In Memory of Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh

(This is a reprint from NewsBred, originally "Why Rajdeep Sardesai blocked me on twitter")

Rajdeep Sardesai and the writer
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I found myself blocked on twitter by Rajdeep Sardesai today.

My tweets to him have never been abusive; rarely personal even though there is good enough reason to be so since we shared the same newsroom in the Times of India in the 90s. But I understand that the "Freedom of Expression" is not a two-way street. Stupid, we aren't meant to practice what we preach.

Still, I was obliged, conscience-wise, to peek into his tweets of the last four days. No, I wasn't looking for his sermons on illegal Rohingyas. Or if he is disparaging about Bullet Train. Or if he is in the pack of the wolves dancing around the embers of Demonetization. Or if their creativity is still on its feet in stitching "Sangh Parivar" with the murder of Gauri Lankesh.

All the above issues are meant to convey their concern for India. How their heart beats for India's proud history of welcoming refugees. How India's economic slide kicks them in the guts. How their souls are scorched at the fanciful waste of Bullet Train. How they die a thousand deaths at the plight of "independent" journalists in today's India.

Surely, such "conscience-keepers" of the nation would have shed a tear at the demise of Arjan Singh, Marshal of the Indian Air Force, in the Capital on Saturday. I wanted to check on Sardesai, if he has extricated himself from the morass of mud-slinging and spared a thought for the departed hero.

But I found myself blocked by Sardesai!!!

So I did the next best thing. I turned to Sagarika Ghose, his wife. Surely, the woman who has a new biography on Indira Gandhi to her name and thus, by inference, had time to research many wars of the 60s and 70s, would remember late Marshal Arjan Singh and his legendary deeds.

But there's not a single tweet from Ms Ghose! (There of course is a retweet but that's like registering a presence in a funeral). It's so much like Congis--with whom her family has had a roaring stand--who rarely have had a great respect for our military heroes.

Remember the death of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw on June 27, 2008? The then present UPA dispensation in the Centre, were all missing from the funeral of India's greatest military hero. Neither President Pratibha Patil, supreme commander of our armed forces nor Prime Minister Manmohan Singh; neither the then defence minister A.K. Antony nor the three Service chiefs attended Manekshaw's funeral.

Manekshaw's various run-ins with the Indira Gandhi could be the reason. I am not sure if Ms. Ghose has it mentioned in her book--those loyals who have read it must inform me. Or the book has the facts that the 1971 War hero's status and dues were held up for decades. (It was only due to the initiative of former President APJ Kalam that a cheque of Rs 1.3 crores was sent to the late Marshal on his deathbed.)

Next I logged on to Sitaram Yechury's twitter account. He is another one who can't see his beloved India going to pieces under the Modi regime. It's another matter that those who protect India's sovereignty are not quite sure of his time for them. He too wasn't present, by all accounts, at Field Marshal Manekshaw's funeral.

Yechury too hasn't offered any condolence on Marshal Arjan Singh. All he has done is to question Modi government for its indifference to death of India's "most senior serving military officer." Indifference? Is the whining Communist leader indeed talking about Marshal Arjan Singh? Isn't he aware that Arjan's son Arvind Singh is overwhelmed at the present government's response to his father's death?

I next turned to two other Congress Seniors: Digvijaya Singh and Manish Tewari. The two have been much in news for their colourful vocabulary in public lately. Abusive like the drunk thugs you often find on the streets; with little association to decorative representative offices such as ones of former Chief Minister and Union Minister. Digvijaya predictably had no time for Marshal Arjan Singh's death (does India-Occupied-Kashmir ring a bell?) And Manish Tewari? No prizes for guessing this one too.

You would expect these people to use Marshal Arjan Singh's death as an opportunity to present their credentials as well-wishers of Indian army, and by inference India. They have often held the grouse that their patriotism has been questioned by Hindutava agents; that they are shown as anti-Indian armed forces. But doesn't their lack of respect for Indian soldiers and heroes only confirm the impression?

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