Insult of sailors at INS Khukri war memorial yet again shows bias in armed forces
On June 25, 2017, veteran petty officer Kaushik Pipalva was holidaying in the union territory of Diu when he went to pay floral tribute to the martyrs of INS Khukri at the ship's war memorial near Diu. The memorial displays names of the brave sailors of INS Khukri, who lost their lives on December 9, 1971.
These names are engraved on a stone plaque. Pipalva's visit to the war memorial ended in pain after noticing the insult meted out to the sailors' and junior commissioned officers' fraternity, when he saw stark and deliberate mistakes in the names of martyrs engraved on the plaque.
It seems that the immense sacrifices made by sailors are not acknowledged while they are alive and even after their death, the horrendous neglect continues.
Out of the 194 martyrs of INS Khukri, 17 were officers, their full names are engraved on the plaque prefixed with their ranks. The 177 sailors, however, only find mention as A Singh and B Singh without any mention of their ranks. The true reason behind the enormous insult is the rank apartheid that is being practised by the Indian Navy even 46 years after the braves laid down their lives on December 9. The Indian Navy does not consider it important to mention their complete names and ranks at the War Memorial.
The erroneous engraving of martyrs' names on the plaque is a national shame and displays our lack of respect towards them.
The poor families of the martyrs of INS Khukri (F-149) must be enraged over the treatment meted out to their loved ones. Visitors to the war memorial are also furious over the ill-treatment of nation's heroes.
When my senior veteran petty officer, Pipalva, saw the gross injustice towards our martyrs, he asked some very tough questions to the Indian Navy.
Were the brave souls mere civilians? Did they go on the fateful ship for some picnic? Were they personal servants of the officers or soldiers of Mother India? Were they washer men or barbers or were they sailors of a warship? Who were there fighting for? If they were soldiers then where are their ranks?
I visited the war memorial in 2015 and saw this gross injustice and immediately wrote a letter to the Prime Minister's Office vide PMOPG/E/2015/0081929 on August 31, 2015 (status can be checked online). The PMO took immediate note and directed the Indian Navy to take necessary action in the matter. We were sure that on receipt of orders from the PMO, the Indian Navy will surely make the required changes to the plaque.
However, even direct orders from the PMO could not deter the thick-skinned officers of the naval headquarters. The shameful practice of rank apartheid continues.
We request the government of India and the Indian Navy to immediately replace the plaque with a new ameliorated one, mentioning complete names and ranks of each of the martyr and pay proper respect to the brave souls.
It is, however, not the only controversy surrounding the sinking of INS Khukri.
As per the Indian Navy's official statement, INS Khukri, the blackwood class frigate sank after being hit by a torpedo from Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor.
Tehelka.com interviewed veteran shipwright Chanchal Singh Gill, a survivor of the ill-fated ship, who claimed that INS Khukri was hit and sunk by torpedoes fired from an American nuclear-powered submarine to deter Indian Navy from further attacking Pakistan.
It was impossible for an under-siege Pakistan to send its submarine so deep inside the Indian territory. INS Khukri and INS Kirpan were patrolling the area since three days. No Pakistani submarine could have stayed continuously underwater for so long. Such capabilities were present only with the US' 7th fleet, which was sailing nearby.
The Indian Navy continuously portrays late captain Mahendra Nath Mulla (MVC) as a great hero. He is indeed a national hero and the nation salutes him for his sacrifices. But, the supreme sacrifices of those valiant 177 sailors were also equally great.
We are asking these difficult questions today to ensure equal treatment for them in their deaths that came in the line of duty.
This is a very sad saga of "selective socialism" in the armed forces. While awarding the top-most people in the hierarchy, we often forget that the ladder which takes them to the top is built with the blood and toil of the people down below. The very last person - the sepoy, the sailor and the airman - has been continuously putting his life at stake to keep these vintage, old and obsolete warships, aircraft, tanks and guns operational and fighting fit.
Developed countries never keep obsolete weapons, warships or aircraft in their kitty.
In India, however, we do not always have the luxury of new weapon systems. Neither do we have the money, nor the technological capabilities to build such advanced weaponry.
This handicap puts immense burden on the operators and engineers to keep these old and obsolete machineries afloat and running. They work round-the-clock ensuring this. INS Khukri was also one such obsolete ship, which wasn't equipped with the latest sonar technology of those times and thus lies at the bottom of the sea along with fellow sailors.
Almost everyone onboard drowned with the ship. INS Khukri went down to the bottom of the ocean within three minutes of being hit by torpedoes. If captain Mulla can be awarded Maha Vir Chakra for his bravery within those three fateful minutes, then those three minutes should be sufficient for the entire ship's company to be deservingly awarded Nao Sena Medals.
The captain might have decided to go down with the ship. How many of us actually believe that drowning makes captain Mulla a "Maha Vir". The remaining 193, who lost their lives in the line of their duty, could not even be called "Vir". If death by choice is a standard then every time an aircraft crashes, the pilot should be asked to die to win medals.
Veteran Gill claims that when the torpedo hit, all officers were celebrating the news of sinking of PNS Gazi in the officer's wardroom. So, when was the decision to die taken?
The Indian Navy also has to answer some uncomfortable questions. Instead of saving drowning sailors of INS Khukri, the commanding officer of INS Kirpan, fled the scene of action but was subsequently awarded Vir Chakra and the martyred colonel in the recent Pathankot terror attack has been decorated with Shaurya Chakra. With such criterion, each soldier dying in the line of duty should be awarded a Sena Medal to say the least.
Whenever an officer dies in the line of duty, there has never been any delay in writing a citation and recommending him for bravery in the Indian armed forces. Which is really a good sign but nobody wrote citations for any of the Khukri martyrs.
It is our heartfelt request to the government of the day that citations and medals should be freed from class-specific biases. In a mature democracy each soldier should be equally rewarded and awarded for his bravery and sacrifice.
Since its liberation about 240 years back, the United States of America has awarded 3,515 Medals of Honour, which is US' highest gallantry award like our Param Vir Chakra, to its soldiers. That comes down to 14 topmost bravery awards each year.
Since our independence in 1947, the very conservative India has only awarded 21 Param Vir Chakra to its bravest of the brave. Hundreds of soldiers have set examples of unparalleled bravery through selfless sacrifices in the line of duty. Our
Tricolour does not fly because of the blowing wind, every soldier ensures it keeps flying till his last breath.
Shamefully though, the nation is forgetting their sacrifices. When consecutive governments are mean-spirited and only allot few medals, our hopes are dimming.
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Param Vishisht Seva Medal and Yudh Seva Medal are awarded to only senior officers, in the ranks of brigadiers and generals aka arm-chair generals.
These are allotments, but are smartly classified as gallantry and bravery awards. If these arm-chair generals are so brave, let us send them to the Nathu La post and withdraw the brave jawans from there. The bravest of the brave are deprived from their well-deserved recognitions.
After 70-long years of independence and martyrdoms of thousands of soldiers protecting the nation, the continued discrimination prevalent in awarding medals should stop immediately.
Jai Hind, Jai Sainik Swaraj