India
has one of the largest armies in the World. Yet, we have neither a War Memorial
nor a War Museum. Delhi has museums for almost everything including one for
dolls and another for toilets. But not one for its armed forces. The site for
the War Memorial has been selected, but work is yet to start. As for the War
Museum, nobody is even talking about it. Why?
Today,
records and memorabilia depicting the role of our armed forces is being
maintained in penny packets. Each regiment of the Indian Army has a museum of
its own, in its regimental centre. Naturally, some of them are at small
stations where only soldiers can see them. The civilian population hardly ever
gets a chance to visit these museums. The Navy and Air Force also have their
own museums, located at a few stations. Again these are largely visited by
personnel of the respective service. Should the common citizen not get a chance
to see the rich heritage of our armed forces? Anyone who has visited the Imperial
War Museum in London will know the answer. The majority of visitors are tourists
and British citizens including school children.
Three
years ago, I was part of a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival about the
need for de-classifying war records. A large number of reasons were discussed,
one of the most important being that the present generation of soldiers must
learn how we fought our wars in 1962, 1965 and 1971, so that we don’t repeat
the mistakes we made at that time. When the house was thrown open, one young girl
floored us by saying’ “Why do you think only people in uniform need to know
about our battles? I too want to know
how our soldiers fought and died.”
If
the three services decide to set us a war museum, they can do it. If we ask the
Government for funds, we are unlikely to get it in hurry. I am sure each person
in uniform would be ready to contribute a month’s salary for the project, if
needed. What remains is the land. In Delhi itself, there are hundreds of acres
of defence land lying unused. Can it not be made available for this project?
The
ideal site for the War Museum is the one opposite the National Archives. This
was in fact the Central Vista Officers Mess of the Air Force. When the Air
Force was given land for the new mess (Akash) on ZakirHusain Marg, they were asked to vacate the CV Mess
where the Government wanted to set up the Indira Gandhi Centre for Performing
arts. Even after several decades, it is not functional. If the armed forces
make a pitch to get it back (after all, it was with the Air Force earlier), it
should work out. It is reported that members of the family of Subhas Chandra
Bose have made a bid to establish a museum in his memory at that site. Considering
the interest that has been generated about Netaji in the last few months, this
may even come though, unless we pre-empt it.
Now
that the OROP has been accepted, what is the IESM planning to do? Should not this
be the next point on their agenda? I suggest that we make a multi- pronged
attack, through the IESM, MPs such as Rajiv Chandrasekhar who have helped us in
the past and the veterans who are presently part of the Government such as
General VK Singh and Col RajyaVardhan Singh Rathore. If the three service
chiefs take it up jointly, there is no reason why the project should not succeed.
Maj Gen VK Singh
Gurgaon
987349451
21/05/2015
