By Col Sudhir Rana (Retd)
How a soldier is treated in a nation, generally depends upon the military history of that country. In India, defence forces have a brilliant record of glory, sacrifice and humanitarian assistance. A soldier is generally respected in our society and is perceived to be a disciplined, patriotic and honest citizen who puts service before self.
In Dehradun, if you travel from Dilaram Bazaar towards the Chief Minister’s or Governor’s residence, in Cheed Bagh stands a beautiful war memorial, named Shaurya Sthal. On the other side of the street, stands a statue of 3 soldiers of Garhwal, Kumaon and Gorkha regiments facing the war memorial.
At the grand entrance, you find two Vijayant Tanks guarding it. Directly facing it is statue of a soldier with flags of India and defence forces flying high in the blue sky in the background. Behind him, stand seven granite pillars with insignia of all three arms of defence services, Kumaon, Garhwal and Gorkha regiments. On these huge black pillars, the names of soldiers have been engraved, who gave their all, to defend us in post-independence battles from 1947 to Kargil. On both sides of the path are plaques depicting war cries and quotes of great Indian leaders.
On one side a lane exists where busts of Ashoka Chakra Awardees of Uttarakhand are displayed with a plaque describing their valiant acts. There are several murals depicting pictures of various battles fought with grit by Indian soldiers. In the background you see a naval boat which participated in the Karachi blockade and a MIG 21 adorns the memorial too.
Whenever I cross this beautiful and grand memorial, I feel sad. Because I find it desolate and empty. I don’t see any parents bringing their children, to introduce them to real heroes. I don’t see any school bringing their students to salute these martyrs. We don’t see young couples looking at murals. Sometimes, a war widow or son of a fallen hero or a comrade in arms may be found here sitting alone lost in memories.
In Russia, there are war memorials of the Second World War, spread over the whole country. It is quite a sight to watch newlywed couples paying homage to those fallen heroes. They seek their blessings. While Sri Lanka, Italy and Israel pay homage to Indian soldiers, our political masters have been busy erasing them from public memory.
While in India, except some ceremonies on national days, these monuments are not a part of our lives. It is true that a doctor and a soldier is remembered during disasters, both natural and manmade. Both of them are forgotten, once the emergency is over. After some lip service, they are erased from public memory. The power brokers in India always had a fear of military coups, so they want to keep defence forces subservient. They do not want public to remember and deify armed forces. So, you generally do not find lives and campaigns of military leaders and heroes in our school text books. You may find hundreds of buildings and memorials of politicians with questionable service to the nation, but war memorials are fewer.
Not a long time ago, one Indian politician had said, “What are you complaining about, you joined the army only to die?” Similarly, in the words of Henry Kissinger, “Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy.” There was a furore in USA, when the present US President expressed similar comments in a private gathering.
However, now things are slowly changing. Present governments are making efforts to keep the memories of our soldiers alive.
So, here lies another tale of sleeping heroes in the land of the brave, Uttarakhand.
