This is posted by a lady in Edmonton, Canada asking her friend to arrange breakfast for veterans at JM at the cost of a Canadian veteran who is keenly following OROP.
We stand with you and support OROP:
This morning, Frank, our Canadian friend, called to ask for an update on OROP which took me by surprise because this is a discussion we had in October and I thought he would have forgotten all about it. He asked if he could come over to read the updates and see pictures.
An hour later he was here and I showed him all the pictures of last night's events in front of the Finance Minister's residence as well as some videos that I found of General Satbir Singh and other speakers addressing the group.
On seeing pictures of the veterans sitting outside and the area cordoned off by police he broke down.
He was so moved that he started to cry. With tears streaming down his face, he kept repeating, almost like a chant, "this is wrong, this is wrong... they are the country's heroes... they cannot be treated in this manner....
It is disgraceful that the largest democracy in the world does not know how to treat their veterans with respect... when I see the veterans I picture your father sitting there... these are brave soldiers and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect." I was very touched with the intensity of his feelings for this cause.
The OROP issue touches him because he comes from a military background. His father and uncle served in the British Army and were stationed in India. His father was an officer in the 2nd Royal Irish and later joined the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Frank was born and raised in Canada and has never been to India but surprisingly his favourite subject is Indian history.
He is a huge fan of the Armed Forces of India as he grew up hearing stories of valour from his father who served with Indian soldiers. He has always maintained that the Indian army was the "finest of the finest" and has tremendous respect for the armed forces. To show his support for OROP he had posed with some posters which I am posting.
Introducing Frank to those of you that don't know him: Frank celebrated his 80th birthday last year and is still recovering from a stroke he suffered a couple of years ago. But nothing seems to stop him. His zest for life, his sense of humour and his attitude towards life is admirable. On hearing the latest development on OROP, he couldn't stay away. He came out on this cold winter day so he could read and see the pictures. I am amazed to see how passionate he is about OROP and his desire to provide support in whatever way he can.
He now wishes to host the next breakfast for the veterans at Jantar Mantar.
Sarita Singh, could you please arrange it on his behalf and let me know the cost and we will arrange for the funds to be transferred over.
From all of us in Edmonton, God Bless our Veterans!!
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