India needs to wake up! A Field Marshal, a legend, a father figure, a soldier who could never retire passes away into eternity, and the Home and Defence Ministry squabble over the warrant of precedence? What warrant of precedence?
... Read The Article
Sam Bahadur, the Indian Hero who breathed his last on 27th June 2008, probably got the best honours a hero could ever expect! Although the media has gone gung ho (in the hidden articles deep inside their websites) over the dignitaries being absent for the funeral, I say its the best that Sam himself could have expected.
If you were the hero of the country would you expect such lowly so called dignitaries who are known more for their corruption and sycophancy than any dignity to attend your funeral? Its the respect that the Field Marshal deserved and he received the best tribute that he could have though of.
Would Sam be proud of a president who forgets the protocols to salute her own nations flag?
Fighting on the Burma front against the Japanese in 1942, Manekshaw was almost pronounced dead when brought to Rangoon hospital with nine bullets in the lung, liver and kidneys. The military surgeon was reluctant to operate seeing the hopeless condition even though Manekshaw was barely conscious. The surgeon asked what had happened to him. Sam replied: "I was kicked by a donkey." The surgeon decided that if a soldier could have such a sense of humour at that critical hour, he must operate to save him. Manekshaw survived and rose to become India's eighth army chief
Many thanks to all those who knew their dignity was too low to attend such a hero's funeral. I request all those who did not attend Sam's funeral to pay the final respects to continue with the same for other national heroes too!
( Posted: Thursday , July 10, 2008 at 22:10 )
Vikas Vikas Vikas
I first heard about Manekshaw at a 10 day NCC camp i had attended in my 9th standard. I remember being highly immpressed by the various deeds he performed and his legendary wit from our Lt Col. I remember being highly inspired to join the army after seeing his videos and pictures at the NDA and IMF. Now, 4 years past that day i heard about him, i am ashamed that his death was not given the significance it should have got. Whatever maybe the reason, the flag must've been half masted throwing aside protocol as a man of his stature and deeds deserved more than the insignificant ceremony. He was responsible for the birth of a nation and that is no small deed by any yardstick. Here's remembering the 5-star man, who dared and performed outstandingly for his country. Men like you never die, but live on in the hearts of all patriots. Three cheers to Sir Manekshaw!! (I've taken the liberty to knight him, i'm sure no one would mind. Pardon me Your majesty the queen)
( Posted: Sunday , July 06, 2008 at 20:14 )
bharath s s
Its sad to see the moral standards falling to such a LOW. When a person like Obama took time off from his busy schedule to send down a letter paying homage to the field marshal, itz disheartening to see that no army chiefs made an attempt to come down to pay their final respects to the FIVE STAR army official. I dont understand what more important work did the army chiefs manage to find. God save INDIA!
( Posted: Friday , July 04, 2008 at 23:03 )
Add Your Comment
Do not be rude to other users/authors or disrupt an ongoing conversation/debate. Do not use ethnic slurs, engage in personal insults or use objectionable language. Criticism, when constructive and non-disruptive is always welcome. Comments with links in them won't be published other than in cases of rare exceptions. Comments that include personal details such as postal addresses and telephone numbers will not be published. Keep the comments relevant to the topic as much as possible. Do not impersonate another reader or a public figure. Do try to use English to write your comments.
Please enable javascript in your browser to use this form.
Disclaimer
All the content posted under the 'Comments' category are made by the readers of CNN-IBN, unless specified otherwise. CNN-IBN is not responsible for the opinions of the readers and the content posted by the readers are not representative of the views and opinions of CNN-IBN.
Do not be rude to other users/authors or disrupt an ongoing conversation/debate.