Uniting IESL and IESM by Mag Gen RN Radhakrishnan

By RN Radhakrishnan (Rtd Major General)
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Dear Veterans,

The thoughts expressed in this mail are purely mine and with sincere interest to work towards Unity which has been my theme all along. I express my thanks to all those who took pains to contribute in this endeavor. Unity is of utmost importance everyone of us assert.

It was totally my initiative, though prompted by a few, to request Brig Gulia to call for an informal chat with Lt Gen Raj Khadyan on the issue of unity of ESM. The General responded so promptly that the meeting of minds was set in motion without any loss of time. It was to be a meeting of minds and with open minds, no matter what emerges. It was also recognized that certain apprehensions of differing nature do exist with regard to the modus operandi in presenting our grievances to the government.

At the very out set on 27th evening an understanding was arrived at that criticism of intentions should be avoided on either side. Though sparks did fly as the General put it, those sparks were controlled and no fire broke out. The issue of ‘Lakshman Rekha’ for the President IESL was raised and was explained. It is due to the Organizational structure and the Article of Memorandum of IESL that the President felt constrained and not due to any sort of Government influence, notwithstanding the Patronage.

The Brigadier had a heavy schedule in his hand basically due to packing up quite a few important events within two days. The schedule included the deliberations by the Office bearers, the Executive members, the General Council and the General Body. Besides, interaction with MD ECHS, the Secretary (ESW) and the DGR also got dovetailed. And surprisingly these officials displayed so much interest that time concept went astray. In addition, the Brigadier had taken up the challenging job of amending the memorandum more with the view to improve accountability and application of the democratic principles. Thus, he tied himself with two important consultative processes. He relied on the accommodative nature of the IESM members and the ability of a few of us. He chose to, though quite unwillingly, to limit his participation to the minimum level. I can assure all those who participated in the deliberations that there was no other intention.

It is also true that we from IESL perceived the 12th event as one of rally and the agenda of depositing the medal was not given the prime importance by us. No denying the fact that depositing the medal is the prerogative of a soldier. A medal for a soldier is symbol of his sacrifice and trust he had for his superiors. He finds that his trust is misplaced. All these days when he had been going about doing his part with no lamenting the government has been systematically cutting him down in size in an undeserving manner. Hence with deep resentment he protests. He deposits his medal as he feels bitter when he looks at it. He hopes to get it back along with his honor duly restored by the Nation. But some - for that matter quite a few – believe in the slogan ‘once a soldier always a soldier’, and hence they believe that he cherishes his medal come what may. Such soldiers do not feel comfortable parting with their medals. As a matter of fact a few delegates to the IESL AGM went the extent of being very sentimental. They did not hesitate to claim that the medals were so dear to them as to accompany them even in the last rites. Emotional attachment is something beyond intellectual reasoning and does play a vital role in one’s life, I realize.

IESL, based on such sentiments, holds the view that depositing the medals must be resorted to as the last measure. Those of us from IESL who led the conversation had underestimated the extent to which the President IESL was committed on this aspect. Hence, we expressed a hope that the issue of depositing the medal would be sorted out during the detailed planning on the conduct of the event.

The IESL wants the medal issue to be underplayed on that day to project such that IESL is not a party to it. IESL is not at all averse to the idea, having been developed after very careful thought process by IESM. Unfortunately, the importance of this aspect for IESM was grossly misjudged by me in particular and the other colleagues of mine, in general. Thus medal depositing became the bone of contention. The proceedings on 29th bogged down

The General had the clarity of perception and did mention to me on 26th that we should keep endeavoring for unity among us even if the attempt could not result in the desired results for some reason or other. Perceptions differ and grace lies in accepting differences in perception. After all perception is not mathematics to be precise. I appeal to you not draw conclusions in haste blaming anyone and attributing motives. I for one believe in display courage of conviction (hope Veteran Joshipura reads this) no matter what is the opposition. Honor the constraints and feelings of other.

Please restrain from adversely commenting on the recent efforts for Unity.

I appeal to you all to pause a while and think dispassionately on the following..

What is the gain if we IESL and IESM manage to come together on one stage on 12th April?
What is the loss if mention of depositing the medals is not made on that day on the stage by any one and or in any of the leaflets/ memorandum? Of course collection of the medals can go on; the media is at liberty to get individual opinion on the issue of depositing the medals and later the depositing itself can take place as scheduled.

This deliberation, I plead, be done by you and other decision makers of IESM. You have to convince and carry the President IESL along in the interest of ESM community.

Regards RNRK
20090402(2)

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