty. Since service rules prevent military personnel from public expression of grievances or from union activity it is left to retired soldiers to voice demands on behalf of serving personnel and of themselves.
First there is the demand that all retired military personnel should receive for each rank equal pension regardless of the year of retirement. This is a perfectly reasonable demand considering inflationary trends that render pensions earlier sanctioned to be unreasonably meagre. This facility is granted to judges, MPs, MLAs and senior IAS and IFS officers. Why should it be denied to army personnel? The government’s refusal to concede this longstanding reasonable demand, and for no single political party to take it up earnestly, exposes the hypocrisy of the political class. They must help themselves. How can they do that?
It is time that they considered the state of the nation, their own untapped strength, and then decide what they can do. There is an alarming political vacuum in the country. There is total collapse of credibility and reputation of politicians in general. There is unprecedented disenchantment among members of the public who desperately yearn for change. In other words the situation calls for a genuine new political alternative that can pull the nation out of the hole it has dug itself into. That is why sections of civil society agitating for reform have entered direct politics. That is why new small political outfits are sprouting everywhere. That is why even professionals in Delhi have banded together to form a new political party. These gallant efforts are not likely to create significant impact. That is where the Ex-Servicemen’s Movement can fill the breach.
All serving military personnel can exercise their votes in elections. Only they cannot participate in political activity or campaigning. But ex-servicemen can. Their movement boasts of around 35000 full and associate members spread across the nation. There over 1.5 million registered ex-servicemen in India. There are over 5 million military personnel including ex-servicemen, serving armed forces, reserves and paramilitary forces. That means over 5 million households. On a conservative estimate that would suggest there would be between 20 to 25 million voters. All these voters, as educated, trained and respected members of society, could undoubtedly exert influence on many others. And the core of this constituency would be bound together by a common culture of discipline, efficiency and patriotism. All members would have undergone training that taught them to rise above caste and community. It is a constituency widely respected by ordinary people. Is it not an awesome constituency? So why not put it to good use? Why, then, do not ex-servicemen bite the bullet and create a genuine national alternative that conforms to 21st century culture? To accomplish this they would have take the following steps.
All existing parties and politicians, big or small, should be welcomed into the movement if they are committed to its agenda. All political parties should be welcomed to join the new national party if these are prepared to dissolve their identities to fully and unconditionally merge with it. There is a whole new class of young Indians waiting for such an alternative. There have mushroomed small parties that could be co-opted into this new national alternative. |
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18-Aug-2013 | ||||||||||
More by : Dr. Rajinder Puri | ||||||||||
Views: 1379 Comments: 3 | ||||||||||
Comments on this Article
Dinesh Kumar Bohrw 08/22/2013 14:22 PM
Col Thakur Singh 08/22/2013 09:57 AM
Ashwani 08/19/2013 12:32 PM |
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