FROM THE LENS OF HARRY BUCKLEY - Indian Army Veterans
Transcript of FROM THE LENS OF HARRY BUCKLEY - Indian Army Veterans
FROM THE LENS OF HARRY BUCKLEY
December 2018 | Sammaan | 19
I n t h e y e a r 2 0 1 0 , t h e n
Commanding Officer of the
Victoria Cross Regiment Col MK
Keshwar wrote a letter to Maj
Harry Buckley who was the
Officer Commanding of the
glorious 21(VC) Field Company
as an invitation to unit raising
day, However, his Sister Janet
Bukley replied and also gifted a
album consisting of photos
clicked by Maj Harry Bukley
during his deployment in Ceylon,
Burma and India. Harry was born
in 1919 and did his education
from St Bees School in Cumbria
and studied Civil Engineering
from Hampton University.
Harry Buckley took over as
OC 21(VC) Field Company in
Dighi in the spring of 1946. Some
of his lens works is in the
following photographs:-
THE BUND OVER THE MULA, DIGHI EARLY PHOTO OF ROYAL BOMBAY SAPPERS & MINERS MESS KIRKEE
102 ENGR REGT
PARADE AT BOMBAY SAPPER PARADE GROUND WITH WAR MEMORIAL IN BACKGROUND
PT BEING ORGANISED IN TB DIGHI (NOW TB 2)
GHAZNI DAY SPORTS, KIRKEE THE BABOOS RACE BRIG THURBURN LEADS COLOMBO MILITARY MARCH PAST
THE PATHAN CONTINGENT THE MARATHAS FOLLOWED BY THE SIKHS
During his tenure in Ceylon with the coy he narrated his story through his lens.
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TRUCK IN THE FOREGROUNDTHE TOWN HALL COLOMBO
VIEW OF THE RIVER JUMA (YAMUNA)FROM THE TAJ
THE LIONS FEET AT SIGIRLYA
BIBLE BOOK NEAR ARANAYAKAMOSQUE PICTURE TAKEN FROM ONE OF THE TAJ MAHAL MINARS
Mesmerizing and Beautiful Taj Mahal prepared for protection during WW-II.
THE PEARL TEMPLE IN DELHI FORTOLD DELHI
Streets of Delhi.
NEW DELHIKING GEORGE V STATUE NEW DELHI
LOOKING MORE CHEERFULSHANGARA SINGH AND SADHU SINGH WORK WONDERS
In his album Harry Bukley captured the true always smiling, bright and happy Bombay Sapper in
his buddy L/Nk Shangara Singh.
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THE JUNGLE FOX -SUBEDAR MAJOR HONORARY CAPTAIN SUNDAR SINGH, ASHOKA CHAKRA
LT GEN GHANSHYAM SINGH KATOCH (RETD)
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I first met Havildar Sundar Singh, Ashoka
Chakra, in 1962 at Dagshai in the Shimla hills of
Himachal Pradesh, where the 4 JAK RIF was
stationed. The unit was getting ready to go for a UN
tenure to Congo. He was in ‘Charlie’ company
whose Company Commander was my father Major
(later Lt Col) Rajindra Singh Katoch. I was all of six
years old and was extremely impressed by the stories
of Havildar Sundar Singh’s bravery that my father
used to narrate to me. The five feet six inches Sundar
Singh, had been christened the Jungle Fox (taking
the cue from Rommel who was known as the Desert
Fox), because of his astonishing ability to melt into
the jungle and successfully stalk a variety of game
birds. It was an ability he had acquired from the
veterans of the Burma campaign of 4 JAK RIF, who
had perfected the art through the experience of
stalking Japanese soldiers in a deadly game in the
tropical jungles of Burma. That was where 4 JAK
RIF had earned accolades as well as five Military
Crosses and numerous other decorations.
Sundar Singh would take my father’s 12 bore
shotgun and cartridges and melt into the jungles
around Dagshai. After a few hours, he would always
emerge with one or more pheasants or black
partridges. Whenever he came back we would watch
awe struck as he sat down to have a cup of tea and we
children would pester him to tell us what he had done
at Hussainiwala and stare wide eyed at his shrapnel
scarred arm. Sundar Singh would very briefly tell us
what happened. In the narration, he always played
down his part. It was only later when I grew up that I
was able to learn more about him and his saga.
Acting L/NK (later Subedar Major Honorary
Captain) Sundar Singh belonged to Naushera in
Jammu and Kashmir. In March 1956 the battalion
was deployed at the Hussainiwala headworks on the
Indo-Pakistan border. From here, the water of the
Sutlej river is channelled into the Dipalpur canal
that goes to Pakistan, and also a canal that irrigates
Indian territory. As per the Radcliffe Commission
(the Indus waters treaty had not been signed at that
time, it was signed in 1960) India was responsible
for maintaining the embankments. The floods that
year had damaged the embankments and when these
were being repaired by the Indians. The Pakistanis
objected and attacked the bundh called “the Bela”
which was occupied by our troops to protect the
Engineers repairing the damaged embankment. On
the night of 18-19 March 1956, 4 JAK RIF was
tasked to evict the Pakistani troops from the end of
the right guide bundh, where a light machine gun
(LMG) was dominating the complete area, including
the left guide bundh across the river. This prevented
the ferrying of reinforcements across the river as
well as evacuation of casualties. The attack to
dislodge the Pakistanis was also held up by this
LMG. Volunteers were sought to silence this LMG
and the name of L/Nk Sundar Singh, a diminutive
soldier from “C’ Company who had proved his
mettle in the 1947 operations and was known for his
bravery and courage, was suggested. Sundar Singh
was that time in the central bundh area. When he
came to know of this requirement he immediately
volunteered to destroy the machine gun nest and
clear the way for the attack on the embankment.
Sundar Singh did not let down his superiors and
comrades. In an astounding feat of individual
stalking, he crawled about 150 yards carrying six
grenades, through a bullet swept area under
Pakistani observation up to the “Bela”. He was not
only able to silence the gun by killing all the crew
with the hand grenades but was also able to pull the
Bren LMG out of its nest, and carry it back to his
position, along with two magazine boxes containing
fourteen Bren-gun magazines. This enabled the
battalion to launch the attack successfully. L/Nk
Sunder Singh sustained shrapnel injuries to his arm,
despite which he had carried out his task. Not only
this, he went back later and brought back the bodies
of all the three Pakistani soldiers he had killed. For
this act of bravery L/Nk Sunder Singh was awarded
the Ashoka Chakra Class I, (presently called the
Ashoka Chakra, since Class II & III are now known
as the Kirti Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra).
Following the outbreak of the 1962 war, 4 JAK
RIF’s move to Congo was cancelled and the unit
moved to Hashimara in West Bengal, on the Bhutan
border. The unit was tasked to counter any attempt
by the Chinese to cut the Siliguri corridor through
Bhutan. The unit carried out extensive combing
operations in the thick jungles on the border with
Bhutan. My father recounts that while moving
through the dark jungles with very poor maps,
Havildar Sundar Singh with supreme confidence
and a mystical ability would lead the ‘Charlie”
company to its objective. Even when everyone
thought that they were lost, Sundar Singh would
retain the confidence to navigate the Company out of
the dark, leech infested jungles where no sunlight
could penetrate through the thick trees and
secondary growth. He was always optimistic and
said:” Ho jayega sahib !!”
As Sundar Singh —only the fourth Ashoka
Chakra of India — rose in rank, and long after he
retired, he participated in every Republic Day march
past by the winners of India’s highest gallantry
awards. It was a rare parade that he missed.
However, three days before 26 January 2017 this
brave soldier, who was ever humble, passed away, at
his native village of Chowki, Tehsil Nowshera at the
age of 90 years. People of that area resented the fact
that there were no army or police personnel present
to give a last Guard of Honour to a hero of the
country. But I am certain that this brave soldier from
his place in the heavens, would have dismissed the
indignation. Humble and shy, he never felt that what
he had done was extraordinary because in his
lifetime he had seen many brave men in his battalion
and in the army. “I just followed in their footsteps” is
what he quietly used to say.
We may not acknowledge it, but I am certain that
he motivated many brave soldiers of our army and
especially from J&K state. Capt. Bana Singh, PVC
was seven years old when Sundar Singh won the
Ashoka Chakra but I am sure he must have been
motivated by Capt Sundar Singh who came from a
place, a scant three hours drive, from his home in RS
Pura - as many others have been motivated by Bana
Singh. The tradition set by Sundar Singh will live on.
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CONTRIBUTION OF VETERANS TO STRATEGIC STUDIES THINK TANKS
BRIG GURMEET KANWAL (RETD)
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Think tanks undertake evidence-based research
that is rooted in sound methodology with a view to
influencing policy and presenting solutions for the
challenges confronting their stakeholders. Armed
forces veterans have been providing high quality
leadership in strategic studies think tanks in India.
However, these think tanks are still few in number
and are mainly located at New Delhi. Till recently,
very few efforts were being made to educate Indian
civilian and armed forces officers in strategic studies
and international affairs. The proposed National
Defence University (NDU) is still in a nascent state.
Only a handful of universities have defence studies
departments and even these find it extremely
difficult to attract students. ‘Generalist’ bureaucrats
without any expertise in national security issues,
provide inputs for defence policy decisions to the
political leadership. In the words of H. M Patel,
India's first defence secretary, "the ignorance of
civilian officials in defence matters is so complete as
to be a self-evident and incontrovertible fact."
Despite being numbered among the five largest
armed forces in the world, strategic studies and
international affairs think tanks in India are few in
number.
While it is true that institutions like the National
Defence College (NDC) and to a limited extent, the
three war colleges (the Army War College, Mhow;
the College of Naval Warfare, Mumbai; and the
College of Air Warfare, Secunderabad), educate
officers in strategic studies, these are not think tanks
that debate the pros and cons of alternative policy
options. The Army Training Command(ARTRAC)
could loosely be deemed the official think tank of
the Indian Army; however, its role is mainly limited
to supervising training in the army’s training
institutions and conducting formation-level
(division and corps) war games based on
intelligence inputs. For example, the HQ ARTRAC
kept track of the Chinese plans to divert river waters,
but it was a CLAWS seminar that sensitised the
bureaucracy and the nation to the serious
implications of the proposed Chinese projects.
The First Think Tank
Since the May 1998 Pokhran-II nuclear tests,
when India declared itself a nuclear-armed state,
India's strategic culture is becoming gradually more
resurgent and vigorous and India has, at long last,
embarked on a quest for strategic autonomy. New
think tanks are springing up and new journals are
In the words of H. M Patel,
India's rst defence secretary,
"the ignorance of civilian
ofcials in defence matters
is so complete as to be a
self-evident and
incontrovertible fact.
hitting the stands. Newspapers, including the
business dailies, now carry national security and
defence related news items and opinion pieces fairly
regularly. Even the dotcoms have joined the
bandwagon – the web pages of regular newspapers,
as well as pure web-based news magazines are
increasingly carrying strategic and defence-related
news content. Television news channels now just
cannot seem to air enough of defence-related
reportage and panel discussions, even though some
of these are fairly sensational in content.
For many decades the Institute for Defence
Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi, founded
in 1965, was India’s only strategic studies think tank.
K Subrahmanyam, IDSA’s founding director,
straddled the strategic studies scenario like a
colossus for over 30 years. The Indian media lacked
journalists who specialised in national security. The
few articles that appeared on national security were
written mainly by retired generals, admirals, air
marshals and a few former foreign secretaries.
Honourable exceptions included General J. N.
Chowdhary's regular columns in The Statesman
while he was still in service. There were few defence
and security related journals and these were mainly
the professional journals of the various training
establishments and regiments or wings of the armed
forces.
The IDSA is the leading strategic studies think
tank in South Asia. It has excellent infrastructure for
research. Its Asian Security seminar, held in the
January of each year, is a landmark event in Asia’s
security calendar. After K Subrahmanyam, Air
Commodore Jasjit Singh carried forward the
research at IDSA for almost two decades. Since then,
other veterans have been instrumental in directing
and conducting research at IDSA. In a mutually
beneficial arrangement, the armed forces have now
started sending three to four research fellows every
year to IDSA and the civil services are gradually
following suit. The Indian Foreign Service and the
Border Security Force have sent a few research
fellows. Dennis Kux, the well-known author of
Estranged Democracies, was IDSA’s first
international fellow who came on a Ful bright
fellowship. Strategic Analysis, the premier quarterly
journal of IDSA, is well known and is often cited by
renowned international scholars, though it still has
some way to go before it measures up fully to famous
international journals.
Despite the gross indifference of India's national
security establishment in the past, IDSA directors,
notably K. Subrahmanyam and Jasjit Singh,
continued to plough a lonely furrow and were
instrumental in shaping key defence policy issues.
For example, the concept of "minimum credible
deterrence" as a viable nuclear policy option for
India was advocated extensively by IDSA. IDSA
alumni are serving on the editorial staff of leading
national newspapers and as professors in the
international studies departments of universities like
Jawaharlal Nehru University. In the future, IDSA is
likely to be called upon to provide consultancy to
government depar tments and be a l lot ted
autonomous projects, much like the RAND and
other reputable international think tanks. However,
while the IDSA has established itself as the premier
strategic studies think tank in South Asia and held
many well received international seminars, it has yet
to produce a single book of seminal significance. It
has concentrated mainly on foreign policy and area
studies and has not done enough to promote hard
core defence studies.
Other major think tanks include the Centre for
Policy Research, a multi-disciplinary think tank
promoted by the government of India in 1973. The
Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) was
founded in 1996 by P R Chari, a former IAS officer
and Maj Gen Dipankar Banerjee, a former deputy
director of IDSA. It has several research
programmes and a very active website. K Shankar
Bajpai, a former Indian ambassador, was for long
December 2018 | Sammaan | 26
chair of the Delhi Policy Group, founded by a
business house with Lt Gen Vijay Raghavan heading
the security studies programme; and Dr Radha
Kumar heading the peace and conflict programme.
The Observer Research Foundation, founded by the
late R K Mishra is being supported by the Reliance
Group. The Institute of Chinese Studies is supported
by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
(CSDS), New Delhi. All of these think tanks have
together contributed to a serious discussion on major
national security issues and have brought out some
good publications - and armed forces veterans have
served in all of them.
Armed Forces Think Tanks: Good Beginning
For many decades, the National Defence College
(NDC), New Delhi, remained the only formal think
tank run by the armed forces. However, successive
commandants at the NDC did not pay much
attention to the think tank function of the NDC’s
charter and continued to focus primarily on its
training role. The research undertaken by the
officers undergoing training at NDC was not
published or widely circulated. In October 2001, Air
Cmde Jasjit Singh, former Director, IDSA, founded
the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) and the
Centre for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS). While the CSIS remained somewhat low
key in its activities, CAPS began to flourish with
support from the Indian Air Force. Soon, the Indian
Army sponsored the Centre for Land Warfare
Studies (CLAWS) in January 2004 with Lt Gen
Vijay Oberoi as its first Director. The Indian Navy
raised the National Maritime Foundation (NMF) in
February 2005, with Rear Admiral R B Vohra as its
first Director. In due course, Lt Gen H S Lidder,
CISC, HQ Integrated Defence Staff, set up a tri-
service think tank to undertake research into joint
operations and India’s immediate neighbourhood
and the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies
(CENJOWS) came up.
A few armed forces and civilian officers got
together and established the Forum for Strategic
Initiatives (FSI) and the South Asia Institute for
Strategic Affairs (SAISA) with their own funds.
Most strategic studies think tanks are located at New
Delhi and are staffed by both armed forces and
veterans and young civilian scholars.
The establishment of think tanks by the three
services HQ and HQ IDS was a very pragmatic step
as there had been a long felt need to encourage armed
forces officers to graduate to strategic thinking and
broaden their horizons by undertaking research
activities. These think tanks have conducted many
seminars on contemporary issues as well on the
various facets of warfare at the strategic level. The
emphasis has always been on learning lessons from
the past, to prepare for the future. Seminars have
been conducted at Delhi and jointly with the various
Command HQ. In keeping with the dictum of
‘publish or perish’, all of these think tanks have a
slew of good quality publications. All of them have
flagship journals, issue briefs and occasional papers
and commissioned books and monographs. They
also undertake research projects on behalf of
Services HQ, Command HQ and other institutions.
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All of these think tanks have
together contributed to a
serious discussion on major
national security issues and
have brought out some good
publications - and armed
forces veterans have served
in all of them.
These think tanks have conducted many seminars
jointly with defence journals and the chambers of
commerce so as to bring together overseas and
Indian defence industry representatives along with
serving officers of the armed forces to showcase
future weapons technology. However, the four think
tanks CLAWS, CAPS, NMF and CENJOWS soon
fell short of funds and were eventually bailed out by
the ministry of defence (MoD) by being given a
corpus amount of Rs 10 crore each, in two tranches
for day-to-day expenditure, besides providingthem
with limited infrastructure support by way of
housing them in defence buildings. A few years
down the line inflation and falling interest rates took
their toll and the corpus amount was no longer
sufficient to for their ongoing activities and further
expansion. Though some additional funds were
allotted by the MoD, all of these think tanks need
another infusion of funds if they are to continue to
grow and be at par with international institutions.
Veterans have brought a healthy mix of rich
experience anddiligence to each of these think tanks.
Without the active involvement of armed forces
veterans, the research conducted by these think
tanks would have been too theoretical to provide
plausible policy options to the decision makers.
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FINANCIAL WELL-BEING AFTER RETIREMENT
COL RAJ RAKESH (RETD)
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Keep the ‘in’ of financial in-dependence and do
not let it ‘out’ to become financially dependent on
your children during your golden sunset years
Year after year about 60,000 soldiers retire at
between the ages of 37 to 54 depending on their rank
and service. This is too soon for anybody to retire
because the person has neither fulfilled his family
obligations nor accumulated enough wealth to
ensure his financial well-being for the balance of his
life. Therefore, the veterans do not retire but
necessarily re-attire to meet their family obligations.
Unfortunately, when a soldier retires, his exposure to
money matters is very limited or negligible since the
organisation barely encourages it during his career
for obvious reasons. Most often, he retires with only
his provident fund or postal life insurance as savings,
oblivious of the other financial available. Thus,
when he steps outside the protected service
environment his relatives or village kin try to lure
him into their business or property ventures. If he
manages to stay away from them, then some shrewd
money shark or tout befriends him and lures him into
areckless, commission driven investment or Ponzi
scheme promising unrealistic returns. He loses his
hard-earned money and is left high and dry at the
beginning of his second innings.
A veteran has many long decades before him to
work and meet his financial goals. If he starts on the
wrong foot financially, then his remaining years and
depleting income will be ill suited for wealth
creation and for meeting his financial goals. These
days, based on his rank and qualifying service, an
officer retires with a tax-free corpus of 80 to 90 lakh;
a JCO retires with 27 to 31 lakh; and a jawan retires
with 18 to 24 lakh. This includes only the gratuity,
commuted pension, AGIF and not his leave
encashment and provident fund. Besides, they will
get their monthly pension, which is 50 percent of
their last pay drawn but is taxable for personnel
retiring without disability. This is a reasonable
amount and if invested judiciously it can give
handsome returns. However, he must understand
that the government gives this as the last lump sum
payment for his services rendered. Therefore, he
must consider this as a family asset that can see him
through difficult times in future. During service, one
came across numerous cases where rip-off financial
advisors or relatives swindled the veterans into
financially imprudent investments that ruined their
families’ lives and their children’s future. Most of
our soldiers have a rural background where they
consider land purchase as the best form of
Therefore, the veterans do not
retire but necessarily re-attire
to meet their family obligations.
Unfortunately, when a soldier
retires, his exposure to money
matters is very limited or
negligible since the organisation
barely encourages it during
his career for obvious reasons.
investment. However, they must understand that this will take away bulk of their corpus for a highly illiquid
asset that is giving poor returns post demonetisation, besides precluding their diversification options.
The next aspect he must consider is the investment horizon available to him, which is a function of the
longevity of his life based on his economic well-being and better medical facilities. Given this life
expectancy, he must take into account the number of years he will live after his retirement. A jawan retires
between 37 to 42 years of age, a JCO between 46to 52 years and an officer between 54 to 60 years. He still has
30 to 50 years to live after his retirement. Hence, his retired life is probably more than his working life.
This makes it imperative for him to work (job or entrepreneurship) and generate additional income for as
long as possible. It ensures that he can meet his household expenses from his pension and the income from
work after retirement without depleting his retirement corpus. In addition, he can start investing through
monthly systematic investment plans (SIP) to meet his unfulfilled domestic and family liabilities.
Before he invests his retirement corpus, he must understand the risk-return aspect of various asset classes
and the implication of taxation on their returns to derive full benefit. Summarised and tabulated below is a
comparison for better comprehension.
Asset
DetailsEquity Debt Fixed Gold Property
Returns
Tax
Liquidity
Investment
Risk
Regulations
TimeHorizon
12 to 15%
Only on capitalgains in FY
Only on capitalgains in FY with
indexationbenefit on long-
term gains
On total interestearned in FY
8 to 10% 6.5 to 8.5% 5 to 7% 3 to 5%
Only on capitalgains in FY
Only on capitalgains in FY with
indexationbenefit on long-
term gains
Good exceptELSS and ULIP
Good Very Good Fair Poor
Small amountsin SIP and lump
sum
Small amountsin SIP and lump
sum
Lump sum in allexcept RD and
PPF
Lump sum forphysical; Smallamount in SIP
for ETF
Lump sum
High Medium Low Low High
SEBI regulated SEBI regulated RBI regulated
Only ETF isSEBI regulated;physical has no
regulation
Regulated byrecently
introducedRERA, which is
still evolving
7 to 10 years3 Months to 7
yearsOvernight to 10
YearsDepends on
investorDepends on
investor
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Financial Wisdom
• Invest Before You Spend – A very common mistake that people make is that they try to invest their
savings. This means that they first spend their monthly income for meeting their needs and wants and then
invest the surplus in their hands. Cash is a liquid asset and like any liquid, it has the propensity to slip out of
your hands. Therefore, financial wisdom lies in working out your monthly expenses into two categories:
obligatory expenses required to meet your essential, must-do domestic obligations; and indulgence expenses
that include entertainment and vacations. After this, invest at the beginning of the month through an SIP and
spend the balance in your hand.
• Diversify to Beat Market Volatility and Hedge the Risk – The commonly used adage to‘not put all your
eggs in one basket’ is equally applicable to investments. Simply put, this implies that one should not risk
everything in one endeavour or invest everything in one asset. Our soldiers retire early and the classic
philosophy for investing after retirement at 60 years, is not relevant for them. Given below is an option for
investing their cash assets ( Rs30 lakh) in various financial instruments as per their age profile. These
guidelines may vary as per an individual’s risk appetite and liabilities.
• Risk and Returns are Directly Proportional – This is an important point to understand. A higher risk
financial instrument will generate higher returns and a lower risk financial instrument generates lower
returns. A sovereign guarantee bond gives a 7 percent return; a corporate bond gives 9 to 10 percent return;
and equity generates 12 to 15 percent returns. See the chart below to understand this better for various asset
classes.
Age GroupEquity Debt Fixed Gold TOTAL
PROPORTION IN VARIOUS ASSETS
ASSET WISE DISTRIBUTION RUPEES 30 LAKH
ASSET WISE VALUE OF ABOVE DISTRIBUTION AFTER 10 YEARS
30 to 40
41 to 45
46 to 50
51 to 55
56 to 60
60%
55%
50%
40%
30%
25%
20%
20%
20%
20%
10%
20%
25%
35%
45%
5%
5%
5%
5%
5%
30 to 40
41 to 45
46 to 50
51 to 55
56 to 60
18,00,000
16,50,000
15,00,000
12,00,000
9,00,000
7,50,000
6,00,000
6,00,000
6,00,000
6,00,000
3,00,000
6,00,000
7,50,000
10,50,000
13,50,000
1,50,000
1,50,000
1,50,000
1,50,000
1,50,000
30,00,000
30,00,000
30,00,000
30,00,000
30,00,000
Age Group
%ReturnsAgeGroup
30 to 40
41 to 45
46 to 50
51 to 55
56 to 60
55,90,527
51,24,650
46,58,772
37,27,018
27,95,263
17,75,523
14,20,418
14,20,418
14,20,418
14,20,418
5,90,145
11,80,291
14,75,364
20,65,509
26,55,654
2,44,334
2,44,334
2,44,334
2,44,334
2,44,334
82,00,529
79,69,693
77,98,888
74,57,279
71,15,670
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
12% 9% 7% 5%Total Value
After 10 Years
• Power of Compounding – Einstein called it the eighth wonder of the world. The key is the snowball effect
when your earnings generate even more earnings. If you invest Rs one lakh, they will grow to Rs 9.64 lakh
within 20 years at a 12 percent rate of return. This indicates a growth 103 percent and the table and chart below
depict it graphically.
• Equity Investment is a Function of Time – When you invest in equity then remember to ‘invest and
forget’. This is because any investment in equity is subject to market risks and the market cycle volatility. As
time goes by, the investment returns from equity start performing better than the benchmark indices since
volatility decreases and so does the probability of loss, which is only 3.7 percent after 10 years and becomes
zero after 15 years. Moreover, the power of compounding kicks in after about 5 to 7 years and the corpus
grows exponentially.
RISK RETURN TRADE-OFF
RETURNS%
FD Debt Equity Real Estate Direct Stocks
RISK%
FIVE YEARLY EARNING OF INITIAL INVESTMENT OF RUPEES ONE LAKH
* Notice how the earnings are increasing every 5 years due to compounding
Years5101520
Value1,76,2343,10,5855,47,3579,64,629
Growth18.88%33.28%58.65%103.35%
Earning*76,2341,34,3512,36,7724,17,273
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
GR
OW
TH
POWER OF COMPOUNDING
103%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
YEARS
December 2018 | Sammaan | 32
December 2018 | Sammaan | 33
• Real rate of Return – Financial texts define this as the annual percentage return realised on an investment,
which caters for changes in prices due to inflation or other external effects like taxation. Therefore, if a
financial instrument gives an 8 percent annual return and the prevalent rate of inflation is 6 percent, then the
real rate of return is 1.89 percent. Furthermore, the real rate of return comes down when you calculate it with
your applicable tax bracket. This is a very important aspect because when you invest, you must understand the
adverse effect of taxation and inflation on your annual income and the rate of return generated by the financial
instrument. Invariably, overcautious retirees tend to invest heavily in fixed deposits whose real rate of return
is almost zero for a higher tax bracket. The tables below explain this double whammy of taxation and inflation
on annual income and investments.
• Cut your Coat According to Your Cloth – This is the most important tenet of finance. Somebody who
cannot live within his means will invariably come to financial grief. The veteran must carefully work out his
gross monthly income from all sources, viz. pension, interest income, rental income, agriculture income or
entrepreneurial income and then budget to work out his monthly expenses, tax obligations and annual
premiums.
• Maintaining Cash Flow – After working out your income and expenses, the next important step is to
regulate the cash flow. A pension is never sufficient to meet the inflationary pressures on monthly expenses,
rising cost of children’s higher education and old age hospitalisation / medical bills. Therefore, the pensioner
relies on additional income from his post retirement work or investments to meet the shortfall. A basic
yardstick is that one must never withdraw more than 4 to 5 percent from the invested corpus annually. The
logic for arriving at this figure is, that the real rate of return of equity investment at 12 percent return is 5.66
percent. Therefore, if you withdraw more than 5 percent, then the corpus will deplete faster than the returns
generated and your investments will not keep pace with the inflation. If you withdraw from fixed income
instruments, then your withdrawals should not exceed 2 to 3 percent since their real rate of return is even
lower.
ANNUAL INCOME EROSION DUE TO TAXATION AND INFLATION
Tax Rate including
4% Cess
Annual Taxable
IncomeTax Post Tax Value
Post inflation
@6%
5.20%
20.80%
31.20%
5,00,000
5,00,000
5,00,000
26,000
1,04,000
1,56,000
4,74,000
3,96,000
3,44,000
4,47,170
3,73,585
3,24,528
IMPLICATIONS OF TAXATION AND INFLATION ON RATE OF RETURN OF INVESTMENT
FD Return Without
TaxDetails FD Returns after Taxation
1,00,000
8%
8,000
1,08,000
8.00%
1.89%
1,00,000
5%
7,600
1,07,600
1,00,000
20%
6,480
1,06,480
1,00,000
30%
6,056
1,06,056
7.60% 6.48% 6.06%
1.51% 0.45% 0.05%
<<Initial Investment>>
<<Rate of Return - Tax Rate>>
<<Interest Earned>>
<<Value after one year>>
Real rate of Return afterTaxation>>
Real rate of Return after Taxationand Inflation of 6%>>
VETERANS NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE
MAJ GEN HARSHA KAKAR (RETD)
Across social media, veterans are with a
vengeance, blaming the senior hierarchy for all the
ills facing the armed forces. A new subject is raised
almost every day and the blaming of the hierarchy
commences. In recent times it has been the OROP,
the non-grant of NFU, the degradation of status,
restructuring and the withdrawal of entitled rations.
The perception being projected is that the hierarchy
enjoys all benefits while the rank and file are
denied.
During the height of the OROP agitation, there
were calls on the service chiefs to tender their
resignations. The impression being conveyed was
that by submitting their resignations, the service
chiefs could apply the requisite pressure on the
government. The fact that such an action would
have implied mutiny and was unbecoming of the
Indian armed forces was ignored. Most were
unaware that the chiefs were quietly operating in
the background, seeking to convince the
government to act. It was stated by many veterans,
that by not visiting the agitation site, the service
chiefs were giving the government the confidence
to back-track on granting complete OROP.
The moving of the court by the father of Major
Aditya in his personal capacity, as also filing of a
writ petition by over 700 officers and men, against
the court order in the Manipur “so-called”
encounter killing case is being projected on social
media as a case of the army ignoring its own. Most
critics never ventured to evaluate the reasons
behind the same, nor did they contact the father of
Major Aditya to know the true reason. The
cancellation of entitled rations has also been
blamed on service chiefs. In short, the senior
hierarchy is being blamed for everything.
The present restructuring and reconsideration of
officer ranks being undertaken by the army HQ is
also facing flak. Whether it is to project their own
anger at their hard-earnedretirement ranks being
made redundant or their unwillingness to accept
changes to the existing structure is debateable.
Issues under consideration or discussion even at
service HQs are being blown out of proportion as
being detrimental to the system. Veterans are
unwilling to accept that those who are in charge
have a better understanding of ground realities and
the future of warfare, and hence are better suited to
The common Indian,
now active on social media
begins to lose faith in the
military and starts to believe
that the military hierarchy
is only self-serving. Even
modernisation and
restructuring, which in any
case is the decision of those
at the top is being questioned.
December 2018 | Sammaan | 34
take decisions.
A recent comment doing the rounds on social
media is that senior officers only have negative
powers over their juniors. They can impose
restrictions, award punishment, curtail rights and
privileges. They are incapable of doing anything
positive like bettering their pay, perks and status.
Such inputs negatively impact the reputation of the
forces and the bonhomie within the system.
There are also adverse statements on social
media that those who have risen in the military
hierarchy are undeserving of their ranks and have
only got them because they were supported by
known superiors, who hence are being blamed for
ignoring the rank and file. Thus, in summary, the
message being circulated is that all senior officers
are least concerned about their juniors, ignore their
well- being and are self- serving. Such internal
criticism does not exist in any other central
organisation, whether it be the CAPFs or other
central services.
These negative comments on social media are
also being extracted and misused by inimical
powers. Fake handles from across the border
targeting the Indian rank and file are known to
exploit comments made by a section of veterans. It
is one of the most important forms of information
warfare, which is not being taken into account, by
those commenting against the system.
But nothing could be further from the truth. The
present hierarchy has risen through the same
system, undergone the same tribulations, though
not by airing these on social media. Hence,
previously actions taken at the apex level would not
have been easily visible, nor publicly criticised.
There is no doubt that those at the helm are
concerned about the well-being of the serving
personnel and are providing them with the best
which can be given in the current circumstances.
Raising these issues on social media neither helps
the system nor is it the answer.
Post the advent of social media, most veterans,
who were otherwise leading quiet retired lives have
suddenly become experts, and have begun targeting
the service for even imagined ills. The common
Indian, now active on social media begins to lose
faith in the military and starts to believe that the
military hierarchy is only self-serving. Even
modernisation and restructuring, which in any case
is the decision of those at the top is being
questioned. Every decision is being linked to
political favours, being sought or taken.
In the present day there are no restrictions on the
serving being on social media, except that they are
not permitted to provide details of their military
service. Hence, the serving from all ranks have a
presence on every social media site and group. In
many cases, the serving and veterans are members
of common groups, mainly on WhatsApp and
Facebook.
Thus, as they follow the discussions and
comments being projected by the veterans, their
young minds are also influenced. The trust and faith
in the system, which was the hallmark of the armed
forces over decades has now begun to erode,
basically because many are projecting the various
perceived ills on open forums.
The veterans and the serving in the Indian armed
forces also share a strong bond. In many units, the
veterans are the guiding light sand also serve as role
models for the serving. Those who have served
together share warm memories and experiences.
Thus, their words of criticism and blame for the
current hierarchy conveys a wrong impression and
weakens the fibre on which this great institution has
been based. It impresses on young minds that the
December 2018 | Sammaan | 35
present hierarchy is neither with them nor willing to
support their decisions.
The serving of today are the veterans of
tomorrow. Thus, what they perceive on social
media today, is the direction they would take
tomorrow. If the veteran community is only seeking
to criticise the existing system, then the future of
the service may not be too bright.
Therefore, the veterans need to realise that
unless they adopt the right approach, they may
harm a bonded service for eternity. Veterans have
the time and hence should seek to understand the
circumstances under which the service HQs and the
top hierarchy function, instead of just forwarding
derogatory messages or commenting without
verifying. They, by virtue of their experience and
age, should be able to comprehend that those at the
apex are seeking the best for the service, rather than
being self-serving.
There is no denying the fact that there are
shortfalls within the system. A lot remains to be
done, whether it be giving the armed forces their
due, making up the deficiencies, catering for the
welfare of the soldier and ensuring his protection
from the courts. However, many have failed to
realise that actions are being taken to overcome
these shortfalls. India as a democracy can never
provide answers and results overnight.
This does not imply that the right of the veterans
to criticise the system, as it exists presently. What is
being questioned is the method they have adopted.
What is being questioned is that the hierarchy is
being blamed for everything, without making any
effort to understand the how and why.
The strong internal fibre of the armed forces of
the present has been derived from the actions and
sacrifices of its predecessors. The same would be
the case tomorrow. Those who head the
organisation also have the responsibilities and
limitations. They may have power within, but they
exercise limited influence outside. They have
responsibilities downwards but limited influence
towards the top. They are never, nor would ever be,
all-powerful in the Indian democratic system.
It is for the veterans to reconsider their approach
to social media and seek to project a correct picture
of the system, rather than only finding faults. They
should realise that their comments impact young
impressionable minds and could break the trust
which has been a part of the service over the past
seven decades. Social media as a tool can either be
exploited to enhance morale or be used for breaking
the bonds that have always existed in the system. It
is for the veterans to individually decide whether
they wish to enhance the internal fibre and bonding
of the service or work towards its downfall.
The strong internal bre of
the armed forces of the present
has been derived from the
actions and sacrices of its
predecessors. The same would
be the case tomorrow. Those who
head the organisation also have
the responsibilities and limitations.
They may have power within,
but they exercise limited
inuence outside.
December 2018 | Sammaan | 36
A‘PRINCE AMONGST SOLDIERS’
COL RC PATIAL (RETD)
December 2018 | Sammaan | 37
Brig. Sukhjit Singh, MVC, the erstwhile
Maharaja of Kapurthala war hero of the 1971 Indo-
Pak war. He was awarded the MVC while
commanding Scinde Horse.
It was a great honour for me to be invited by Brig
Sukhjit Singh, MVC for lunch at his Villa (erstwhile
Shikaar Ghar) in 2017. Earlier in the morning, I had
visited Jagjeet Palace which now houses the Sainik
School. I met the Principal and went around the
palace which also has a museum (in what was the
dining hall) which displays the artifacts owned by
the Kapurthala family. It was an education to visit
the palace.
Over drinks prior to lunch, we had a long
discussion on relating to the issues ailing Punjab
such as: education, agriculture, politics in general
and the military’s ethical leadership in a very
informal manner. Brigadier Sukhjit Singh, put me
totally at ease with his simplicity and humility and
made me feel as though I had known him for years. I
had wanted to meet Brig Sukhjit Singh, MVC for
years as my father had served under him and had
always talked very highly of him. Had it not for his
magnanimity, I would have been forced to leave my
school – the PPS, Nabha, because of Punjabi Suba
issues as my scholarship had been stopped. I will
always remain grateful to him for shaping my life
and credit him for making me what I am today. Of
course, my late father was always grateful for his
timely assistance. I wish I had met this great ‘soldier
prince’ earlier in my life, I would have been better
educated.
A very brief write up of the erstwhile Kapurthala
state picked up from the net along is as follows:
Kapurthala was founded in the 11th century
during the time of Mahmood Gaznvi. The town was
established by Rana Kapoor who was a Rajput from
Jaisalmer, and is named after him. The story of
Kapurthala is inextricably inter-woven with the life
and struggles of Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
(1718-1783) who ousted Ibrahim Khan, who had
usurped Kapurthala, after the death of the Mughal
governor Adina Beg. Jassa Singh made Kapurthala
his capital. On March 11, 1783 the Sikhs attacked the
Red Fort in Delhi. According to historical accounts
an insider informed the Sikhs of a weak spot in the
wall of the fort, where the soldiers made a hole by
ramming it with wooden logs; the place is still
known as Mori Gate (ISBT).
The Sikhs entered the Red Fort, hoisted the Kesri
According to historical
accounts an insider informed
the Sikhs of a weak spot in
the wall of the fort, where
the soldiers made a hole
by ramming it with wooden
logs; the place is still known as
Mori Gate (ISBT).
Nishan Sahib, and occupied the Diwan-e-aam. In a
symbolic gesture, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was made
to sit on the throne, which made him the Emperor.
When some other chiefs, opposed this Jassa Singh
Ahluwalia gracefully vacated the throne and thus,
avoided a division in the ranks of the chiefs at a
critical moment.
Mahara ja Jagat j i t S ingh, a pass ionate
Francophile and lover of art and architecture,
contributed immensely to the rich architectural
heritage of the city, which is known as the -'Paris of
Punjab'.
Jagatjit Palace (Elysee Palace) now houses the
Sainik School Kapurthala. The magnificent palace
of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh is indeed one of the best
and most impressive palaces in Punjab. The splendid
structure inspired by the palaces of Versailles and
Fontainebleau was built in 1906. Because of the
exorbitant cost of the building, which was to be built
with red sandstone, had to be given pink plaster
covering. The cost was around Rs. 3,00,000 at that
time. It was built in the Renaissance style and had a
sunken park in the front and bore many similarities
to that of Palace of Versailles. The construction of
Palace took roughly eight years (1900-1908). The
roof of the palace is made in the 'beaux-art' style of
the 19th century and its grand interiors are noted for
exquisitely painted ceilings, lapis lazuli pillars and
Italian marble fireplaces. It was furnished with
luxurious furniture from France and various
invaluable artefacts collected from different parts of
Europe. The palace is surrounded by lush green
lawns decorated with beautiful sculptures and
fountains.
Random memories of some officers and those
who have known Brig Sukhjit Singh, MVC over the
years:
My father had often told me about the Brigadier’s
unmatched honesty and integrity. As an instructor in
Ahmednagar he moved around on a bicycle like
other officers. A majority of the men were not even
aware that he was a Maharaja. He resigned as a
Brigadier (approved for Maj Gen) because he
refused to follow unlawful orders of the defence
minister, Bansi Lal. He took just a token amount as
salary.
Generous Hospitality: One of my friends who
retired as a Maj Gen, often speaks about the
Brigadier’s extra ordinary social sensitivity,
superlative courtesy and simply incredible
hospitality. Incidentally, he usually serves his guests
himself! And, being a connoisseur par excellence he
always serves nothing but the best to his guests.
Those of us who know him well, will not find it hard
to believe this.
My friend recounts a small incident when he went
to call on the Brigadier and was invited for lunch. It
was a very select gathering on a bright and pleasant
afternoon. The fare for the lunch consisted of a
spread of exquisite and rare, never tasted before
dishes. Brig Sukhjit Singh in his usual hospitable
style picked up a piece of finely barbequed mutton
and served it to my friend. When he learnt that my
friend was a vegetarian, he apologised so profusely
that it almost became embarrassing for my friend. In
fact, it had a profound effect on my friend. He later
confided that had he known that it would cause so
much regret, he would have either eaten the mutton,
or quietly left it in the plate untouched but definitely
would not have mentioned that he was a vegetarian!
It did not end here - the Brigadier followed it up with
a letter of sincere apology for having not known
enough about the eating habits of his guest and
having wrongly served him non-veg food. Only a
rare person can be so socially correct. I would make
this incident a benchmark for measuring anyone’s
hospitality quotient and social sensitivity.
Maj RS Bedi (raised NTRO and retired as its
chairman) has said: “Sukhi, as he is fondly known,
December 2018 | Sammaan | 38
December 2018 | Sammaan | 39
was a ‘Prince and a Soldier’. My first acquaintance
with him was in July 1963. I was reporting to the
Regt and he was the Adjt. Meeting him for the first
time, I was immediately in awe of him and remained
in awe ever since. His simplicity, modesty and
humility in spite of having a royal heritage was
simply unparalleled”.
By the time I returned from YO's, he had taken
over C Sqn. I was one of his Tp Ldrs. Could one have
wished for a better start to one's career? To our
misfortune, he was not there to lead the Sqn in the
1965 war having taken over as BM 1 Armd Bde.
I next served with him when the Regt was
deployed for the 1971 ops. He was commanding the
Regiment. He was an inspirational leader, whose
officers and men were all proud to serve under him.
He was the most upright man with the courage of his
convictions, and - sometimes perhaps to a fault - a
very strong sense of right and wrong.
My personal relations with him were very warm.
In 1973, I applied to be deputed to the cabinet
secretariat. He did not support that line of thought
and while giving me a brilliant report, categorically
wrote that I should not be allowed to leave the Regt
at that juncture.
Memories of Brig Yudhvir Singh Kanwar-
another Scinde Horse veteran
We are well conversant with all that goes into
making Brig Sukhjit Singh (Sukhie) a gentleman of
nobility, grace and dignity, but the aspect of his being
a strict disciplinarian may not be much known.
It was at a regimental PT parade in Babina in 1968,
when Sukhie, the officiating commandant, was on
parade. Sukhie was briskly going around and
reviewing the performance of the squad leaders
(Duffadars and Subalterns).Following in tandem
were the adjutant and the Risaldar Major. He
suddenly stopped, as he noticed a Sikh soldier about
a 100 yards away. He was in uniform but wearing
slippers without headwear
and belt, slouching down
the road holding a tea kettle
in one hand and chapattis
rolled in a packet in the
other. The errant soldier, as
we learnt later, belonged to
a postal unit and was
carrying breakfast for his
warrant officer.
The adjutant was
ordered to fetch the errant
soldier, which he did at a
gallop. Sukhie was upset,
and he gave the brat an
instant ‘grilling’, followed by 10 minutes on-the-
spot punishment (crawling combined with front
rolls and back rolls). The Risaldar Major was then
instructed to conduct the miscreant to the quarter
guard and await further instructions. Sukhie later
drove to the Brigade HQ and lodged a written report,
detailing the event and specifying the summary
punishment rendered. The Brigade Commander
endorsed Sukhie’s action and admired him for the
salutary, on-the-spot punishment; the offender
deserved the harsh disciplining he received.
NABHA SPARSHAM DEEPTAM
GP CAPT SAMIDH MUKHARJEE (RETD)
This is the story, not of a veteran, but a veteran's
son - a ‘military brat’. As per accepted definition a
‘military brat’ is a colloquial term used with extreme
fondness for the child of a person in the military.
Like many things military, the word ‘brat’ is
sometimes an acronym for ‘born, raised and
trained’, since they have been raised in a military
environment for years, usually in our case, from
birth. I am proud of being a ‘military brat’ and I am
sure all your children are too, as we brats know that
our upbringing and culture set us apart, and place us,
I can say with pride, a notch above the rest.
For the past 13 years I have been visiting the US on
business or pleasure trips, and during every visit I
have thought of visiting the Tucson Pima Air &
Space Museum and the Davis - Monthan Air Force
Base Boneyard. The Pima Air Museum is one of the
biggest private air museums in the world. However,
it was only this year in May that I finally got the
opportunity to visit the museum. I was simply awed
and exhilarated by the number and variety of old
aircraft on display. Probably all the aircraft that the
Indian Air Force has ever had could be seen here.
These included the: Vampire, Canberra, Gnat,
Hunter, Dakota, all the MiGs (including MiG 29),
and all the helicopters including Mi-25.
My father, Wg Cdr KC Mukherjee joined the
British Army in 1944 in the ranks during the Second
World War and took part in the Burma Operation
when Burma was occupied by Japan. In April 1945,
the British Army routed the Japanese and after that
my father was commissioned in the Royal Indian Air
Force as a fighter pilot. He took part in the Kashmir
operation in 1948, flying Tempests and Spitfires. He
also took part (flying a Spitfire XIX) in the 105-
aircraft fly-past formation on 26 January 1951 - our
first Republic Day celebrations.
At the Pima Museum my mission was to seek out,
touch and caress the aircraft my father had flown -
and I found lots and lots of them. These included: the
Cornell on which my father was trained to fly;
Harvards; Spitfires (including the famous clipped
wing Spit-XIV which was the fastest of the lot);
Tempests; Vampires; the MD Ouragan 450 (that in
the IAF was known as the Toofani); and Dakotas. A
special mention must be made of one particular
bomber aircraft, the Liberator B-24. In 1956, my
father was posted to 2 Wg, AF (Air Force Station,
Pune) where there were no fighter squadrons at that
December 2018 | Sammaan | 40
I read his Logbook and
discovered that my
father had own this
very aircraft, the
B-24 Liberator No HE 877
at 6 Sqn, AF on
30 January 1956.
time. In those days, pilots had to fly a minimum of
six hours or so a month, in order to claim their
“Flying Bounty”. Hence fighter pilots like my father
flew transport or bomber aircraft (often as co-pilots).
So, it was in Pune in 1956,that my father flew several
sorties in the B-24 Liberator Bomber of 6 Sqn, AF.
On display at the Museum was a B-24 Liberator
in pristine condition. I went close to it and was
shocked to read the plaque that this particular
Liberator was presented to the Museum by the
government of India. I kept reading the details and
got goosebumps when I read that it belonged to the 6
Sqn, of the IAF. For the next half hour I just kept
touching the aircraft, reliving the memories of my
dear father, and wondering whether he had actually
flown this particular aircraft. The IAF number of the
aircraft was HE 877. I started counting the days
when I would return to India and open my father’s
logbooks to check. I am 68 years old but am not
ashamed to say that I wept inconsolably when I read
his Logbook and discovered that my father had flow
this very aircraft, the B-24 Liberator No HE 877 at 6
Sqn, AF on 30 January 1956.
I wish I had visited this Museum two years ago, as
my father in December 2016 aged 96+ had departed
to eternally fly his Spitfires and Toofanis.
My next tirthyatra will be to the RAF Museum in
London where – as I have learned- there is a
Liberator No. HE 807,presented by the government
of India, which my father had also flown.
A bird flew across the globe. The world is a
small place indeed.
December 2018 | Sammaan | 41
VETERANS, THE STANDARD-BEARERS OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
LT GEN BHOPINDER SINGH (RETD)
December 2018 | Sammaan | 42
In 1947, the proverbial star arose in the wounded
sub-continent to ‘stand forth again after long
slumber and struggle — awake, vital, free and
independent.’ It embarked on fulfilling its rightful
‘tryst with destiny’, but knew almost immediately,
that the journey would be bloody, perilous and often,
painful. The sudden vivisection of the land imposed
a fault line on us that has not healed till date, and as
early as a few months into the independence – the
Indian ‘Soldier’ stood steadfast, resolute and
undaunted to protect the honour, dignity and the
promise of India. The architects of our freedom had
deliberately made the lofty choice of celebrating our
inherent plurality, individuality and secularity
unlike the other options taken by the neighbouring
lands – India adopted the path of ‘inclusivity’ and
swore to ‘never allow that torch of freedom to be
blown out, however high the wind or stormy the
tempest.’ Soon the Bharatiya Samvidhana or the
Constitution of India was formally ratified and it
irreversibly burnished our civilizational truth of a
multi-religious and multi-cultural instinct and
preference.
The moral burden inherent with the inclusion of
weighted words like Sovereign, Socialistic, Secular,
Democratic and Republic reflected the chosen
aspirations and expectations of the Constitutional
spirit of an ideal-India, and the proud Indians
therein. Often viewed as ahead-of-its-times, the
Indian Constitution wilfully incorporated the
framework of liberal democracy, political pluralism
and the spirit of societal ‘accommodation’ as a
necessity, much before the Western democracies
woke up to the urgencies of respecting diversities of
rel igion, language, caste and tr ibes. But
institutionalising these complex principles in the
land of latent fears, insecurities and a troubled-
history required a certain discipline, order and
commitment that were not forthcoming in the
disorder, chaos and vibrancy of the newly formed
India. However, there was one institution that was
baptised into its sovereign commitments and
responsibilities within days of independence, when
the Indian Armed Forces pulled out all stops to blunt
the enemy’s nefarious designs in the state of Jammu
& Kashmir, in 1947-48 itself.
The seeds of the Indian ‘Soldiers’ ethos were
ironically, sown by a soldier who was technically not
even a part of the Indian Army at the time. A valiant
officer of the Jammu & Kashmir State Forces,’
Brigadier Rajinder Singh Jamwal’s unparalleled
heroics led him to be posthumously awarded the first
Maha Vir Chakra in independent India. The ‘saviour
of Kashmir’ had fearlessly led his small band of
soldiers and laid down his own life in the finest
traditions of soldiering, in the line of duty,
commitment and the ‘word’ he had given to his land.
His citation read:
Brigadier Rajinder Singh and his band of soldiers
carried out the orders of the Maharaja to the letter
and spirit. Fighting bravely for every inch of land,
December 2018 | Sammaan | 43
they delayed enemy advance by two crucial days
during which important decisions were taken. The
Indian Army joined the fight and the J&K State was
thus saved for India by Brigadier Rajinder Singh.
Perhaps unknown to most citizenry of our
country, the sacrifices of a Brigadier Rajinder Singh
Jamwal would have nurtured a certain pride,
patriotic zeal and tradition amongst the locals of the
region as the state of J&K has an embarrassment of
riches in terms of the sacrifices and gallantry awards
that reflects India’s religious-caste-linguistic
plurality. From the sheer daredevilry of Major Ajay
Singh Jasrotia in the Kargil war; Subedar Bana
Singh in the unforgiving battlefield of Siachen; to
Abdul Hamid Charain the Kashmir Valley. Since
independence, the bravery of our other warriors like
Brigadier Mohammad Usman and Havildar
Hangpan Dada from dust bowl districts like
Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and Tirap in Arunachal
Pradesh, besides the countless others – have seeped
into the collective conscience of the nation’s
hinterland, by bestowing the gut-instinct of
patriotism that overcomes all societal barriers and
the willingness to pay the ultimate price to protect
India’s sovereignty, as enshrined in the Constitution.
The rigorous training, the age-old traditions and
work-conditions of the Indian Soldier have led to the
evolution of a set of principles and personal values
that the soldier exemplifies till the last day of life as a
Veteran, much after he or she have formally hung up
their uniform. The instinctive-insistence that a
soldier’s life belongs to the nation and that they must
live for causes beyond themselves, differentiates a
Veteran from others in the civilian mainstream.
There is a clear angle of morality that necessitates a
Veteran’s conduct which is to uphold and personify
the ethos, standards and expectations of the serving
soldiers. In essence, the Veteran is a seamless
extension of the ‘Uniformed’ serving-soldier, who
does not have the liberty or laxity to swerve from the
path of upholding the truth, irrespective of the price
to be paid for it. Thus, irrespective of the subsequent
professional journey as a corporate citizen,
businessman, sports person, politician or an
entrepreneur – the Veteran carries the immeasurable
dignity of his soldering past, as well as the
accompanying burden and privilege of living up to
the exacting standards. Herein, institutional values
like Secularism, Unity-in-Diversity, Nation-first,
Non-discrimination etc. mirror the Indian
constitutional mandate, in its entirety - in letter and
spirit. Thus, unknowingly the Veteran becomes the
standard-bearer of the Indian Constitution in the far
flung villages and forgotten districts of the country.
However, civil society is being increasingly
threatened by the societal morass that divides and
the decay that vitiates the environment and threatens
the onward-march towards the constitutional-idyll.
Beyond the top-down governance, administrative
institutions and the spate of information – the civil
unrest and tensions desperately need ambassadors of
the Indian constitutional spirit, who could become
the society-lodestars of civil discourse, service and
engagement. With approximately 2.5 million
Veterans in their midst and an additional 60,000
joining annually, the presence and conduct of
Veterans can willy-nilly provide the optics and
Veteran is a seamless
extension of the
‘Uniformed’ serving-soldier,
with no liberty or laxity
from upholding the truth,
irrespective of the
price to be paid for it.
reassurances of an alternative narrative in tense
districts like Gadchiroli (Maharashtra); Bastar
(Chhattisgarh); Thoubal (Manipur); Anantnag
(J&K) etc. Contrary to the lazy generalisation of the
civil-society with regard to people from these
regions, the performance of Indian soldiers from the
Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry, the Naga and
Mahar Regiments etc. are second to none that run
counter to the divisively-ignorant perceptions of the
mainstream, as exemplified by soldiers and Veterans
of these fine regiments. The inherent selflessness,
voluntary-sacrifices and unmistakable traits of
‘inclusivity’ in the Veteran psyche, can be an
invaluable balm to provide succour and hope, to
those in times of natural disasters or who, at the
insistence of vested interests or even out of their
own misguidedness, have collectively given up on
the Indian Dream.
In an emotional speech in honour of the ‘Veteran’
Senator, John McCain, the former US President
Barack Obama inimitably captured the Veteran’s
role when he said:
“John understood that our security and our
influence was won not just by our military might, not
just by our wealth, not just by our ability to bend
others to our will, but from our capacity to inspire
others with our adherence to a set of universal
values. Like rule of law and human rights and
insistence on the God-given dignity of every human
being.”
Coming from a rival-politician, such praise only
nailed the fact that for Veterans principles and values
transcend narrow politics, biases and divides.
Equally importantly, the tag of ‘Veterans’ also
reverse-loads the bearer with the irrefutable
responsibility of conducting their public lives with
uncompromising probity and bipartisanship. The
Veterans cannot rid themselves of the Chetwodian
spirit or acquire traits that reflect the bigotry and
pettiness of the civil society, that are a natural
anathema to the Indian Armed Forces. The
pressures, incentives and lures to misuse and invoke
the ‘uniform’ of the Veterans as a political prop
needs to be avoided – especially when retaining the
obvious elements of military or regimental
affiliations, accoutrements and memorabilia, as it
unintentionally puts a political taint, on a proudly
apolitical institution.
No other governmental or societal institution,
barring the Indian Armed Forces, can rightfully
claim to having upheld the constitutional rectitude,
sobriety and dignity. In an age where liberties of
language, expression and conduct are rife – the
Veterans stand out in the crowd as the ‘Voice’ of their
institution, and by that logical extension, the Indian
Constitution. Unlike the Veteran communities in
neighbouring countries, the Indian Soldiers and
Veterans have not usurped or appropriated national
privileges, roles and budgetary allocations. Such
steely-discipline and restraint have earned them the
respect and reverence of the citizenry, without fear
or lure. For serving soldiers who literally abide by
the principle of ‘unlimited liability’ towards the
nation, as set by the Veterans – this sacred resolve
comes is voluntary, without the formal signing of
any covenant at the time of joining service, which
does not spell out the agreement to lose life or limb
as being part of the job. It is unwritten, unsaid, and
remains largely unknown outside of the soldering
fraternity. In the life of a solider ‘Soldier’, either
serving, or a Veteran, that the Naam, Namak and
Nishan of his hallowed unit, regiment, service-arm
and ultimately, the country, remains undiminished
and unblemished. The opportunity to extend this
institutional fidelity, ethos and example onto the
larger canvas of civil society is a matter of singular
honour, privilege and above all, responsibility, for
the Veteran, as the unsaid guardians of the India’s
constitutional morality, conscience and supremacy.
December 2018 | Sammaan | 44
MILITARY VETERANS: INDIA’S UNDERUTILISED SOCIAL CAPITAL
SAGAT SHAUNIK
December 2018 | Sammaan | 45
After toiling for 15 long years or more, an Indian
battle hardened trained soldier leaves his
unit/formation with a number of useful life-skills
and soft qualities under his belt. He is disciplined,
punctual and communicates effectively. Veteran
soldiers have seen it all, from the Thar Desert to
jungles, mountains, rivers and unfamiliar territory
where they operated in close-knit teams, hailing
from homes spread across the length and breadth of
India.
Most of this is well known, yet the soldier returns
to his home where he has few opportunities to keep
himself occupied. With the advent of technology and
an improved infrastructure, his pension is
automatically credited to his bank account and life is
very much routine. Except that, there is no PT parade
in the morning, no duty roster and no smell of cherry
blossom, brasso and the usual responsibilities.
I use the example of Subedar Gurung as a case in
point. The JCO sahib was recruited from Assam
around 1978 and saw his battalion, being
mechanised with BRDMs and participated in Op
Blue Star. Later he underwent conversion training
for BMP-1 and participated in a UN mission. He has
fond memories of his tenures in J&K, Punjab,
Rajasthan and other regions. While in service, he
used his free time to acquire new skills like playing
the guitar for his unit band and improved his English.
Between 2000-01, his unit received their first
computer and he wanted to learn more about it. In his
spare time, he sat with the head clerk and gained
familiarity with computers. He recalled typing a
letter on the regimental letterhead, a few days before
retirement and retains it as a souvenir at his home,
somewhere in the Northeast.
During an official visit to a civil society
organisation (CSO) based in the Northeast, I had an
interaction with the management, where I learnt that
the Subedar Sahib was a trainer with them. I walked
up to him and introduced myself. Promptly, he got
up from his chair with, “Jai Hind, apne fauji parivar
ke member se milkar bahut happy hua sahib”(Jai
Hind, I am delighted to meet a member of a Fauji
family). We conversed for over an hour during
which he told me that, post-retirement, he sought
resettlement training in New Delhi where he trained
as a security guard. He was placed with the CSO,
whose HQ was near his home.
Upon joining the new job, his manager noticed
how the community youth were very friendly and
respectful towards him. Soon, a large group of boys
were meeting him at the main gate and taking notes
in their school notebooks. This daily phenomenon
Subedar Gurung holding his medals with author Sagat Shaunik
intrigued the manager, who approached our Subedar
Sahib and asked him what was happening. The
Subedar replied that the youth wanted to improve
themselves by joining the army and that he was
training them for their English, GK and basic
Mathematics tests. The manager asked how a
security guard, could have the knowledge of such
subjects. To which he replied, “Chaubees saal se
Indian Army mein duty kiya, wahan sab fully trained
ho jate hein. In yuva kabhi future fully bright ho
jayega, service mein join in karke” (I served 24 years
in the Indian Army, where I was fully trained. I see a
bright future for these youths if they get recruited
into the service).
The manager immediately promoted him as a
skills-trainer within the organisation and was
astonished to find that the erstwhile security-guard
was computer literate. The organisation thereafter,
invested in his up-gradation training and today,
Subedar Gurung is a master trainer in the Northeast
and over 1500 students have benefited from his
English and computer classes. He continues to
motivate them towards a higher sense of integrity,
loyalty to the organisation and finding a sense of
purpose. These characteristics he claimed, were
acquired-in and are attributable to- his military
service.
There are many other ex-servicemen who are less
fortunate than Sub Gurung, as they remain an
unutilised talent pool of highly trained veterans. It is
a pity that they have to seek re-employment as
security guards, drivers and take similar odd jobs,
when their actual potential could be to boost national
integration by mobilising youth across the country,
towards a higher sense of purpose and for national
building.
On similar lines, during another visit to villages in
Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, I found veterans of
GRENADIERS, RAJPUT and RAJPUTANA
RIFLES; who were elected leaders of social groups
since the community admired them for their honesty,
ability to write and maintain accounts and for the
social-respect they earned due to military service.
While the nation is proud of the service and
sacrifice of our reemployed veterans in the Defence
Security Corps, it is time, our Armed Forces review
the way in which we resettle our veterans. The
organisation best knows the skills and competence
of each veteran and it can thus take suitable steps to
move beyond the regular re-employment avenues.
The josh with which our DSC defends our
establishments is an apt indicator of our veterans’
fitness, morale and preparedness, which can be
utilised both in the public and private sector, and
who can further invest in our veterans’ skills,
leadership and entrepreneurial abilities.
I look forward to the day when our veterans are
provided with opportunities to continue serving the
nation even after retirement. They can be teachers,
government officials, sports coaches, managers or
any other job role that is in sync with their skills. Let
us overcome the mind-set that soldiers, especially
NCOs, are employable only as security guards. India
has a large social capital of a disciplined and capable
workforce that is ready for its second innings. Let us
deploy them strategically. Jai Hind!
The josh with which our DSC defends our establishments is
a suitable indicator of veterans’ tness, morale and preparedness, which can be
well highlighted to both public and private sector, that can
further invest in our veterans’ skills, leadership and
entrepreneurial abilities.
December 2018 | Sammaan | 46
AN EXPERIENCE OF CONFINEMENT OF AIR VETERANS IN BOX WAGON FOR 18 DAYS
SGT BASUDEV GUHA THAKURTA (RETD)
December 2018 | Sammaan | 47
In 1945 when the Second World war was over, I
was based at No 1 Satellite Airfield Head Quarters,
Agartala, east of Brahmaputra . Our unit had been
disbanded , so all the existing inventory was to be
despatched to the various Air Force Stations as per
the category of equipment and stores. The mode of
despatch was via goods train with two escorts for
each consignment and the destinations were the Air
Force station Avadi, near Madras (now Chennai) and
the other was the Air Force Station Harbanspura,
near Lahore (now in Pakistan).
Four escorts were assigned for the consignment–
two British (BOR : British Other Ranks) and two
Indians (IOR). I was one of the Indian escorts. All of
us preferred to go to Lahore but it was decided by
the tossing of a coin by the Commanding Officer. As
luck would have the Indian escort won the toss and
we were detailed to go to Lahore.
All of us were provided with stenguns for self-
protection, enough food packets, ration money, large
stainless steels water pots, along with a: kettle; torch;
hurricane lamp; charpoy; first aid box and; other
essential items.
We were also carrying an important document
given to us by the British Commanding Officer
which was a mandatory advice for the railway
authorities to render prompt assistance on priority, as
and when, required. When all arrangements were in
place, our CO wished us a safe and happy journey.
Our departure station was Akhaura (now in
Bangladesh). Most of our Indian and British
colleagues came to station to bid goodbye to us. The
metre gauge box wagon in which the consignments
were loaded, had two doors that opened on either
side of the wagon. One door was locked from inside
and outside and the opposite door was kept open for
our requirements. We piled up our consignment in
the middle of our wagon, and on the other side we
placed our cots and personal luggage.
Next morning we reached a station - probably
Santahar –which had both broad gauge and metre
gauge facilities. We had to shift from the metre
gauge to the broad gauge line which was on the other
side of the platform. I met the station master and
showed him the Military Advice. I was in full
military uniform with the stengun hanging on my
shoulder. The response from the railway official was
prompt. A broad gauge wagon was to be placed
parallel to our metre gauge wagon for transferring
our consignment and personal belongings. The
railway staff ensured the smooth transfer of goods in
an efficient manner and we thanked the station
master for his cooperation.
There was large movement of military special
trains and thus the halts of our train were few. Our
wagon was at the rear of the train. We got very little
time to get off the train at stations for food and baths
except when the halt was longer. The wagon
assigned to us had no toilet, as a result we had to wait
for hours to relieve ourselves. The goods train had no
lights and no fans so we also had to withstand the
heat and mosquitoes. We were wondering what the
British escort would be going through on their way
to Madras Central Station. Our wagon was not put on
any direct train but trains that were moving to North
as a result had to take longer route. After few days of
travel we reached Mughal Sarai junction and