Aryasamaj

AUM
WAR VETERANS AMONG MONEYED PATRIOTS
By Chitranjan Sawant
My first experience of watching war veterans among money-making civilians was in Pune, Maharashtra in 1962.. The short but deadly war between the two neighbours was decisive and we Indians had lost the war rather badly. The Indian soldiers had fought fairly well but they had not been trained nor armed to fight against the seasoned soldiers of the People's Liberation Army that had been billeted in Tibet since 1950 and were well acclimatised. The Indian commanding general and his general staff were nowhere to be found when they were needed most to issue orders and directions for an orderly withdrawal as prescribed in the military books as an Operation of War.
BADLY BATTERED INDIAN JAWANS
In the Artificial Limb Centre of the Indian Army I saw, met and greeted badly battered Jawans. Many of them had lost a limb or two and felt bitter about not being evacuated from the battle field well in time so that the limb could be saved by the army surgeon deployed in the First Aid Post. Some soldiers had lost their loved ones, some missed their bosom friends who were taken prisoner by the advancing Chinese army. The mood was not for promoting friendship and the Indian strangers they came across in Pune were not very appreciative of their role in the battle field. Later I learnt from the press reports in the local dailies that many civilian welfare organisations had organised distribution of goodies to the walking wounded and had sent some to the army hospitals to be given away to the bed-ridden Jawans just back from the jungles and hills of NEFA or the North Eastern Frontier Agency now renamed as Arunachal Pradesh as a full fledged state of the Union of India.
GIFTS GALORE
The rich money-making civilians had themselves and their families photographed buying gifts for the walking wounded, and arranging cash amounts to be sent to the commanding officers of the battalions mauled by the Red army of China. In some cases many officers and Jawans of units were taken prisoners of war by the victorious People's Liberation Army and there was no one at the paltan's address authorised to receive cash amounts or expensive gifts. Nevertheless the rich businessmen motivated by patriotic feelings and fervour chose to press on and had the items sent to the Adjutant General's branch of the Army Headquarters. There was a general appreciation of civilians, poor citizens and even school children contributing to the war effort by raising the morale of the living and kin of the dead by delivering presents to show and register the point "The Nation Loves You , our Brave Jawans".
The patriotic fervour was more noticeable in 1999 when India fought a war against Pakistan in Kargil. The morale went sky high when a soldier put on a sweater sent by students from remote corners of the country.
THE NATION FOUGHT THE WAR AND DEFEATED PAKISTAN. Vande Mataram, said the Nation in unison.