We know some funny parsi people, don't we ? May be you would name Boman Irani or Cyrus Broacha. But I would zero up on our vary own Sam Bahadur Manekshaw. Trust me, Sam(taking a liberty to call him 'Sam') was the funniest of all. A small incident should make you believe so. Sam was almost pronounced dead in 1942 in world war II and a military surgeon almost denied to operate then captain Manekshaw since he was badly hit by nine bullets in lung, liver and kidneys. Surgeon asked what happened to him, funny Sam replied " Oh, a donkey kicked". This sense of humour at such a critical moment becomes a decisive for the history of Indian armed forces. Surgeon decided to operate Sam. And field marshal Sam Bahadur Manekshaw gets 'a page' in the Indian History.
I read Karan Thapar in HT and bit more in Economist and finally quietly observed some controversy about the funeral ceremony of this man. It was't funny anymore this time. Let me take you to neighbour Pakistan before I target my guns to few stakeholders of this controversy. Do you by any chance remember any truly democratic leader ruled this nation called Pakistan ? or any leader leading the nation without intervention of Army ? Almost no one. Not even "Secular Jinnha" (word 'secular' for Mr. Jinnha has copyright implications.. as Mr. Advani has it all..). Come back to point. All dictators of Pak we know belong to Army. Reason ? To put it simply - Foundation of the nation. Compare both India and Pakistan. India have had no such Generals or chiefs who forced the leaders to quite by the way of Bagawat. Credits to Founder leaders of nations. Hold on, that's my point. Equal credits to Founder Field Marshals/chiefs/Army Generals of such time. In today's time, it looks quite normal but it is abnormal in the times when your counterpart in Pak gets the highest rank simply removing/hanging the electoral leader of the house.
Except some difference of opinion during Naheru-Kariappa and some more, I see no major conflicts even if the Heads of Army had to forgo some credits. I just drew the comparison of those times because history sometime matters.
Whose responsible ? All. Let us accept, not just leaders of India but we all some how responsible for not being fair for giving enough credits to Field Marshals/Army chiefs/Generals. Who equally built/build the nation but just in oblivion and not on headlines of the national broadsheets. Some important questions for my readers which will explain the perspective. When we were in search of a true Bharat Ratna nominee for a such a long, couldn't we find Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw for these many years ? Not even media, who publishes a long wish list and some top 10/20 people in many areas(which also many times suggest the nominee). Are our leaders so insensitive about such a man who fought for four decades with highest military honour of Field Marshal ? If we could honour VV Giri or Amartya Sen(just because he gets Nobel prize, how many politicians knew him otherwise), why not some one from Army who brought a brave and famous victory of '71 war ? Its not just about the Bharat Ratna Award. Take another instance. What is the order of precedence, we offer to our Air/Naval/Army Chiefs ? Much below than some of the bureaucrats, e.g. member of planning commission or some former chief ministers etc.
Lets accept, if we can not offer same salary and perks what other gets but we can and we must honour them they the way they should be. It is not yet too late. Does Sam gets posthumous Bharat Ratna next year or not remains a question mark. I feel he would go back to oblivion. Though, we must prove that we are not "Donkeys" he referred for Japanese in 1942.
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Last take for readers : What is history and who writes it ? It is a chapter written by a victorious, all about how good and right he was. That is why we do not hate Nobel prize winner Sir Winston Churchill just as much as Adolf Hitler.
And Finally, What is your take on nuclear deal ? As they say, which side of the Jerusalem you are in ? so its just a matter of inclination you have for a political party not just a plain truth it seems. .
1 comment:
Hey Jinu,
so much worry for an old man? I am sure you will open an old age home really soon : )) A good person to talk about but a bad debate to start with. Donkeys will be donkeys for a long time. Evolution doesnt happen fortnightly. Indian politics is responsible for thousands of such cases when the deserving never received what they deserved.
To begin with, the Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibhushan and the Bharat Ratna are the three highest civilian honours, given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature, Science.....bla bla. It is not that Sam Bahadur was not recognized. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1968 for a major role in counter-insurgency operations in the Indian North-east. After the 1971 war with Pakistan, he also received the Padma Vibhushan in 1972. Bharat Ratna was definitely for him, provided the politicians became sane. Now this is heights of optimism ; )
Thankfully, you never though of suggesting politics to Sam when he was alive. I am sure he would have given you tight one in the face. He did his bit by sitting on the Boards and governing councils of many big Indian corporate houses. But surely, he never wanted to bewilder himself into politics. Thats the last idiotic thing someone as intelligent as Sam would like to do.
Last lap.....nuke deal. Its good for now. Give left a kick on behind and just carry on with some logical steps. India has better things to worry about. We are losing on outsourcing jobs to Latin America. Oil dependence is burning away our money (in real terms by the whooping inflation and in nominal terms through the stock markets). Journalism is dieing at the behest of India TV and Aaj Tak. Lets unpack on these. Great going.....u must get a column in HT.
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