Punjab as the sword arm of the country has made Punjabis and soldiers synonymous. Moment, you talk of a soldier, picture of a Sikh soldier comes up. Known for their valour, discipline, commitment, patriotism and above all the spirit of sacrifice, Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular, were the number one choice for the British in adding strength to their defence forces.
Even after independence, Sikhs continued to play a major role in the defence forces of the country, always maintaining its singular lead role in sacrifices in the defence of the country. Another day when a book on the “Military History of Sikhs” was released at Chandigarh Press Club, the select gathering carried the elite of Indian defence forces. While former Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa was the chief guest, five Lieut-Generals – Bhupinder Singh, KJS “Tiny” Dhillon, R S Sujlana, K S Mann and KJ Singh – were on the dais. That speaks volumes about the contribution Punjab has been making to the national defence.
When a reference was made to why the youth of Punjab have started preferring Canada to defence forces made many heads rise in the audience. Interest in defence forces has started waning. It may be the reason that when the country is going through the general elections, ex-servicemen have been conspicuous by their lack of interest in this traditional festival of democracy. Not many ex-servicemen are in the fray. And Punjab, for example, is drawing a blank on this account.
None of the four major political parties – Congress, BJP, AAP, and Shiromani Akali Dal – has named even a single candidate from amongst a substantial population of ex-servicemen in the State.
This apathy of the political parties is appalling. Why not give adequate representation to ex-servicemen so that they can raise their long-standing demands on the floor of the lower House of Parliament? Maj-General R S Sparrow was perhaps the last ex-serviceman of standing to represent the State in Parliament. Other than him, Capt Amarinder Singh represented Punjab twice in Parliament for varying periods.
Before the farmers’ agitation a couple of years ago, ex-servicemen, too had a long peaceful agitation at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in support of their long-standing demand of one rank one pension. Like farmers, they too, drew a virtual blank though the government claimed that it had announced its biggest-ever package for the welfare and sustenance of ex-servicemen.
Like farmers, ex-servicemen hardly got organised to project their political wing for redressal of their demands from time to time. In Punjab, they did venture to form a political outfit, Rashtriya Raksha Dal (RRD) many years ago. It, however, failed to impact either the ventral or State politics. It got disintegrated. Since then, though some ex-servicemen, including a retired army chief, Gen JJ Singh, unsuccessfully contested elections as a nominee of Shiromani Akali Dal, opposing another ex-serviceman, Capt Amarinder Singh, in Patiala.
Since then, a lot of water has flown through the Sutlej. All this while, ex-servicemen have stayed clear of politicians and political parties.
Besides Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh, too, have a substantial population of ex-servicemen, though giving them representation in politics is no better there.
(Prabhjot Singh is a veteran journalist with over three decades of experience of 14 years with Reuters News and 30 years with The Tribune Group, covering a wide spectrum of subjects and stories. He has covered Punjab and Sikh affairs for more than three decades besides covering seven Olympics and several major sporting events and hosting TV shows.)
