Ex-servicemen, many of whom fought during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, boycotted the official function to mark the 50th anniversary of the war at India Gate's Amar Jawan Jyoti which was attended by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the three defence services chiefs.
Instead of attending the government function, the veterans and war widows organised their own ceremony at Jantar Mantar where they paid tributes to the soldiers who were martyred in the war. The veterans, some of them on fast-unto-death, have been protesting for the immediate implementation of One Rank One Pension scheme for the last 75 days.
Two of those protesting are Wing Commander (retired) Vinod Nebb and Colonel (Retd) VN Thapar, who are disillusioned with the government with the latter calling the official celebration of the 1965 war an insult to those who fought the war.
"It is an insult to veterans to celebrate 50th anniversary of the 1965 war at India Gate as the soldiers who have fought it are languishing here demanding their rights," said Colonel Thapar.
Wing Commander (retired) Vinod Nebb, who was a young 22-year-old fighter pilot during the 1965 war, called it "a sad day in my life" as he was at Jantar Mantar protesting for OROP and not at the Amar Jawan Jyoti to pay homage to his gallant fellow soldiers who laid their lives for the country.
"The system has compelled me to come here. I have come here to show solidarity with war veterans, war widows and jawans," said the 73-year-old proud former Indian Air Force officer.
Wing Commander (retired) Nebb, commissioned into the IAF No, 27 Squadron (Flaming Arrows) in 1963, was just two years into the service when the war with Pakistan broke out. The fighter pilot flew a Hunter jet and shot down one Pakistani F-86 Sabre in the 1965 war and was awarded the Vir Chakra.
He shot down one Pakistani fighter jets in the 1971 war and was once again awarded the Vir Chakra. Now the veteran says he had mixed feeling about the war but was comfortable in the cockpit of his fighter jet.
A sequence of photographs clicked by Wing Commander Vinod Nebb's plane showing a Pakistani jet shot down by him during the 1965 war:
Another veteran Colonel (retired) VN Thapar who took part in the 1962 Sino-India war and also saw action in 1965 and 71 said that war veterans had been insulted by the government. Colonel (retired) VN Thapar, belonging to a family of defence personnel and whose 22-year-old son Lieutenant Vijayant Thapar of 2 Rajputana Rifles was martyred during the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan and posthumously awarded the Vir Chakra, said while soldiers who fought in the war were languishing at Jantar Mantar, the government was celebrating.
Colonel (retired) Thapar was commissioned into the 17 Maratha Light Infantry in 1962 and served in the 14 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles from 1979 to 1981. He was awarded 15 medals for his gallantry and distinguished service and also received Chief of Army Staff commendation in the 1965 war.
But frustrated with the government's reluctance to implement the OROP, the officer returned his medals to the President of India in 2013.
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