Former Navy chief and Magasaysay Award recipient Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas (Retd) has written to the President of India Ram Nath Kovind regarding the Rashtrapati Bhavan’s continued silence over the letter signed by over 150 army veterans slamming the BJP’s politicisation of armed forces and taking credit for military operations.
In the previous letter, the ex-servicemen had urged the president to take appropriate action to ensure that the secular and apolitical nature of the armed forces is maintained.
In the second follow-up letter addressed to the President, Adm Ramdas (Retd) points out that till 28 April, the Rashtrapati Bhavan is yet to acknowledge the receipt of the letter despite it being sent to three official email addresses of the Bhavan. None of the mails bounced back hence they all must have been received by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Adm L Ramdas writes to The President @rashtrapatibhvn on our behalf. There is just one more question to ask The President
Sir, if we have expressed our anguish & pain utilising all available Institutional Mechanisms availed to us & yet no redressal is available,
what must we do? pic.twitter.com/eGmn8Xcyh6— ପ୍ରିୟଦର୍ଶୀ/प्रियदर्शी/Priyadarshi (@MajChowdhury) April 30, 2019
Furthermore, the hard copies of the letter that were mailed through speed post and registered mail were received by the Bhavan but marked ‘NFA’ as they were not signed, claimed the President’s press secretary. Adm Ramdas (Retd) disputes this claim as ‘strange’, saying the letters were indeed signed by Major P Chowdhury.
The follow-up letter details how the ‘misunderstanding and change of heart’ of two signatories of the letter, who withdrew their support had lead to a media uproar that called into question the credibility and integrity of the other 154 veterans who still stand by the original letter.
The names of these two veterans who denied signing the letter have been struck off, however the list of veterans who oppose the politicisation has grown further since then and now stands at 422
The letter ends with a request of acknowledgment of the letter from the Rashtrapati Bhavan and an appeal to the President and the EC to take “necessary and firm action” against the continued politicisation of the armed forces.”
“We veterans have looked up to your high office with deep respect and trust in the Constitution of India which you represent,” the letter reiterates.
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Earlier, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a political rally in Latur, Maharashtra had asked first time voters to dedicate their first vote to Pulwama martyrs and soldiers who carried out Balakot airstrikes. Similarly, multiple BJP leaders including Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Yogi Adityanath has referred to the Indian Army as ‘Modi ji ki Sena’ and Amit Shah has called the IAF as PM Modi’s Air Force.
The election commission is yet to take any action against Modi despite local poll authorities saying that prima facie, the PM has violated EC’s instructions against invoking the armed forces.