Most defence colonies in India, this Diwali, present a desolate look as a mark of protest against the machinations of netas and babus who denied the veterans full OROP despite its approval by two parliaments. The idea of the babus, as we understand, is to discredit and dishonour the faujis in the eyes of the general public. What do they think of themselves? In a country, wherein we are often told that we have the worst bureaucracy in the world, how can these faujis continue being proud of being amongst the best armed forces in the world? It is incumbent on us babus to bring them down to our level. Now how do we do it? Simple, the moment they are long enough on the streets protesting, the public loses respect for them since they are now deemed to be of the same mould as us. If they are assaulted in the Jantar Mantar, their medals snatched, their shirts torn, it shows them in poor light to have been there in Jantar Mantar with ordinary protesters in the country.
This Diwali, the babus are enjoying the fruits of their labour and rejoicing. They feel that the general public is losing respect for the faujis in the same manner as sooner or later people lose respect for rape victims working on the analogy (since then made famous by a Goa MLA) that they deserved to be raped!
Dear Babus, this Diwali, our homes are dark. We are saddened by your continued intransigence towards OROP and veterans. This song comes to you from us on the day of Deepawali, in remembrance of our Lord Ram having returned after fourteen years of exile. I have tinkered with the original song put together by Anand Bakshi as lyricist, Rahul Dev Burman as composer and Kishore Kumar as singer to send this earnest request across to you:
देखो ऐ बाबू, तुम ये काम ना करो
फौजी का नाम बदनाम ना करो, बदनाम ना करो
फौजी ने हँस कर सब सुख त्यागे, तुम सब दुख से डर कर भागे
जवान ने कर्म की रीत सिखाई – २
तुमने फ़र्ज़ से आँख चुराई, ओ राम दुहाई
जय जवान जय किसान (chorus)
उसकी OROP को अपनी NFU का गुलाम न करो
फौजी का नाम बदनाम ना करो, बदनाम ना करो
देखो ऐ बाबू …
OROP को समझो, फौजी को जानो, नींद से जागो ओ मस्तानो
एक दिन झेलना सीने पे गोली
खून की खेलना इक दिन होली
जय जवान जय किसान (chorus)
OROP की मौत का इंतजाम न करो
फौजी का नाम बदनाम ना करो, बदनाम ना करो
देखो ऐ बाबू, तुम ये काम ना करो
फौजी का नाम बदनाम ना करो, बदनाम ना करो
Dekho ai baabu, tum ye kaam nA karo
Fauji ka naam badnaam na karo, badnaam nA karo
Fauji ne ha.Ns kar sab sukh tyAge, tum sab dukh se Dar kar bhaage
Jawan ne karm kI riit sikhAI
Tumane farz se aa.Nkh churaa_ii, o raam duhaa_ii
Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan (chorus)
Usaki OROP ko apni NFU ka gulaam na karo
Fauji kA naam badanAm nA karo, badanAm nA karo
Dekho ai baabu …
OROP ko samajho, fauji ko jaano, nI.nd se jaago o mastaano
Ek din jhelna seene pe goli
Khoon ki khelna ik din Holi
Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan (chorus)
OROP ki maut ka intejaam na karo
Fauji kA naam badanAm nA karo, badanAm nA karo
Dekho ai baabu, tum ye kaam nA karo
Fauji kA naam badanAm nA karo, badanAm nA karo
Ravi- the song is sure to be a hit if taken up by your son- it would just go viral! Just try to convince the youngster. Your poem adds value to my comments, in response to Col Reddy at TSEWA, appended below:
Dear Veterans, Reddy garu has hit the nail on its head. Let’s take it one step further. Who would gain by weakening our Defence forces? In which part of the world would the military, soon after a resounding victory, be punished with a decrease in salaries? Who would gain by such a sure-shot mode to cripple the morale of the entire Defence forces in one stroke? Who would gain by intentionally prolonging the Hunger Strike of veterans thereby ensuring the movement reaches every nook and cranny of the nation? Who would gain by strengthening the bond between the veterans on strike and serving personnel by unleashing a Police action on the peaceful demonstrators? Who gained by lowering the status of the three chiefs by making them accompany a puppet DM, reading out a dumb prepared text, full of contradictions? Who gained by the systematic degradation of the status of Military personnel ever since Independence?
The needle of suspicion points towards our neighbors. Could it therefore not be possible that the bureaucracy has always been, directly or indirectly, under the influence of the ISI, or similar agencies? They are quite capable of taking the politicians for a ride and achieving all the above. The politicians are answerable to the people of the nation- the bureaucracy to neither man nor beast.
Food for thought!
Thank you John. The difference in approach is apparent. On one side we have the fauji who stands tall and proud defending the country against all odds. On the other side is the self-serving babu who has lost no opportunity to show the fauji down and at the same time filling his own coffers. The babu’s ultimate act of discrediting the fauji is despicable. We all must show the country his true design.