I-Day Sidelights

But for Vajpayee, it was an attempt to project the BJP as a party fit to carry the nation into the next millennium. So the speech was not extempore. It was prepared. Brief and concise, it ran for some 26 minutes. Subtly, it highlighted the achievements of the Government, especially in the light of Kargil. But for the common man, Vajpayee8217;s speech was devoid of ingredients like flavour, poetry, devastating candour, not to mention the pauses.

It was only the remarks in praise of the armed forces that evoked response from the crowd. Every utterance of the word Kargil8217; had people rising from their slumber and clapping for the brave men. But compared to last year, the 1999 I-Day function was not a crowd-puller.

Govt insensitive to the disabled8217;

Just how sensitive the Government is towards the disabled was seen when a wheelchair-bound seniorbureaucrat was denied entry to the ramparts, despite an invitation for entry into the VIP enclosure.

Sarabjit Singh is chief administrative officer of the Indian Railways8217; Modernisation Workshops.

Those in charge of security arrangements, however, refused to let him use the lift to get up to the rampart, ostensibly because the lift was 8220;reserved for use by the Prime Minister8221;. Despite a request that he be allowed to use the lift before the Prime Minister arrived, he was not let in.8220;Why extend an invitation if the arrangements are not adequate for the handicapped? What signal will today8217;s incident send to those facing a similar predicament,8221; said Javed Abidi, convenor of the Disabled Rights Group DRG.

Jai Hind and all that

A toned-down Vajpayee had a fairly large number in the crowd concentrating on the pigeons than on the speech. If this was what the grown-ups were doing, the school children weren8217;t far behind.

8220;The girls sitting that side were hitting us with stones during thespeech,8221;complained Jitendra Singh of Sarvodaya Vidyalaya. 8220;Jai Hind,8221; said Manish Kumar when asked what he thought was the most important comment in the PM8217;s speech.

Food for speech

Who says 8220;no comment8221; is the jargon of politicians and bureaucrats alone? Thanks to the media, it has penetrated deep down to the grass-roots. So when a class eight NCC cadet of Government School, Roop Nagar was asked about his experience at the I-D function at Red Fort, he spoke with great care.

8220;It was bad. We came here at 4 am and have been sitting here since,8221; he said. 8220;Don8217;t quote me, we have not been given anything to eat so far. We get it only after the speech.8221; What message did you get from the speech? 8220;Well, no comments,8221; he replied.