06-28-2008, 03:48 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Govt buries civility at Sam Bahadur's funeral </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi /Ooty
Barrig MoS, political & defence brass give it a miss
Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju was the lone Union Government representative at the state funeral of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw at Wellington, 85 km from Coimbatore. India has an inglorious tradition of forgetting its brave soldiers but in the case of the nation's greatest war hero, the amnesia set in even before his body had been laid to rest.Â
Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, who led India's famous military victory in the 1971 India-Pakistan war that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, died in Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, late on Thursday. He was 94.
As a 17-gun salute boomed, Manekshaw was buried in a Parsi graveyard near the place where his wife lay buried. The last rites were performed as per Zoroastrian customs. His wife Silloo had died seven years back.
The iconic military personality was given the final salute and laid to rest with full military honours, but the apathy of India's ruling establishment was pronounced on the occasion.
<b>Sadly, the funeral of India's most decorated soldier was skipped by the entire defence establishment, except the MOS. Defence Minister AK Antony was very much in Delhi on Friday, but he seemed more preoccupied with his duty as the Prime Minister's pointsman to deal with UPA allies and the Left on the nuclear stand-off issue.</b>
<b>Air Chief Marshal Fali H Major and Navy Admiral Sureesh Mehta were also in the Capital on Friday. They walked in the footsteps of their boss and did not think it prudent to attend the funeral of the man who spent years of his life putting into shape India's colossal defence structure</b>, which they now preside over. Army Chief Deepak Kapoor was in Moscow and was represented by Vice-Chief Lt General ML Naidu at the funeral. But no senior Navy or Air Force official flew down to Wellington.
There are three private helipads in and around Wellington, which is located in the midst of the picturesque Ooty. Both private and military choppers are available at Coimbatore and they would have taken less than 30 minutes to land at Welligton.
<b>If the top brass of the defence establishment did not take the trouble to pay the rightful homage to the Field Marshal, then the country's political class was equally apathetic in respecting the departed soldier. The MOS of defence represented the defence establishment as well as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. No other Cabinet minister was present at the funeral</b>.
The State Government's response was equally sad. A lone Tamil Nadu Minister was present on the occasion.
The indifference with which the Government treated Manekshaw's last rites has shocked former soldiers. "It is a sad reflection of the mindset of the Government, which is so preoccupied in pursuing the nuclear deal with the US that it has forgotten even the basic civility," commented a retired Army officer.
The body of 'Sam Bahadur', as he was affectionately called, was kept at the Madras Regiment Centre parade grounds, Wellington, for about three hours from 11.15 am to enable the public to pay homage to the departed General.
The body was then placed inside a closed coffin in an open flower-bedecked military truck and brought to the graveyard, 21 km from Wellington. Public and media were not allowed inside the graveyard while the last rites were being performed as Manekshaw's family members wanted the ceremony to be a private affair.
The Tamil Nadu Government had announced a day's official mourning on Friday as a mark of respect to the country's most celebrated Army chief.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Current government is sick jokers.
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi /Ooty
Barrig MoS, political & defence brass give it a miss
Minister of State for Defence MM Pallam Raju was the lone Union Government representative at the state funeral of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw at Wellington, 85 km from Coimbatore. India has an inglorious tradition of forgetting its brave soldiers but in the case of the nation's greatest war hero, the amnesia set in even before his body had been laid to rest.Â
Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, who led India's famous military victory in the 1971 India-Pakistan war that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, died in Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, late on Thursday. He was 94.
As a 17-gun salute boomed, Manekshaw was buried in a Parsi graveyard near the place where his wife lay buried. The last rites were performed as per Zoroastrian customs. His wife Silloo had died seven years back.
The iconic military personality was given the final salute and laid to rest with full military honours, but the apathy of India's ruling establishment was pronounced on the occasion.
<b>Sadly, the funeral of India's most decorated soldier was skipped by the entire defence establishment, except the MOS. Defence Minister AK Antony was very much in Delhi on Friday, but he seemed more preoccupied with his duty as the Prime Minister's pointsman to deal with UPA allies and the Left on the nuclear stand-off issue.</b>
<b>Air Chief Marshal Fali H Major and Navy Admiral Sureesh Mehta were also in the Capital on Friday. They walked in the footsteps of their boss and did not think it prudent to attend the funeral of the man who spent years of his life putting into shape India's colossal defence structure</b>, which they now preside over. Army Chief Deepak Kapoor was in Moscow and was represented by Vice-Chief Lt General ML Naidu at the funeral. But no senior Navy or Air Force official flew down to Wellington.
There are three private helipads in and around Wellington, which is located in the midst of the picturesque Ooty. Both private and military choppers are available at Coimbatore and they would have taken less than 30 minutes to land at Welligton.
<b>If the top brass of the defence establishment did not take the trouble to pay the rightful homage to the Field Marshal, then the country's political class was equally apathetic in respecting the departed soldier. The MOS of defence represented the defence establishment as well as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. No other Cabinet minister was present at the funeral</b>.
The State Government's response was equally sad. A lone Tamil Nadu Minister was present on the occasion.
The indifference with which the Government treated Manekshaw's last rites has shocked former soldiers. "It is a sad reflection of the mindset of the Government, which is so preoccupied in pursuing the nuclear deal with the US that it has forgotten even the basic civility," commented a retired Army officer.
The body of 'Sam Bahadur', as he was affectionately called, was kept at the Madras Regiment Centre parade grounds, Wellington, for about three hours from 11.15 am to enable the public to pay homage to the departed General.
The body was then placed inside a closed coffin in an open flower-bedecked military truck and brought to the graveyard, 21 km from Wellington. Public and media were not allowed inside the graveyard while the last rites were being performed as Manekshaw's family members wanted the ceremony to be a private affair.
The Tamil Nadu Government had announced a day's official mourning on Friday as a mark of respect to the country's most celebrated Army chief.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Current government is sick jokers.