BARBAROUS TANGO
Mother India sheds a tear when her
soldiers are ‘Killed in Action’. She sheds a tear whenever her Veteran Son is ill-treated by his own
brothers, for whom he put himself in the
‘Line of Fire’ at the Borders serving
his Motherland.
On 11 Sep 2020 (the ominous 9/11) some 8-10 nefarious miscreants entered the
compound of ‘Vasant Pride’ in Thakur Complex, Kandivali (East) in Mumbai and physically
thrashed a Navy Veteran Madan Sharma ex CHELP. The Senior Sailor had joined the
Indian Navy in 1974 and having served for 16 long years joined the Merchant
Navy and retired in 2015. The assault on
the Veteran by the miscreants was captured in the CCTV footage of the building. The
miscreants then had the audacity to go to the Police Stn and lodge a complaint
against the Veteran for sharing a cartoon meme of CM. The Police came to
apprehend the Veteran. The family did not open their door and reported the
matter to the local MLA, Mr Atul Bhatkhalkar who came with his team and along
with the Veteran went to PS to lodge an FIR against the culprits, who were apprehended for assault but soon released
on bail. The
Veteran with bruised face and bleeding right eye was admitted to Sanjeevani Hospital Kandivali
(West) for treatment and discharged the next day to be with his anxious and
disturbed family.
The incident was soon flashed on most
channels of TV and at 9 pm the same evening Commander Vijay Vadhera, NM(G)(Retd), President
NFMC was invited for a debate on Republic TV by Arnab Goswami and other
Panellists to protest against the assault on the Veteran by political miscreants. Maj Gen GD Bakshi had been very vociferous and lashed out at the
goons while Cdr Vadhera in a dignified manner in no uncertain terms conveyed
his displeasure at the happening. He narrated how the Veterans all over the world were treated with respect and reverence, but this kind of atrocity cannot
be tolerated and shall cast a demoralising effect on the serving community if
no severe action is taken against the political goons.
There were protest marches observing social
distance and COVID Protocol norms at various places including a 6 hours
peaceful demonstration on 14 Sep called in by the tri-services All India ESM
Association.at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The Rashtriya Sainik Sanstha has in a
written Appeal requested the President for President’s Rule in the state(Letter
placed below). Defence Minister Rajnath Singh personally called up Veteran Madan
Sharma, when he was in the Hospital to console him and convey his best wishes
for early recovery (tweet below).
RASHTRIYA SANIK SANSTHA
PRESENTING A MEMO TO THE
GOVERNOR
Cdr Vijay Vadhera had scheduled an
emergency meeting for the managing committee of Navy Foundation Mumbai Chapter
on the morning of 12 Sep and discussed the further course of action in the aftermath
of this dastardly event. He sought to meet the Governor of Maharashtra along
with two representatives each of Navy foundation Mumbai Chapter and Veteran
Sailors Forum to present a Memorandum of Protest on behalf of the Veterans
fraternity at Raj Bhavan at 1100 hrs on 16 Sep. However, as the Governor, who holds
the additional charge of Goa, had to leave for a week, the meeting had to be postponed.
The Memorandum was emailed to the ADC for Governer’s perusal. The Foundation
members shall call on the Governer after his return. (the Memorandum is placed
below)
VISIT TO
VETERAN’s HOME
On 16th-morning Cmde Ramesh Kumar (Retd)(02061-H)(L-717) ,
Meena Dutta and I paid a visit to Veteran Madan Sharma at his Kandivali home
‘Vasant Pride’, as a courtesy call and enquire about his health. The multistory
building has a large garden area in front. Located at 5th Floor they have done up the flat exquisitely. The Veteran met us
with a warm smile and introduced us to his humble family. His Daughter Sheela,
who’s an Ayurvedic Doctor served us hot tea with a smile, even as Veteran Madan
was narrating the unfortunate incident. His Son Sunny, who is an IT engineer
working closeby took time off to come and meet us. Their mother met us with
moist eyes and had to be consoled by Meena. On behalf of the Navy Foundation Cmde
Ramesh and I presented the Veteran with Face Shields and masks. The family has
thanked the Veteran Foundations pan India for the enormous support they
received from all quarters during the crisis. It was a gratifying interaction
going back in footprints of time and discussing old times in the Navy. At the
end of our visit even as the family cheerfully bid us goodbye, Sunny delightfully
came down to see us off. The glint in his eyes was evident despite his blue
face mask.
Received a Whats App msg from Veteran
Madan Sharma on reaching home:
Heartly Thanks a lot to
Supporters,
I am very thankful to all
media & every individual veteran groups who all are participating in this
muhim and support to get justice for me and respect for all the veterans and for the common senior citizens.
Thank you all of you for
all the support given to me.
Madan Sharma (Ex-Navy),
I am not Related to any
political party.
JAI HIND
JAI HINDUSTAN
=================
CMDE RAMESH KUMAR & CDR RAJ DUTTA
ON BEHALF OF NFMC PRESENT SHIELDS & MASKS
TO VETERAN MADAN SHARMA CHELP (RETD)
WITH FAMILY
OF VETERAN MADAN SHARMA
(Raj, Madan & Wife Shanti, Ramesh, Sunny and Sheela.
Kneeling Meena & Unnati)
VISIT TO RAJ BHAWAN
On his return from Goa H.E. Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari gave an appointment to Cdr Vijay Vadhera and his team of Veterans and a Veer Nari for 1630 hrs on 24 Sep. The following members were present during the interaction with Governor:
a) Cdr Vijay Vadhera, NM(G)(Retd) -President NFMC
b) Cdr Raj Dutta,(Retd)- Hon Secy NFMC
c) LtCdr Farokh Tarapore, VSM(Retd)- Tres NFMC
d) Dr (Capt) Kanta Mukherjee- Veer Nari NFMC
e) Shashi Kant Mishra- MCERA(Retd) Veteran VSF
f) Ramesh Chander- MCPO(Retd) Veteran VSF
The staff of the Governor on our request had rigged up the projection screen expeditiously in the Hall for the projection of the Veteran Day Parade Video. Governor warmly greeted all of us with a smile as he entered. Cdr Vadhera presented the Governor with the NFMC Memento and the Fauji magazines as H.E. gladly beckoned us for the group Photograph. Cdr Vadhera introduced all of us before the screening of the Veterans Day Parade wonderful Drone Video on the big screen that was well appreciated by the Governor. Cdr Vadhera briefed the Governor on the dignity and respect accorded to the Veterans the world over, including the ANZAC Day Parade in Australia & New Zealand and similar parades in the USA & some European countries. The Governor was briefed on the First ever Veterans Day Parade held in India at the Marine drive.
Cdr Vadhera then presented him with the Memorandum of protest against the assault on Veteran Madan Sharma (on 11 Sep). The Governor read the Memo and assured that he’d write a stern letter to the Maha CM. Shashikant Mishra sang a Deshbhakti Poem which was well appreciated by the Governor and it was a befitting culmination to a wonderful call-on to the Governor H.E. Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
After the call-on, the Veterans assembled outside the Raj Bhawan, where Cdr Vadhera briefed the awaiting press regarding the Governor’s meet and handed over the Press-note to the journalists.
The Veterans exchanged greetings, sans a handshake as mandated by COVID protocol, prior setting course to their respective destinations. A rewarding day indeed.
Shano Varuna
Jai Hind
PS: On 16th Sep Six of the miscreants have been taken into Judicial Custody for 14 Days for the mayhem unleashed on the Veteran on 11 Sep.
VETERANS OF
NFMC & VSF AT RAJ-BHAWAN
PRESIDENT
NFMC PRESENTS MEMENTO TO GOVERNOR
NFMC
MEMENTO FOR GOVERNOR
PRESENTATION
OF MEMORANDUM
CDR VADHERA
BRIEFS GOVERNOR
GOVERNOR’s
DARBAR FOR VETERANS
PRESS
BRIEFING POST GOVERNOR’s VISIT
CDR VADHERA ON REPUBLIC TV
SHEELA SHARMA SPEAKS TO ANI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwNa2c1Zsmw
HINDUSTAN TIMES REPORT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf1NAsg1ERg
MAJ GEN SATBIR SINGH SPEAKS
VETERANS DAY DRONE VIDEO APPRECIATED BY GOVERNOR
Wow, Excellently narrated. It really feels great to see and to know how our entire fraternity stands united when it comes to oppose a mis doing be it at the border or inside a society. Proud to be a Navy Veteran. Jaihind.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sanjay. 🙏🙏
DeleteThe goons purportedly belonging to a political party namely Shiv Sena have gone kaput and initiated a thousands of repete shares of the same cartoon of the Cartoon. The leader in this assault is also called a Bhand, as his dance video has gone viral. Hope all the culprit would be severely dealt with.
ReplyDeleteThanks Raghu for the comment. 🙏🙏
DeleteJay Hind Sir. Very unfortunate , don't know which culture is this where 10 people beat a senior citizen , a Veteran . It's high time some one from goverment must own responsibility and feel sorry for same. No statement and harsh actions against culprits is a big question mark on the values of Shiv Sena , ruling party of Maharashtra, this is not the party for which Bala Saheb lived his life. Jay Hind. Jay Veterans.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sir. 🙏🙏
DeleteSalute to your efforts, Don't leave the fight & let's show the culprits their place...
ReplyDeleteThanks. 🙏🙏
DeleteThanks 🙏🙏
DeleteThere is no doubt that such attacks on Veterans are to be condemned. Unfortunately this has become a political tamasha.Recall how Veterans/War Widows peacefully protesting were molested in 2018 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi by the Police.Veterans should not get involved in politics.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely Sir. Amen.
Delete