10 former service chiefs write to PM on OROP, police action on veterans
August 17, 2015  14:15
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Ten former service chiefs write to PM Narendra Modi on One Rank One Pension (OROP) and the insult of veterans by the police at Jantar Mantar on Friday, August 14.


The letter says the "Delhi police's high-handed treatment meted out to veterans has impacted morale and pride. The inability of the political leadership to find a solution leaves us dismayed." The letter was signed by Gen VN Sharma, Gen Shankar Roy Choudhary, Gen S Padmanabhan, Gen NC Vij, Gen JJ Singh, Gen Deepak Kapoor, Gen Bikram Singh, Admiral Madhavendra Singh, Air Chief Marshal NC Suri and Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi.


Meanwhile, Colonel (Retd) Pushpendra Singh and Hawaldar Major Singh have begun fast unto death at Jantar Mantar over OROP.

The Indian Ex-Servicemen's Movement, which is spearheading the demand for OROP, is trying to convince Col Pushpinder and Hawaldar Major Singh to defer their infinite hunger strike for a few more days.

The veterans say they wish to meet the Prime Minister -- who is on a visit to United Arab Emirates -- before they escalate their protest.

PM Modi acknowledged in his Independence Day address at the Red Fort on Saturday that he is yet to reach a resolution on the One Rank One Pension demand of ex-servicemen, but promised that his government had "accepted OROP in principle."

Not far from where he addressed the nation, ex-servicemen sitting on a relay hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, the designated site for protests, watched the PM's speech keenly on a large TV screen. They switched it off the moment his brief OROP mention ended and said they "reject the PM's speech".
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