NEW DELHI: “Sadda haq aithe rakh.” (Give me my rights here and now). The slogans rent the air at Jantar Mantar when Maj Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, leading the protest in Jantar Mantar for the last 83 days, announced the government has accepted their One Rank One Pension demand, two hours before Parrikar made a formal announcement at 3 pm.
The jubilant veterans started clapping, climbing on chairs and hugging each other forgetting the ranks they once held. The ten jawans sitting on indefinite hunger strike held hands and shouted slogans of victory in unison.
It took more than 15 minutes for Singh to control them. Finally, he had to shout on the mike, “Yaar fauji chup karjoo.... Yar sainik pariwar chup kar jaayo!” (Soldiers, please be silent!) It took organizers and volunteers 15 minutes to get it done.
Singh declared, “We have told government that in army there is no concept of VRS but it’s premature retirement. The government has agreed to consider the issue.” The crowd repeated, “Sadda haq aithe rakh.”
Relieved, some went for cup of tea. Many grabbed chilled water bottles, cold drinks. Some even ate kala jamuns to celebrate. .
However, what had really annoyed the protesting army men was that next to their venue, a group of people on dharna for the release of Asaram Bapu had encroached their space. Still they kept their discipline, as if on a battlefield. Colonel Tek Pal Singh told The Sunday Standard that when he and his colleagues sat on protest from June 14 onwards at Jantar Mantar, they were not hopeful that government will accept their demand. But behind the curtains few veterans were discussing strategies and the steps to be taken after the government makes the announcement. They were divided over OROP for jawans who have taken VRS In the end, they decided to continue their agitation if the jawans were left out.
Said Subedar Joshi GD “There are some people and bureaucrats who tried to sabotage our fight by not including OROP for VRS people. Their malicious campaign is to drive a wedge between government and our leadership.” OROP volunteer and social media campaigner Atul Dubey said that AAP members were trying to hijack the entire campaign while BJP members were trying to kill it. “We welcomed people from political parties supporting us but we ensured that they did not play politics. At one point of time AAP leaders and members were trying to take over the campaign but we stopped them.”
The Battle of Jantar Mantar started in earnest when eight veterans went on indefinite hunger strike on August 17, seeking OROP. Thereafter, from August 27, four other retired jawans joined and on August 30 one more joined the hunger strike. Time to enjoy the fruits of their suffering, now.