This piece is being written the day after I saw the Republic Day Parade (RDP) on TV in the morning, and the movie “Airlift” in the evening. One was truly uplifting, and the other the complete opposite – totally downgrading or derogatory, as far as the country is.
The RDP took me all the way back to 1958, the only time I ever saw it live in Delhi. We were the guests of Gen. Thimaiyya, the then Chief of Army Staff. He had invited my father, who had partnered him in golf, by virtue of being the Captain of the Golf Club in my hometown Kanpur. Memories of that RDP have faded, but as a proud Indian I take legitimate pride in the RDP. This year, fortunately, I was able to view the entire parade.
Critics of this jamboree say that the days of showcasing one’s military might are long over. But I am a sentimental fool, and become very emotional when I watch the parade. Tears well up in my eyes when I see the smart precision of our marching contingents and military bands.This year the comparison, or contrast, with the 35th Infantry Battalion of the French contingent was glaring. In front of our smart and colourfully attired, lean and mean marching units, the French paled into insignificance (pun intended). We red liveried Indians could actually call them “pale faces”. Never mind their complexion, or drab uniforms, they were plain overweight and clumsy. They had to be kicked up to the front of the parade because their marching speed of 107 steps per minute was much slower than the Indian army rate of 120.
It also got me thinking. Is the army just a show-piece, with colourful traditions? How useful are such traditions and raw courage in today’s high tech battlefield? Modern warfare is not about hand to hand combat. It relies heavily on the strategic use and deployment of sophisticated electronic gadgetry. Have the French already come to terms with this change, and given ceremonials the bye?
Battle worthiness apart, as an animal lover, I enjoyed the animals on parade. The army’s dog squad was a novel addition. The Labradors’ beseeching looks are second only to a Cocker Spaniel’s. A far cry from the ferocious Alsatians that the Gestapo employed. I also love horse riding, and enjoyed their regal gait. There was talk that camels would not be seen this year, so I was thrilled to see these gaily-caparisoned ships of the desert.
Where I found this year’s parade wanting was in the camera work and commentary. It was nice to see a commentator using sign language for the benefit of the hearing impaired. However, I missed the rich intonation of somebody like Rene Simon. There were quite a few gaffes. The Prime Minister’s motorcade was referred to as a carcade, and the chargers of the President’s Bodyguard were called Shetland Ponies!
The tableaux, by their very nature, are limited by time and space. They were largely unimaginative and insipid; beginning with Goa in the lead, perhaps because we have a Goan as the Defence Minister. Gujarat highlighted the Gir lion, and Madhya Pradesh the tiger (the models were pathetic). This was an unwarranted duplication. The use of toilets and brooms for the Swatch Bharat and Panchayatiraj floats were a counter witness. The floats that appealed to me were those of Karnataka (on coffee production),Bihar’s choice of Gandhiji at Champaran, and that of the Election Commission. The one on Digital India was more manual than digital.
As an afterthought I wondered if it had not been better to hire professional event managers or stage managers from Bollywood to make the tableaux more exciting?
Yoga would surely have been an eye catcher. Have we ever highlighted Amul’s White Revolution? I was also reminded of a recent stunning performance of dance on wheelchairs by specially abled persons. Maybe it will find a place next year.
Last year Barak Obama was the big chief in the wigwam. The only thing he gave a thumbs up to was the acrobatic motorcycle display. After that he rapped Namo on the knuckles on religious intolerance. This year we made bold to have Francois Hollande.
Here too we only got an assurance for the Rafale fighters, nothing concrete.
Commenting on the Rafale deal Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (Retd) said on TV that the negotiations had begun in 2007, and the deal is not yet clinched. He roundly blamed the bureaucrats for this inordinate delay, and felt that the present regime, though it had raised high expectations, was no different from the UPA Government when it came to defence related issues.
The deal for 124 Rafales was actually struck in 2012, because they costed Rupees Twenty Crores less a piece compared to their nearest competitor, the Typhoon Eurofighter. This multi role delta wing, twin engine combat aircraft can carry 9 tons of armaments, including nuclear weapons. Ironically, not a single Rafale has been sold outside France. So are we again chasing a mirage (no pun intended this time).
The euphoria of the RDP in the morning dissipated in the evening when I went to see the movie “Airlift”. It was purportedly about the evacuation of 170,000 Indians from Kuwait, after it was captured by Saddam Hussain on 2nd August 1990. V.P. Singh was the then Prime Minister, and I.K. Gujaral the Foreign Minister. Air India operated 488 flights over 59 days to execute what the Guinness Book of Records describes as the biggest evacuation in history. This feat won laurels for the Government and the country, even though it may be forgotten today. So I was really keen to see the heroes of that time immortalized in a movie.
That was not to be. The movie was a gross distortion of truth, just a Bollywood tamasha, glorifying the hero (Akshay Kumar), who is portrayed as single-handedly effecting this operation. The Government of India is portrayed in exceedingly poor light, as one of tea drinking babus and ministers busy attending meetings. The Indian embassy in Kuwait is shown as abandoned, and the Indian ambassador in Baghdad is more interested in selection of the Indian cricket team, rather than the plight or flight of his countrymen in Kuwait. In the credits at the end of the movie, when the audience is scampering to get out, it is stated that the movie is based on the real life initiatives of a Malayali called Mathew. In the movie he becomes a Punjabi called Ranjit. This is just symptomatic of the fictional account “based on facts”.
I myself recall that on that fateful day I was actually meeting Prime Minister V.P. Singh at his residence in Delhi. The CBCI had organized a protest rally at the Boat Club Lawns against the Gajraula rape case. I was the newly elected National President of the All India Catholic Union. They wanted me to address the rally in Hindi, and then to be in the delegation that met the PM. The historical truth is that at that time the PM was having a Cabinet Meeting, the one in which he dismissed his deputy PM, Devi Lal.
But V.P. Singh left such an important meeting to receive our delegation and immediately instructed the UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh in our presence. I also used the occasion to complain to him about one of his MLAs in my home town Kanpur, who had locked the gates of one of our convent schools. The PM immediately advised the CM to take action and get the MLA to apologize; which the latter actually did. So I was livid when I saw the distorted and jaundiced view about the Government of India, as portrayed in the movie. Unfortunately V.P. Singh and I.K. Gujaral have no political legacy, so there is nobody to challenge this willful distortion of truth. But my pen will speak, for whatever it is worth.
Mercifully or cunningly, Airlift does not name any of the Indian ministers. The only historical character portrayed is Tariq Aziz, the Foreign Minister of Iraq, a Maronite rite Catholic. Disturbed by this portrayal, I checked out with my old friend Captain Vijai Pratap, who was a commander with Air India and actually operated several Airbus A310 rescue flights to Amman in Jordan; from where the airlifts were operated. He said that they had to operate from Jordan because the Kuwait airport had become in operational.
He was categorical in stating that such a mission could never have been successfully undertaken without the active support and involvement of the Government of the day. I would rather accept this testimony than that of the “hero” of the movie.
The only positive impact of the movie is the reminder of the brutality of war, and how women and children are the worst sufferers. Another side effect is the reminder to religious fanatics that this was an instance of one Muslim nation attacking another. The only credit I would give the movie in the acting of Akshay Kumar and his wife Nirmat Kaur. The unfolding tragedy transforms stud bull Akshay into a good shepherd ready to lay down his life for his sheep. And yes, Nirmat’s acting prowess far excels her stymied role in The Lunch Box.
So Republic Day 2016 was indeed for me both an uplifting experience and an occasion to challenge those who denigrate our country by distorting history. Wonder who will be the Chief Guest in 2017? The Emir of Kuwait, did you say?
The writer is the former National President of the All India Catholic Union