An Open letter to Mr Chetan Bhagat as a reply to his article on OROP

Article dated 20 Sept 2015 in the Times of India.
For your reference http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/The-underage-optimist/its-time-to-analyze-orop-with-our-head-not-our-heart/

Dear Mr Chetan Bhagat,

Before I shoot straight from the hip let me elicit few accolades which you certainly deserve. I love the way you write and the manner in which you involve us with the characters in the book. I have read a few books authored by you like 'Five point someone' and 'Two states' . Two States was fantastic. You seem to have researched the two communities brilliantly. Currently I am reading your book 'Making India awesome'.

I was amazed and shocked at the article you wrote in the Times of India of 19 Sep 2015 on OROP. A person of your caliber I feel should not have written such a distasteful, ill researched piece. Being one of my favorite authors I suddenly realized that you too have clay feet. Let me take you on point by point -

1. You say that 'with the Army's selfless sacrifice, the Army enjoys a lot of support from the civilians' . You are wrong Mr Bhagat. An average Indian civilian citizen has scant knowledge of the Forces unless that particular generation had witnessed a war. Compare our forces with that of the US and UK. Don’t you feel that their civilians feel much more for their  forces and are extremely well  informed? Three or  four patriotic Hindi films do not make a difference to our population.

2. OROP a misnomer according to you. Why do you think the IAS, IFS get the OROP without a fast unto death at the Jantar Mantar. Why is their 'Over the table' component so different from ours. Let me not elaborate about their 'under the table' dealings since it would be quite a mean thing for me to do. Why did the previous pay commissions not have a single member from the armed forces. Is this justified.
3. You speak about the 12 Crores to veterans as OROP. Do you know that out of the 60000 Crore Defence budget, 45% of it goes to the civilians. And what about the crores written off by successive governments to pursue their political agenda. We have an example glaring into our faces right now. Bihar has been given 1,21,000 crores, just before their elections. The deed is indeed very large hearted but the timing is questionable. The Telengana chief minister's maharaja kind of visit in crores, the 'Pravasa Yatra' from Karnataka with families to foreign lands at the cost of our ex-checker to learn how to milk cows, as one foolish 'leader' nonchalantly said on media, indeed is thought provoking. The subsidized Biryanis and Mutton Roghan Josh at the Parliament's canteen is also praise worthy!
4. 'To pay veterans more or new hires more': My take on this is that the veterans too have given the prime of their lives in those ancient days with the same challenges with hardly any facilities for a paltry sum of money. That generation of veterans had also fought wars. One  in 1947-1948 against the marauders, 1962 the Chinese debacle, 1965 the Pakistan War, 1971 - Independence of Bangladesh and 1998 the Kargil War. The pension the earlier veterans are drawing is so miniscule and cannot be even termed as a payback for the services rendered. Do not forget our PoW's, still languishing in prisons unknown, across our borders. What is the state of their families, have you given a thought to this?

5. 'Soldiers retired safe and sound' -Does not mean that at some point or the other these soldiers have not faced life threatening situations and many a narrow miss. It is not you and me, but God's benevolent grace that has brought them back home. I am sure you believe in the life line, don’t you.

6. There is no emotion behind asking for OROP -  It has been the soldier's right since 1973 when pensions of Armed Forces were brought down from 70% to 50%, while the civilian pensions were increased. Thereafter successive pay commissions diluted what was left including our stature in the hierarchy. You will be surprised to know that one of our veterans Maj Dhanapalan had to go to the Kerala High Court for the correct interpretation of the 'Rank Pay'. Despite the verdict in favour of the soldier, the babus made sure that the entire amount was not paid. There are cases in this regard being fought in the Supreme Court even today.
7. 'Politicians Bad and Army Good' - You seem to have used a broad brush technique here. No one will ever say that all politicians are bad and all soldiers good.
8. You don’t have to do much now to disrespect soldiers, you have already done the needful. The rest of it has been taken care by gagging the press. Free press is a democratic right. Your peer, Mr Arnab Goswami, another alumni of the IIM , who I thought was bold and upfront seems to be muffled too. He fights vehemently for every other issue under the sun and the least  for the OROP. I am confused, Mr Bhagat, are we still in a democratic nation or a dictatorial one?
9. You have missed the crux. This is not an agitation to increase pensions. It is to give our veterans their dues, which have been wrongly denied to them by successive governments. Your questions are no more amusing. It challenges your basic intellect. You also seem to be trying to cut wedges amongst the Armed Forces with your do's and do not's. But you did not know that we are more grounded, disciplined and can walk shoulder to shoulder  with our comrades.

10. Your motive in writing this article seems suspect or you have fuddled somewhere. Being the son of an Army officer, please ask your dad whether he agrees with what you say. Thank you for speaking against us. A noteworthy writer like you is being used as a pawn in the game to spread misinformation. You could enjoy a blooming romance in the IIM  because there were soldiers without their families standing guard watching over us, as we ate, slept, played, studied and worked. If not for that soldier, leave alone romance, considering our invaders, even looking at a lady would have become a crime. You may take Afghanistan as a good example for this. Don’t get me wrong on this please. I too love romantic novels and movies. This subject has been already analyzed by the heart. While I agree with you that we need to think with our brains, may I also add that the cobwebs that have gathered on it  have to be cleared to allow rational and justified thinking. Let the heart fall in love while the brain starts to work. 

Written by an Army Veteran's Wife.

Mrs Sarah Koshy Johnson