It seems that PM Modi is in no mood to brush things under the carpet after boldly challenging Rahul Gandhi to speak on the achievements of Siddaramaiah’s government without a ‘chit’ during his rally in Mysuru, Karnataka. In his latest rally at Kalburgi, PM Modi focused on assertive nationalism, and tried to remind the masses of the humiliation their heroes received at the hands of the Congress top brass, especially under PM Nehru. Attacking the Congress for insulting heroes like KM Cariappa and K S Thimayya who both hailed from Karnataka, PM Modi reminded Karnataka voters that Congress has had a long history of disrespecting the defence forces and military leaders, having forced people like KS Thimayya into resigning from their post:-
K M Cariappa was the first Indian to be appointed as the Commander in Chief of the Indian Army in independent India, apart from being the only other officer after Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw to have received the rank of the Field Marshal, in a special investiture ceremony in 1986.
General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya, on the other hand, was a highly distinguished warrior who served the Indian Army as the Chief of Staff from 1957 to 1961. It was under his leadership, that the Indian forces managed to almost drive the Pakistani invaders out of the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir, had PM Nehru not accepted the peace agreement enforced by the United Nations. Despite persistently pleading for three more months in order to drive out the rest of the invaders, his request fell on deaf ears.
Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon, who served the post from 1957 to 1962, and was one of the main reasons behind the royal thrashing of India in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, tried to claim the entire credit for liberating Goa from the clutches of the Portuguese. Already displeased with the high handedness of Nehru and Menon in moving star athlete Milkha Singh out of the Indian Army on the insistence of Punjab CM Partap Singh Kairon, General Thimayya resigned by 1961, 15 months before China invaded India.
General Cariappa received no better treatment than this junior. His presence was resented by the likes of VK Krishna Menon and Sardar Baldev Singh, the 1st Defence Minister of India. He further invoked the ire of the senior Congress politicians, when under his leadership, Indian Army refused to reserve posts for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, asserting that the proposal would degrade the Army’s standards and increase the risk of it being defeated if the right talent was not recruited based on skill.
Though he did not formally recruit members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army, he adopted the slogan ‘Jai Hind’, which certainly didn’tgo down well with the likes of PM Nehru. Probably this was why, despite retiring in 1953; KM Cariappa had to wait for 33 years to get his due honor of the Field Marshal.
In that respect, when PM Modi attacked Congress for their blatant disrespect for the battle heroes, he wasn’t far from the truth. However, in his enthusiasm, he mentioned the incorrect rank of General Thimayya, describing him as a General in 1947, whereas he was just a Major General during the Indo-Pak War. This was enough for the scheming opposition to use the gaffe to lash out, attacking PM Modi for daring to raise a finger on PM Nehru and VK Krishna Menon. While the list of the absurd retorts is quite infinite, following are some rare gems:-
Mr. Surjewala is wrong, however, for as far our memory serves us right, Gen. Thimayya never served as High Commissioner to the UK in his lifetime. The term mentioned in the Tweet is that of VK Krishna Menon, who served the post from 1947 – 1952. No wonder Mr. Surjewala was compelled to delete the tweet following a massive uproar over the gaffe.
This is only the beginning, and PM Modi has left the entire opposition dumbstruck. We won’t be surprised if BJP gets a landslide victory in Karnataka, thanks to the assertive nationalism shown by PM Modi in his campaigns.
