OROP suicide: Arvind Kejriwal says Modi govt is deceiving the country's soldiers

Hours after reports about the suicide of former serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal came to light on Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in an emotional video message, said that the Narendra Modi government had deceived the soldiers of the nation. “It is very sad that on Tuesday evening, a former soldier of our country Ram Kishanji committed suicide over the implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme,” Kejriwal said. “In the letter that Ram Kishanji wrote before committing suicide, he had asked the country’s Defence Minister to implement OROP. He had also written that he was committing suicide for his nation and for the soldiers,” he further said. [caption id=“attachment_3084300” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Arvind Kejriwal said PM Modi was lying to the nation. Screenshot from YouTube video[/caption] Grewal, the former jawan from Bhiwani district in Haryana who committed suicide, had left a note which stated that he was taking this extreme step for the Indian soldiers. CNN-News18 further reported that Grewal’s family has blamed the Centre for the former jawan’s suicide. Grewal had also written to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar over the issue. “It is very sad that for the last one and half years, the former servicemen of our country have been sitting on dharnas for implementation of OROP, but it has not been done so far,” Kejriwal said. “This means that when the Prime Minister talks about how the OROP has been implemented, he is lying. The Prime Minister is lying to the whole nation about implementing OROP. If OROP had been implemented, why would Ram Kishanji commit suicide?” he added. “I don’t think the kind of deception that the BJP government has engaged in with the soldiers has ever taken place before. First off, they have not implemented OROP, because of which Ram Kishanji had to commit suicide. Secondly, after the surgical strikes, the government should have rewarded the Indian Army. But instead of rewarding the soldiers, the government ordered a huge cut in the disability pension of the personnel of the Indian Army. We should have raised the disability pension instead,” said the Delhi CM. “A few days later, the government also downgraded the ranks of the soldiers. So, you did not implement OROP, reduced their disability pension and downgraded their ranks. This is such a great deception for the Indian soldiers,” he said. “And then you are going around places saying, ‘We made surgical strikes happen, give us votes.’ The army is being misused politically by the government,” he added. “The Delhi government has made a policy that the government will give Rs 1 crore as compensation to the family of a martyred soldier who was from Delhi,” Kejriwal said. “I had written a letter to the Prime Minister, asking the Centre to adopt the same policy. As many as 19 soldiers were martyred in Uri. Why could we not give Rs 1 crore to each of their families? The central government does not become poor if it donates Rs 19 crore. This would have sent a message to the soldiers that the government is concerned about them. But even this suggestion was ignored,” he said. “Ram Kishanji, who was martyed, had won Rashtrapati Award twice. He had also got the Chief of Army Staff Award. He was a very good soldier who had worked tirelessly for 30 years. His martyrdom should not go to waste. We need to now fight for the cause he gave his life for,” Kejriwal said. “Because a country in which soldiers and farmers start committing suicide has no future,” he added. “Today, I ask the central government to completely implement OROP as it is. Secondly, the government should raise the disability pension instead of reducing it. Thirdly, the army ranks which were downgraded should be brought back to the original level. Fourthly, a compensation of Rs 1 crore should be given to each of the families of the soldiers martyred in Uri. And this should be a general policy of compensation,” the Delhi CM said. “And finally, the politics over surgical strikes should be stopped.” Kejriwal had also criticised the central government earlier on Wednesday after Grewal’s suicide.

V sad. Soldiers fighting on border against external enemy n fighting within for their rights. Whole nation shud stand up for their rights https://t.co/deRYUV9J0y

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 2, 2016

इसका मतलब प्रधानमंत्री जी झूठ बोल रहे हैं की OROP लागू कर दिया। OROP लागू हो जाता तो राम किशन जी को आत्महत्या क्यों करनी पड़ती? https://t.co/d9MPJjkf5A

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 2, 2016

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मोदी राज में किसान और जवान दोनो आत्महत्या कर रहे हैं। https://t.co/9f5zJDxlZg

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 2, 2016

You can watch Kejriwal’s video message here: