Author: Sridhar Kumaraswami
Publication: Haindava Keralam
Date: April 12, 2009
URL: http://www.haindavakeralam.com/HKPage.aspx?PageID=8566&SKIN=B
It's official now. The Indian Ex-servicemen's
Movement on Sunday decided to back the BJP in the coming general election
and extended "advice" to 24 lakh ex-servicemen across the country
to vote for the BJP.
Announcing the decision of the "core
group", former Army deputy chief Lt. Gen. Raj Kadyan (Retd) told ex-servicemen
at a protest meeting here on Sunday: "BJP leader L.K. Advani told us
that the BJP would ensure the implementation of the 'one-rank-one-pension'
demand if it comes back to power. This is the truth. I'm sure Mr Advani will
fulfil this promise. I will vote for the BJP. I think we should vote for the
BJP."
Lt. Gen. Kadyan made no secret of the disillusionment
of ex-servicemen with the UPA government, which had rejected the "one-rank-one-pension"
demand. "I was merely making the announcement (advice to vote for BJP)
on behalf of the core group of the movement. The decision was unani-
mous," Lt. Gen. Kadyan told reporters
later.
When asked if this amounted to the "saffronisation"
of ex-servicemen, Lt. Gen. Kadyan said: "No. That is not the case. We
will vote for the party which gives us justice. If the BJP does not deliver
on its promise in case it comes to power, then we will oppose them too."
When asked whether the decision could evoke
opposition due to controversies over the Gujarat riots of 2002 and the Kandhamal
riots last year, Lt. Gen. Kadyan told reporters: "Every party can be
questioned. But the BJP has promised to ensure justice for us. That's why
we have decided to keep these issues (Gujarat and Kandhamal) aside."
Despite the advice to vote for the BJP, Lt.
Gen. Kadyan also told ex-servicemen that the movement would support ex-servicemen
candidates from wherever they contest since they understand the plight of
ex-servicemen much better than civilians.
However, a few ex-servicemen at the meeting
did express some reservations in private over the "advice". "I
made it clear we will vote for those who support us. It is not as if we are
voting for the BJP on ideological grounds," said one former officer who
did not want to be identified.
The decision of the ex-servicemen's movement
to vote for the BJP is also bound to evoke opposition from some like Samajwadi
Party candidate for Lucknow Nafisa Ali. Ms Ali had attended a protest meeting
of the movement in New Delhi last year since she is an ex-serviceman's wife,
but people like her will be in no position to endorse the appeal to vote for
the BJP. Her party, the SP, is also firmly opposed to the BJP on ideological
grounds.
It may be recalled that the BJP, in its election
manifesto, had promised a slew of welfare measures for armed forces personnel
such as income-tax exemption and resolution of all pay grievances, and had
also promised implementation of the "one-rank-one-pension" demand.
Lt. Gen. Kadyan also sought to allay any fears
of politicisation of the armed forces, saying the armed forces had always
obeyed civil authority, irrespective of who was in power. He said that sometimes,
even when the armed forces knew that a certain decision was not in the national
interest (such as dispatch of the IPKF to Sri Lanka in the 1980s), the forces
still implemented the government's decision.
But at the same time, he pointed out that
since the military too had the right to vote, it was also the vote-seeker's
right to convince military voters on why they should vote for them. "Some
amount of politicisation is therefore important," Lt. Gen. Kadyan said.
Scores of demonstrators had gathered at the
venue of the protest meeting near Ashoka Road here. A large section of the
protesters were from neighbouring Haryana. Former soldiers in their rural
attire along with former senior officers in Western outfits complete with
ties came together on a common platform to press for justice. However, a few
former service chiefs who are members of the movement were conspicuous by
their absence on Sunday.