Memories of War and Peace

Recently, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, ruling system easily India’s only female prime minister, Indira Gandhi omitted to mention, and respecting their contribution. I will not go into their meanness. They probably have their reasons for ignoring historical facts because they have little to write about their past.

We must never forget the conditions under which the war, which was the shortest in the world, was fought. India gave independence to Bangladesh in just 13 days. The war began on 3 December and ended on 16 December when the Eastern Command of the Pakistani Army signed the Instrument of Surrender at Dhaka. India was not an economic or military superpower.

a fighter pilot

I grew up listening to stories that my father, Rajesh Pilot, told about his own experiences as a fighter pilot in the war. He was posted in the Eastern Sector in Jorhat, Assam. In October of that year, less than two months after the war began, he was promoted to squadron leader.

My father and his colleagues flew a modified de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou for the bombing mission. We didn’t have enough fighters to do the job, which is why a transport plane, the Caribou, was put into action. I still remember the stories of his mission very well. On 8 December, five days into the war, he was leading a mission to bomb 10 important locations controlled by the Pakistani military. Her call sign was 40 and Radar’s call sign was Good Wife. Somehow the Pakistani side came to know about the impending attack. Minutes after take-off, Air Traffic Control (ATC) asked them to start landing contrary to the schedule set in the pre-flight briefing. As he began to descend, he thought something was wrong. His intuition served him well as the anti-aircraft guns of the Pakistani side were waiting below. Inside the cockpit, his teammates pulled the stick with full force, tailing him in a formation. The plane shot down. Just then, another message came, “40, this is the original good wife, please maintain your height as discussed during the briefing.” Indian ATC intentionally did not disclose the altitude. On the way back to the airfield, another message erupted, this time with a different Punjabi twig. “40, where are you going?” And he replied, “Don’t you worry, I’ll come again tomorrow.”

meaning of nationalism

The union, love and respect I saw between my father and his colleagues in the Indian Air Force was unacceptable. They would sit together to chat about the experiences of 1971, and scoff and call out to each other for the slightest exaggeration in their respective roles.

My father was a second generation soldier. His father was a sergeant in the Indian Army and it was his dream that his son become a commissioned officer, something he could never achieve. Although I had entered politics long back, I too longed to follow my father and grandfather. I wanted to feel the same pride and enthusiasm of wearing that uniform. So I joined the Indian Territorial Army (Unit-124 Sikh) in 2012.

Nationalism cannot and cannot be imposed on you; It is something that you grow and live with. It is as biological as a child learning to walk. The chest-beating variety of nationalists might want you to believe otherwise. They forget that Indira Gandhi was an Indian Prime Minister and not a Congress Prime Minister. It is unfortunate that attempts are being made to downplay his role. The past cannot simply be erased. The military leadership in 1971 was guided by the political will of Delhi. It was a unique synergy between the military and the political leadership.

Some say that Congress doesn’t beat the drums enough; That we are not the masters of our own heroes. I would say that nationalism is not a competition nor should it be curtailed.

over political division

The 1971 war was not the victory of the Congress, it was the victory of India. It is a disservice to the country and to all those who lost their lives in 1971, when the then government was indulging in turmoil for credit. The sovereignty and integrity of the country is not up for debate; They must live above and above political divisions.

Till date, the Indian Armed Forces remains the best-protected institution as successive governments have not interfered with its functioning. And we should do everything possible to maintain this tradition. The Bharatiya Janata Party government was quick to take ownership of India’s airstrike in Balakot in 2019, but did it admit or apologize for the intelligence failure that led to the Pulwama terror attack that year?

In 1996, when Deve Gowda was in the prime minister’s chair, the government, knowing full well my father’s ties to the Northeast, where he had served for 15 years, asked him to speak to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah. invited to. NSCN-IM) faction. He flew out of the country to conduct behind-the-scenes talks. Thereafter, Mr. Gowda met the leaders of NSCN-IM in Zurich, Switzerland on 3 February 1997. In August 1997, the NSCN-IM entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Centre, which became one of the longest-running peace talks in India. This is Indian politics.

In the winter of 2001, the Naga leaders returned to India. My father was not around to see his efforts come to fruition; He died in a road accident in June 2000. They came to our house, paid tribute to them and clearly stated that they returned to India largely because of the initiatives taken under the previous government. It was a remarkable moment and it left an indelible impression on me.

The present government is battling with incurable amnesia. He forgets the united front that the political leadership faced the worst attack on Indian democracy when terrorists attacked Parliament 20 years ago, on December 13, 2001.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi was the Leader of the Opposition. He told Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, “Mr. Prime Minister, this is an attack on Indian democracy. Take whatever steps you feel are appropriate. We will support you.” Ideological barriers do not come in the way of national security.

Political maneuvering in the name of national security can be harmful to our country. Policies and priorities for national security cannot be compromised because of political advantages or disadvantages.

You may make some gains in the short term. Linguism may offer some political advantage, but in the long run, it will damage the building upon which our country and its glorious history were built.

Congress MLA from Tonk Sachin Pilot