“Will my daughter see her father while I’ m alive”: POW’s wife asks PM Modi 

When Sikh Regiment was valiantly battling in Rajasthan’s Barmer sector during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, it made the entire country proud. Almost 46 years later, when wife of one of the soldiers who was taken captive by Pakistani Army during the action, came to Delhi on Thursday to stage a protest for his release, all she got was “worst humiliation of her life” at the hands of Delhi Police.

Harbans Kaur, 70 years old and wife of sepoy Balwinder Singh, along with her daughter Baljinder Kaur and sister of her husband, Kulwat Kaur, had come all the way from Chamba Kalan village in Tarn Taran district in Punjab. In Delhi, they were not only heckled by the police at Jantar Mantar but also detained along with about 60 other demonstrators who come from the families of people who have served in the armed forces.

“My husband was asked to join his regiment in Barmer sector when Indo-Pak war broke in 1971. And he never came back thereafter. My daughter was born eight months later after he left. She has never seen her father. It has been 46 years now since we’ve been waiting for him. Before I die, I want my daughter to see her father,” says Harbans, who has been suffering from several age-related ailments.

“Over a dozen protest demonstrations were being staged there (at Jantar Mantar) when a platoon of policemen descended upon us only and started chasing us away. Are we terrorists or criminals? Modi keeps talking about nationalism, is this the way women belonging to the families of prisoners of war are treated in this country,” she asked amid sobs, and went on to add: “I haven’t encountered this kind of humiliation in my life. But I won’t feel bogged down. We will keep asking for his (Balwinder) release.”

Her daughter Baljinder said emphatically, “My father was declared dead on December 16, 1971. But a Firozpur resident, Surjeet Singh—who was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore after 30 years in June 2012—told us that my father is also imprisoned in the same jail. He gave us his belt number: 3362050-10. Thereafter, another resident from the same district, Satish Kumar, who has also served term in the same jail confirmed that he is indeed in Kot Lakhpat jail.”

Baljinder has been campaigning for her father’s release for the past two years. Before coming to Jantar Mantar, she wrote to Manohar Parrikar, when he was Defence Minister and also met External Affairs Minister Sushma Sawraj, demanding her father’s release.

Nalin Talwar, another demonstrator and executive member of Saabka Sainik Sangarsh Committee said: “There are about 74 Indian soldiers held captive by the Pakistan Army from the 1965 and 1971 wars. We have been asking the government to take required steps for their release but there has been no response at all. Instead, police ensured this time that we don’t reach PMO or the matter doesn’t get highlighted in the media. We were detained in a police station for six hours as if were are criminals or goons.”

“We have given scores of written representations to the President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister but the government has not accepted even a single demand in the past six years. This attitude of the government of India (GoI) is frustrating the jawans and may trigger a direct confrontation with the government,” he said, adding, “We ask the Prime Minister to spare a thought for jawans languishing in Pakistani jails and the genuine issues of the other jawans when he addresses the nation from Red Fort on August 15. He must not forget that a soldier is always guided by a feeling of patriotism and a country can’t afford to ignore him.”

Demanding that GoI should use all diplomatic channels for the release all the POWs from Pakistani jails, Nalin said: “if need be, the government must move the International Court of Justice.”

Several veterans who assembled at Jantar Mantar under the banner of the committee, also raised following longstanding issues and demands:

Discriminatory pay scale rules

The pay scale of a jawan is fixed with a multiplication factor of 2.57 and that of an officer with 2.67. The GoI instead of ending this discrimination went a step further by endorsing the practice during the implementation of 7th Central Pay Commission.

Discriminatory disability pension

GoI is signatory to the United Nations Act 1995 and has submitted that all disabled persons are given equal facilities and it does not discriminate between individuals. But the disability pension in the armed forces is fixed on the basis of rank and length of the service. Such rules are not followed in rest of the signatory countries. The disability part of the pension should be the same for the officers as well as jawans.

Military service pay

Military service pay is a risk pay given to the forces in addition to their basic salary. How is it possible that the risk to the life of the officers and military nurses is greater as compared to that of the jawans? Military nurses don’t go even near the border. This is one of the biggest anomalies which has not been rectified despite so many representation.

If the government can’t increase the military service pay of jawans, then it should reduce it in the case of the officers and nurses as well.

Widow pension

It is high time that the government stops discrimination with widows of jawans. The widow pension of a Lt Col since 2006 has been increased 808 per cent and that of a Time Scale Naik just 215 per cent.

Service pension

Similarly, the raise in the pension of a Time Scale Lt Col has been 508 per cent and that of a Time Scale Naik is 355 per cent since 2006. Either the service pension of a jawan should be increased at the rate of 508 per cent or the hike in the pension of officers also be brought down to 355 per cent.

One rank one pension

Who needs to be benefitted under the OROP scheme? One who gets retired at 35 or the one who retires at 58? Officers retire at an age of 58–60 and a jawan at 35.

Since the implementation of the scheme, it’s the officers who are reaping the benefits. The basic pay of jawans has not been increased for the past 3-4 pay commissions. Therefore, retired jawans are not getting the desired benefits under the scheme.

Also, OROP scheme should be updated on yearly basis instead of every five years.

Security agencies

Security agencies are allotted only to the officers. Officers who get security agencies keep veterans as security guards and make them do extra work. But they pay them much less than what they are entitled to. Security guards are made to work 12 hours instead of 8 hours a day. While banks pay Rs 15000 per month to a guard, a jawan is paid only Rs 6,500 to 8,000 on a monthly basis.

CSD canteen profit

Profit from Canteens Stores Department’s (CSD) amounts to billions of rupees. With 97 per cent of the strength in armed forces, jawans are the major customers of CSD but 50 per cent of the profit earned by CSD goes to the officers’ mess. The income should be brought under the preview of CAG and it should be utilised for the construction of technical and medical colleges for the wards of jawans and veterans instead.

Sahayak system

The definition of a sahayak as generally understood by the officers is ‘slave.’ Sahayak system is one of the main reasons behind jawans committing suicides.

Additionally, in a quid pro quo, in many cases jawans who work as sahayaks with the officers are given extra privileges such as leave as per their requirement, promotions and other incentives. But jawans who perform their basic duties are discriminated against.

So the sahayak system should be abolished in the interest of armed forces in general and jawans in particular.

Corruption in armed forces

A Commission should be instituted to look into the complaints regarding corruption cases in the armed forces and ensure that corrupt officers don’t go scot-free.

Dearth of officers

It’s a regular practice in the armed forces that ahead of the Pay Commission’s implementation, a sustained discourse is initiated in public sphere that there is dearth of officers in the forces due to poor salary structure. This is totally false. Only officers benefit from that propaganda.

Officers, in fact, should be recruited by the UPSC or any other government organisation which is not under the military control.

Awards and appreciation

The officer-jawan ratio in armed forces is 3:97. If we look at the ratio of medals that are awarded in the forces, it is just the opposite; officers get 99 per cent of the medals whereas jawans and JCOs get only one per cent.

In the year 2014, a total of 273 gallantry awards were given on Republic Day; out of which jawans and JCOs won only 42 medals whereas 231 medals were awarded to the officers. A jawan is always in the field 24x7 whereas an officer goes into the field for a very specific time period. An independent inquiry should be set up to look into the medal distribution anomaly.

Army group insurance

Insurance benefit over disability is given only to those jawans who are discharged from the service. But if a jawan who gets partially disabled and takes voluntary retirement, he is not given any benefit of disability. This policy needs to be rectified as soon as possible.

Old British laws

All the laws of defence forces were made by the British Raj. Due to the continuation of the same old laws, officers of the defence forces see themselves as British masters.

A separate commission comprising retired judges of the Supreme Court should be set up to formulate new rules.