OROP ​Struggle - Col TN Raman

Dear Veterans,

 

I am really amazed at the depth of our hatred towards any one who is raising any points against our struggle for OROP. If we feel that we have an air tight case, such negative points must be countered based on merits of our own case, instead of bringing in the entire family history and the horoscopes of the members of the concerned family.

Mrs Devika Raghuvanshi is an IDSA Officer, in her own merit and she as an individual has the right to express her own views. For example, Ram Jetmalani, who is being lauded by many of us for taking up the case of OROP, himself had taken up many controversial criminal cases. His famous line of argument in the Thandoor Murder case was, " if you cannot convince the Judge then confuse him". He literally did it by bringing in the theory of the presence of two weapons which committed the murder. The point to note here is that as a lawyer for the defendant, he has done his duty. It is for the judge to decide a person is guilty or not. In the case of Mrs Devika also, she is not the final authority to decide on the issue. It is the PM and the Govt to take the final call, based on the merits of the case.

In one other mail, a Veteran was berating Col Raghuvanshi, the hapless husband and a serving officer, for not able to convince his own wife about the long standing demand of  OROP. About her assertion regarding the prohibitive cost of OROP if it is implemented, it was the assertion of the Central Govt employees who were taken out of the Pension scheme in 2004. They have changed track only recently, since they also found that the Pension scheme should be restored to all such employees, for obvious benefits.

I am not suggesting that her arguments are correct or solid. But, to blame the concerned Army Officer and tarnishing his image for the stand taken by his wife, who is also an Officer of the Govt, with an independent mind of her own, is not correct. Let us leave the personalities involved and concentrate only on the merits of their statements. Let us not forget that Mrs Devika is not alone in her views. There are even some Veterans who have expressed their reservations about implementation of OROP, in the present format.

If the serving Army brass has not released the details in order not to embarrass the serving officer, they have taken the correct step. 

Let us concentrate on the real issue, instead of bringing in the peripheral personalities involved. Mrs Devika Raghuvanshi is one of them and Col Raghuvanshi has literally no role to play in the entire episode.

 

Col TN Raman (Retd)

​colram40@yahoo.com
[Tri Services India] ​ 04 October 2015 at 20:45