Absent Fernandes a dampener for family of martyr

Fernandes was to preside over the function. The pump was presented by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Ram Naik. He chose to equate the dedication of young Vijayant with that of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. “In the Kargil war, both Vijayant and Atalji (Vajpayee) made a name in doing their duties with utmost dedication,” he said. While Vijayant fought, Vajpayee, for the first time, got India victory on the diplomatic front and support from world leaders, he added.

Taking a swipe at the Congress, Naik said that victories won by the Army in previous wars were lost by the government of the day (Congress) at the negotiating table. This struck a chord with the ex-Servicemen present at the petrol pump in Noida, many of them 1965 and 1971 war veterans. But they could not understand why the Defence Minister did not come after promising to do so.

“He has time to attend functions to commemmorate the anniversary of the railways strike but none when the first petrol pump is given to the kin of Kargil martyrs. This is the first time that our bravery has been recognised. Fernandes may not have time to be at all the 500 petrol pumps for martyrs. But he surely should have found time to come today. His symbolic presence and a word of encouragement for the families would have been encouraging, especially here in Noida which is sending many sons to the armed forces,” said a ’71 war veteran.

Not only Fernandes, but even Minister of State for Petroleum Santosh Gangawar did not show up. E Ponnuswamy, the other Minister, of course, came, though late. `He has come straight from the airport and was in Chennai’, the Hindustan Petroleum announced. But it was Naik who made the ex-Servicemen feel good. Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) Lt Gen Chandra Shekhar thanked the government for doing its bit for the soldiers at Kargil. “But there is a proxy war still on in Jammu and Kashmir. A lot needs to be done for them too,” he said.

Naik said the Government was not limiting itself to issuing letter of intent (LOI). “After LOI, there is another Rs 50 lakh investment required for a petrol pump and Rs 20 lakh for cooking gas agencies. Widows and aged parents of soldiers in remote villages cannot make this kind of investment and LOI becomes an exercise in futility. Therefore the Government is making these expenditures for the families,” Naik added.

Colonel Thapar, Vijayant’s father, thanked both the Army and the Government for their cooperation. “And the people of Noida too. Vijayant was no longer our son. He was the son of a lakh-and-a-half people of this town,” he said.

This was the first of the 500 pumps to be given. The Army has gone ahead with allotting 287 pumps as yet, an official said. The function was attended, among others, by Member of Parliament Ashok Pradhan, MLA Nawab Singh Nagar, top military and HP officials.