Vijay Divas kept low key so as not to `open raw wounds'

Vijay Divas kept low key so as not to `open raw wounds'
GAURAV C. SAWANT

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 16: Given the peace initiative in Kashmir, the Vijay Divas today -- when the armed forces celebrated their victory in the 1971 war -- was kept a low-key affair. So while the three service chiefs participated in the wreath-laying ceremony at Amar Jawan, conspicuous by their absence were President K R Narayanan, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Defence Minister George Fernandes.

Last year, the President had attended the ceremony.

``India is extending the olive branch once again,'' said an MoD official. ``You cannot tom-tom old victories and open raw wounds on the one hand and try to initiate peace on the other,'' he said. ``Therefore the President and the political elite were kept out of 1971 Vijay Divas,'' he said. In sharp contrast to the Kargil Vijay Divas.

The official MoD spokesman declined to comment on the Ramzan initiative and when asked why the President and the political elite were not present, he said: ``This was a decision taken by the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and the Defence Minister was aware of the decision. The President and the political top brass had been called for the Kargil Vijay Divas (July 26) therefore they were not called again for Vijay Divas (December 16).''

Some war veterans aren't quite pleased with this logic. ``Ridiculous,'' says Lieutenant General Satish Nambiar, a 1971 war veteran. ``This decision is pretty nonsensical. Does this mean that 1971 victory was in any way less important than Kargil or had no significance?'' he asked.

``We are not downplaying the gallantry of the young soldiers killed in Kargil. God only knows they achieved the impossible. But so did we in 1971,'' said another war veteran Colonel (retd) A K Singh. ``It is just that the present lot of generals have never seen action. The Ramzan initiative is laudable but the armed forces have to be kept out of this politico-religious affair.''