Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat and three service chiefs’ announcement of IAF flypast on Friday, 1 May, was met with incredulity and surprise by ex-servicemen.
Amid the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs addressed a press conference to express gratitude to the “COVID-19 warriors.”
Rawat announced that the Indian Air Force will conduct a flypast from Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and another one starting from Dibrugarh in Assam to Kutch in Gujarat. It'll include both transport and fighter aircraft, he said.
While some ex-servicemen felt that this was an unnecessary display by the armed forces and a waste of precious resources, others suggested deploying resources to evacuate migrant workers who are stranded.
General Birender Dhanoa (retd), remarked that he was “saddened and disappointed” by the move and asked why are the “Armed forces being used as the official cheer leaders to express gratitude (sic).”
Maj General Thapar (retd) felt an “inane announcement” like this could have been handled by the Ministry of Defence's publicity division.
As an alternative, Lt Col Rohit Agarwal (Retd) suggested that a more constructive contribution of the armed forces could be achieved through “mobilising resources to assist in the movement of migrants back to their states.”
Capt KP Sanjeev Kumar, a former navy test pilot, writing for The Quint, stated that “to folks from a different military generation, the spectacle must have amused as much as it disappointed.”
“The statements made were largely political in nature,” Capt Kumar writes in his opinion piece.
He goes on to write:
“A solitary reference that “the armed forces are fighting COVID-19 according to two principles: Force Preservation and Assistance to Civil Authorities” stood out as the only redeeming line conforming to service charter. Everything else was rich in homily and low on substance; a far cry from the stoic stance military leaders at rarified echelons are expected to maintain.
To my recall, even at the height of Kargil War, such a joint presser was neither held nor deemed necessary. Nobody disputes the lifesaving work done by corona warriors, who are reeling under PPE shortages and even facing violence and ostracism. The nation has, on repeated occasion, expressed collective gratitude to these saviours who deserve our greatest respect.”
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