The Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (ISEM) and related defence NGOs have begun galvanising support

On Saturday evening, around 150 citizens, mostly jawans and retired officers gathered at the National War Memorial in Pune Cantonment to protest against President Pratibha Patil’s land grab by lighting candles.

The Delhi headquarters of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) has already amplified the protest. In an email to Col Suresh Patil (retired) and Comm Ravindra Pathak who are spearheading the campaign from Pune, Major Gen Adityajung Bahadur Jaini wrote that the IESM has started galvanising support at their end through their national and international network of members. IESM, Delhi is also staging a big rally at Jantar Mantar on 22nd April wherein besides their core issue of one rank-one pension, they would be protesting against the President’s post-retirement home issue. “Although we are not at the forefront of this protest as our mainstay is the pension issue, we are supporting the Justice of Jawans in its endeavour.”

The anger against President Patil’s brazen encroachment on 2,42,000 sq ft of defence land against the backdrop of Pune, which is the headquarters of the Southern Command, facing crisis of accommodation for its several thousands of its serving soldiers and officers, has echoed not only in all parts of the country, but around the world as well.

States Col Patil (retd), “We have received a communication from retired Air Force officers from Dubai who have joined this campaign. Retired defence personnel from Toronto have also joined it. Similarly, I have got calls from Vishakhapatnam, Jabalpur and Lucknow who are all fired up to join the protest until the President gives back the land. What tugged my heart most was when an 86 year old lady from Mhau, Ms Sohoni whose 93 year old husband (who recently died) has fought the World War II, called me up yesterday. She told me that she had approached President Patil in connection with a land that the government gave them but it was grabbed. Ms Patil did not address the issue. Hence, she has also joined our campaign.”

The two bungalows—No 38 and 26A—both of which have been illegally demolished to make way for President Pratibha Patil’s palatial bungalow were studded with more than 100-year old trees. These have been mercilessly cut down and are lying all around the construction area. Col Patil is taking up the issue with the Principal Director, Defence Estates. He states, “Despite merciless tree cutting, there seems to have been no legal action. We are going to first question him about what kind of permission was given to fell the stalwart trees. Secondly, as per the law, the local military authority has to auction them officially and deposit the revenue in the treasury. Has it done that?”

In a day or two, Col Patil and Comm Pathak  are dashing off a letter to Chief Justice of India, SH Kapadia asking him to intervene and consider this letter as a writ petition.

Clearly, the battle-lines are drawn until victory (who’s will it be?). Meanwhile,  enthused by the world wide outcry over the President’s brazenness in using defence land for her personal benefit, founder of Justice for Jawans (JFJ) Col (retd) Suresh Patil, Indian Ex-servicemen Movement’s (IESM) head of Pune Ravindra Pathak and former Navy officer and RTI activist Anup Awasti say they will not stop till the President backtracks from the land.

(Vinita Deshmukh is a consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also an RTI activist and convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain award for outstanding media person for her investigation on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book “To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte” with Vinita Kamte. She can be reached at [email protected])