Of the 3 Kargil heroes’ visit
| Date :08-Aug-2019 |
Vijay Phanshikar:
The recall of the story (last week’s ‘Footloose’) of how some political workers tried to stop Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw from inaugurating the Martyrs’ Memorial at the Cotton Market intersection on Subhash Marg, also led to the recall of the visit of three heroes of Kargil War to Nagpur -- the then Chief of Army Staff General Ved Prakash Malik, the then Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Anil Y. Tipnis, and the then Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sushil Kumar -- for the valedictory function of the Centenary Celebrations of ‘The Hitavada’ in the early summer of 2012.
The three came, the three saw, and the three won all hearts. They were forthright, they were sure of what they were talking about, and finally they were extremely soft and courteous. And when they left, they left behind a lasting impression on everybody’s mind. As the nation celebrated the 20th anniversary of the victory in Kargil War a fortnight ago, the contribution of all the three also came up in recall. But what made the real difference was to know how the threesome conducted itself during the two-day visit to the city of Nagpur for ‘The Hitavada’ ceremony.
The Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande Auditorium was packed to the capacity, and we had to arrange several thousand chairs outside in the sprawling premises, in the process withdrawing parking from the designated section. We positioned a couple of very large LED screens for the benefit of the people who were seated outside. Several hundred people actually stood on the pavement outside the premises to have a look at the LED screens. To say the least, it was an overwhelming response from the people to ‘The Hitavada’ invitation for the concluding function of the year-long celebration. There was nothing sensational in the three speeches. The three heroes did tell their part of the Kargil story in a sedate manner, more in terms of philosophy of national security and less in terms of anecdotes of war.
Yet the audience enjoyed the event beyond words. For, it was for the first time ever that three chiefs (through after retirement) had come together on a common platform. By itself, that was an event to remember. And the people of Nagpur enjoyed the visit to the hilt. The speeches were delivered in a restrained manner, without any rousing crescendo. Yet, there was everything in the statements -- sense of knowing things from those who actually ran the victorious Indian operations. And then there was a very special local angle, which the people enjoyed very much.
Admiral Sushil Kumar was a Nagpur boy, having studied in Bishop Cotton School and was an avid reader of ‘The Hitavada’ during those years. So when he declared that the Indian Navy (of which he was the chief during the Kargil War) was the Prima Donna of the Indian Ocean, the audience cheered lustily. When the Admiral stood to speak, the applause went on for quite some time. If Admiral Sushil Kumar was the ‘son’ of Nagpur, Air Chief Marshal Anil Tipnis was the ‘son-in-law’ of the city, having married Molina (Karnik), very much a Nagpur girl. This introduction of the great Air Warrior (the term Air Chief Marshal Tipnis had himself given to all the members of the great Indian Air Force) brought the audience up to its feet. That round of applause, too, lasted for quite some time. General V.P. Malik did not belong to Nagpur, of course. However, the man won everybody’s heart by his effective presentation of views on aspects of national security, in the light of the Kargil War that had taken place wayback in the year 1999. The visit of the three Kargil heroes also proved to be an opportunity to local Defence community to offer them hospitality and coordinate the details with ‘The Hitavada’. Even though we thanked them effusively, we still realise that no words of gratitude could really be enough.