The video clip aired by leading
English news channels of the country bringing to fore the pitiable conditions
in which our soldiers and servicemen are living in inhospitable terrain up in
the Himalayan border glaciers, braving all odds and ills in the service of the
nation, came as a rude shock to me and
millions of fellow countrymen.
The clip features a soldier
stationed in a border post on Indo-Pakistan border in the state of Jammu and
Kashmir, and has been filmed by himself, in which he explains the travails undergone
by him and other men of his company at the hands of his / their superior officers.
He elaborates that soldiers serving at such hostile places are not provided with adequate,
healthy food. What can one say about this
startling revelation, other than getting
dumbstruck by the indifference and
lethargy shown and practiced in the military hierarchy..
We hear about peasants, artisans,
petty traders and businessmen, the downtrodden and the ordinary have-nots going
hungry due to natural calamities, acts of God, unemployment and other related
reasons. But this is the first time we have seen a hungry soldier, who in fact is
a “Dwara Paalaka” of the nation,
narrating his tale of woe before public gaze. What a shame? While the
viewing disturbed the mind, the thought and ground scenario remains detestable
and indigestible.
This video has been viewed by millions all over the world. Will it not
present our nation in a bad light. Have we not failed, sinned our brave hearts,
who deserve nothing other the best in food and comfort. Such callous treatment meted
out to the nation’s guardians is worrisome, the mindset behind it being
undecipherable. If not corrected on a war footing, it may have a telling effect
on the morale of the serving personnel over the years.
We see public money being wasted /
looted unabashedly at will by the bureaucrats and echelons of political class,
without much of a hue and cry being raised by the citizens, as their only hope to
curb such rapaciousness lies on the judiciary.
Let this video be an eye opener to
the Government and the Defence Department, who should bestow serious attention on this disturbing
state of affairs and correct the wrong done to our servicemen, to whom every
ordinary citizen is indebted for life.
Jai Jawan.
