Jai Hind: Proud to be an Indian

Kargil , the name, which was not, that heard of before the 1999 war, became a theme and a central point for national security. Not many of you remember the name “Sanjay Kumar”. He is not a youth icon, bollywood star, politician, industrialist but a soldier in Indian Army. Killing five enemy personnel, lifting a machine gun while hit by a bullet in thigh muscle, lobbying a grenade and clearing a important army post.

It is not a narration of any popular bollywood film but a real life scene enacted by Rifleman Sanjay Kumar of the 13 JAK Rif in “Operation Vijay” while capturing army post in the Mushkoh Valley. The highest decoration for valour is the Param Vir chakra which is awarded for the most conspicuous bravery or some daring or preeminent act of valour self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy, whether on the land,at sea or in the air. Sanjay was awarded Param Vir Chakara and only one of handful of personnel to be conferred this highest military award. Little did the PVC awardee know that his act would bring this laurel, for him it was a part of the duty which was executed with perfection.

Of late the India Army is always in headlines for various wrong reasons including fratricides, suicides, lack of job satisfaction and a host of other wrong reasons. This post is also not different. Rifleman Sanjay Kumar is humiliated after being reverted to a lower rank. Sanjay was promoted to ‘Havildar’ after Kargil but now after five years he is demoted to post of ‘lance naik’. It is being said that there are some issues and Sanjay wanted to meet then Army Chief General JJ Singh but nothing concrete happened. In an talk to a leading National Daily, Hindustan Times, Army PRO Colonel Sudhir Sakhuja told, “No provision exists for out-of-turn promotions of gallantry award winners.” Strangely enough, Army sources said that Kumar was “promoted at the unit level”. It is an insult of a “SOLDIER” who lives and dies for our Nation. This callous behaviour of Army will make roads tough for them to attract young people to join Army. The army is currently facing a crisis – it is short of over 11,000 officers ranging from the rank of Captain to Major. Despite glossy advertisement campaigns like ‘Be an Army man: Be a winner for life’, the armed forces continue to face a serious shortage of officers. If they can make a serious introspection then they won’t be unanswered about the reasons behind the shortage.
India is proud of its defence forces but they aren’t showing any respect to them any more. The indifference is such that former General JJ Singh went on to say that “Defence people are not getting what they should”. It is pity that after sixty years of independence, no Indian Government has made an official National War Memorial to our soldiers. We still honour our dead at India Gate, built by our former masters to honour the bravery or soldiers who died fighting wars for their Empire. Its high time we as a nation started giving our war heroes what is actually their due. The decision like this where a soldier is humiliated is a shame on our government gearing for 59th Republic Day. A soldier spends a lifetime guarding the nations frontiers under extremely hostile conditions, and finally pays with his life is confined to the dustbins of history. Its high time we woke up from our slumber, and give the soldier his due. They are the true soldiers of the country’s fortune going ahead – a source of inspiration for many including me.

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