Cracks in unity threaten to take away military veterans' advantage ahead of OROP Ekta Rally

By Bikram Vohra There cannot be a better news for babus and politicians who were otherwise bracing for another wave of protest rally this weekend. The OROP bandwagon lost a wheel two days before the Ekta Rally on Saturday. The chariot of fire is now more in flames as the exquisite timing ensured to take the wind out of the military sails leaving the ship stranded midstream. [caption id=“attachment_2419936” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of military veterans. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost[/caption] The Ex-Servicemen’s League led by Lt Gen Balbir Singh took a walk from the United Front because it believes the protests and rallies should be put on hold till the government makes its official announcement. That’s a huge chunk of retirees. After three months of boiling in the sun two more days would not have mattered and the ‘togetherness’ on stage Saturday would have sent a firm message. Having hung in there so long why jump ship now. Someone has sat on the cake, the whole OROP issue has become soggy cardboard and the split hurts the cause however much it may be camouflaged. The rescue mission is now in the hands of Colonel Inderjit, widely seen as the father of the OROP movement. No one argues with him and he keeps a very low profile. Can he be the adhesive by Saturday and bring everyone back onto the same page? Many an ex serviceman have planned to make it to Delhi for this rally and there is considerable rage over the ’let down’. Here is a message from a senior vet: “I am reading a lot of conflicting and subversive reports about fissures between the Veterans due to some Govt sponsored ‘pithoos’ trying to cause a rift and divide the movement so that they can destroy it peacemeal….. All kind of accusations and counter-accusations are being traded of people being from respective political factions, motives etc etc… Quite frankly i dont give a fig as to what political idealogy a man may be coming from as long as he is lending a shoulder to the wheel and fighting for the Single Aim - OROP…. Therefore i WILL be there at Jantar Mantar on 12 Sept 2015 to lend my shoulder to the Cause and do my humble bit…” One can only hope that the issue has not been eclipsed by a personality clash between Major General Satbir on the one side since he was the most vocal face of the protest and others who felt marginalised. The dissension in the ranks will slow down the movement even further and give the government lots of wiggle room. General Balbir says it’s because of a plan to hold a rally in Bihar before the elections and that’s making it a political agitation which goes against the grain. Fine. No date is even mentioned yet for such an event so why huff off and wreck so much effort. The one thing the armed forces veterans had going for them was their collective steadfastness and resolve. It was hugely impressive. Now, that has gone and in the corridors of power there must be extensive backslapping. The bureaucracy has won again.This is exactly the scenario they would have prayed for. The weakness, when Generals gather, lies not in their stars but in themselves. And they can now feast at the banquet of tasteless consequences.