BJP workers’ group headed for front

NEW DELHI, JULY 2: It could either be a surge of extreme patriotism, or a case of sheer innocence. With saffron headbands, guns in their ...

NEW DELHI, JULY 2: It could either be a surge of extreme patriotism, or a case of sheer innocence. With saffron headbands, guns in their hands and a warcry on their lips, a hundred-odd BJP workers on a trip to Kargil feel that they could fight the enemy on their own.

They believe the Army authorities will induct them as soon as they reach Kargil. “We have spoken to Army authorities. They have promised us that after going through the fitness test, our group will be recruited into the Army and allowed to fight Pakistani intruders,” the leader, Ganga Charan Rajput, BJP MP from Hamirpur, claimed.

The bunch started its journey from Kakori in Lucknow and intends to go all the way to Kargil.

The group, carrying BJP flags and placards written in Hindi, English and Urdu, condemning Pakistan for its Kargil misadventure, had a stopover in the Capital today. They arrived at the BJP headquarters, chanting slogans like “We want war” and “Jeetega, bhai, jeetega, Hindustan jeetega”.

The group members were notonly brandishing guns but also singing, “Bundele harbolon ke muh hamne suni kahani thi, khoob ladi mardani woh to Jhansi wali rani thi”. Though there was no lady in the group, the reference was to assert their lineage.

That the BJP is trying to create war euphoria in the country is apparent in the manner in which it has instructed its workers to take care of Kargil martyrs. The party has launched an elaborate scheme to provide relief, build memorials, and name streets, buildings and institutions after those who are dying in Kargil.

“This is the first time that bodies of most of the military personnel being killed on the border are being transported to their native places for the last rites,” claimed a senior BJP leader.

Story continues below this ad

In earlier wars — in 1948, 1962, 1965 and 1971 — most of the bodies used to be cremated near the battle front, apparently due to fear of their decomposition because of adverse weather.