The Armed Forces and the botched up 6th Pay Comission

I was deeply saddened to see the state of affairs in the country today. Actually that's something one can say everyday, but this time the Govt. has really hit rock bottom. It's regarding the 6th Pay Commission. Now for those who don't have a clue as to what the 6th Pay Commission and the related controversy is; read This ->.

Here we have people who risk their lives day in and day out, men who are retired at the age of 36; they're called jawans; and they are paid salaries which are lesser than those of a private security guard. The so called security guards do nothing more that salute big 'egoed' sahibs and sit around all day. Not once have they prevented a rape at a call center or nabbed a robber in a society. And yet these guys are paid more than a jawan who deals with mortar fire and grenade attacks; thanks to terrorism, which again is a creation of political mishandling of issues. The Indian Armed Forces are the worlds most respected Armed Forces, being the only one's to have separated an entire enemy country into 2 parts through tactical superiority within 7 days [read as the creation of Bangladesh].
Few people know of the "Last Man Last Round Battle" in the 1962 war, where the Indian Soldier fought against wave after wave of Chinese infantry until the last man standing fired his last round. They were given instructions allowing them to retreat, but they chose to fight and die courageously rather than give a walk-over to the enemy.
The only courage our MP's show is when they're busy throwing chairs and mikes at each other inside Parliament.

Then we have some 'economic patriots' complaining about the impact of the 6th Pay Commission on our economy. Well, what difference does an amount of 450 Crore rupees make, when we can loan off 6000 Crore rupees in an obvious vote hungry move. 450 Crore is a not such a huge amount, and it's the fault of the Govt. that it has come to such a state that for so many years the Armed Forces were denied their rightful pay.

The worst thing is that we have people, sitting in their cozy sofas commenting on how the Armed Forces should not 'indulge' in protests and 'focus' on their jobs. Well my friend, when you know you could die at your work [and by die I do not mean die in a car crash or in a case of drunken asphyxiation; I mean die by the bullet fired from an enemy's gun or from the shrapnel flying off from a grenade burst], the least you expect is that your family should not be begging hand to mouth after you die doing your duty.

We have software professionals who get appraisals every 6 months or after 1 year. Let me see how he feels, if he is given a pathetic increase, an increase so puny that the fresher of the neighboring company gets more than you. But then we civilians can switch jobs, should the Indian army soldier switch to the Pakistan army [which incidentally is one of the highest paid army in the world]?

The Armed Forces are not asking to be given demi-god status, all they are protesting against is the step-brotherly treatment they are getting in this country, from the very people they protect. Another thing to be remembered is that the soldier is also human, he too has a limit of tolerance, God help this country when the soldier gives up hope. The backlash of this hasn't been foreseen by the current Govt. and the Finance Minister. Wake up people, the Armed Forces and their rightful demands must be honored.