Tarun Vijay
When Wing Commander Vijay Prakash Bhatt offered to help preparations for the Indian Air Force’s historic and first of its kind 7000 km long car rally, to inspire youth to be an Air Warrior – he won’t know that Dussehra and Diwali would be celebrated on rally route without being able to see his newly born (twenty days old ) son Yog and his wife.
So are the soldiers at Siachen and Tawang and Jaisalmer – celebrating the most sought after festivals in October winter- when night temperature can go to minus twenty these days , with bone chilling winds.
That’s what Dussehra, Diwali, Eid and Christmas mean to our soldiers.
They have to keep an eye on the cunning, back stabber terrorists, within our territory and enemies across the border so that netas can cut ribbons of the factories and distribute laddoos on an electoral win , citizens can celebrate festivals without fear and students can study peacefully in schools and universities.
A secure nation is the first guarantee to peace and development but it has a price to be paid.
That price is paid by our soldiers guarding the frontiers.
Indian Air Force- Uttarakhand War Memorial Vayu Veer Vijeta Car rally – also known as Wings of Glory rally and the Himalayan Thunder, has a mission to reach out to the people- commoners and elite both to explain that a nation surrounded on three sides by unfriendly countries and engaged in bloody battles within its territory from Kashmir to Northeast- where dozens of terrorist and anti- national organizations are active – ( see the MHA site to know their names and why has the govt banned them – https://www.mha.gov.in/en/banned-organisations) need soldier -citizens to safeguard Motherland.
A less informed about the national pulse, icon of a sickening memorization-Kota brand procedure- UPSC obsessed youth can’t help defend the nation. The land of a great civilization needs warrior-intellectuals who have an obsession to serve the nation and people with a dream to become invincible once again.
Ghoda- Gaadi- Bangla- naukar- commanding position in the district, safety of the job and guaranteed promotions- is that all a nation must crave for ? A young person gets selected for the civil service and it becomes the local front page news. As if he or she has won a war. A boy gets selected in the armed forces and the relatives would come and say- competition ki tayyari nahin kee thi kya ? Teaching kee bhee to vacancies niklee theen ?
Either my son or daughter gets in civil service or applies to a Canadian, Australian ,USA college. That’s the Moksha for many common Indians today.
But fortunately, there is another side of the story too. Thousands of Indian youth have a dream to become a soldier and we see them running on roadsides every morning in cities and villages preparing for the entrance exams for armed forces . The truth is that they believe armed forces are the only option where they can hope to be selected on merit in a neat way. Thousands of Indian families have seen their children opt for the forces, a huge number of Indian soldiers belong to such families and proudly proclaim they are the fourth or fifth generation soldier in their Khandan.
IAF Car rally wants to strengthen their faith and confidence and catch them young. This rally is to create an awareness about the armed forces and spread the idea of a Dream for India.
IAF car rally is not an adventure fun event but it is trying to impress upon the youth that life doesn’t mean just money and luxury – even the mujahideen or Dawood may have it more than many others- but each human being needs to have an ennobling life mission and that can be achieved well through joining armed forces also.
Be a warrior if you want to live a King size life. That’s the Dussehra mission for us. Ramchandra ji returned to Ayodhya after eliminating the wicked forces and for that he needed an army of noble hearted warriors. If he wasn’t successful there won’t be a Dussehra or Diwali. Dussehra means, quintessentially a celebration of the elimination of wicked forces. Dussehra is not a meaningless fun fest. That underlines the significance of the armed forces and the need to have the best in the society inspired to be a soldier.
That also supports the demand of the many stalwarts in the country to have military education made compulsory in all schools and colleges. Be a Soldier -Citizen- is the need of the hour. An early age military training makes the people more disciplined and appreciative of the defense needs of a nation.
In western and middle eastern countries – even in the east Asian nations-being a soldier means a lot more than being a bureaucrat and politician. In the USA there are hundreds of active politicians, senators and congressmen who had served their nation in wars, in Iraq or Afghanistan, and veteran senators who served in Vietnam and they proudly show that badge of honor on their chest.
Can you remember how many MPs, MLAs in India have an armed force connection in their family? How many have themselves served in the forces? There are certainly a few but very few.
This is not to belittle any profession but to assert the significance of the defense forces. If we believe in Dussehra as a victory festival-we must be able to appreciate this point too.
(The author is former MP, Chairman of Uttarakhand War Memorial and founder convenor of Sindhu Darshan, Ladakh)
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