Issewal (Ludhiana), March 21
Issewal village on the outskirts of the city has always personified patriotism. Small village homes have given birth to scores of gallantry award winners who have sacrificed their lives for the nation. Today, the villagers here are a disappointed lot. Their son has been humiliated and made to suffer for what they call “prevalent norms of the day”. There is widespread resentment among the residents over the “Forced resignation” of their kin, Air Marshal Manjit Singh Sekhon from the Indian Air force (IAF).
“Air Marshal Sekhon was only carrying forward the highest traditions of service to the nation set by his fellow pilots like Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon — a Param Vir Chakra recipient, who also belonged to the village”, say his village folk who see a deliberate design behind the goings on at the Air Headquarters in Delhi. Obviously then, the villagers see Air Marshal Sekhon as a hero.
The village known for a number of other decorated soldiers like Col Jagdev Singh and Col Tirath Singh is not pleased at being in news for reasons other than bravery. “We were hoping that the village will become the home of the future Chief of Air Staff. But now it will be known for the unfortunate and unceremonious exit of Air Marshal Sekhon — one of the first case of its kind in the country,” is the collective feeling of the villagers.
The villagers feel defiantly that their honour is intact and Air Marshal Sekhon was victimised. The residents of the ancestral village of Air Marshal Sekhon, without whose presence no function in the village has been completed for the past three decades, say they fail to digest the reason for his ouster from the service. ‘‘We had approached him to get his help for the recruitment of several youths in the defence forces but he declined to oblige saying the youth should be recruited on merit only,” said Mr Gurdev Singh, a former Sarpanch of the village.
A household name, Air Marshal Sekhon is convinced there is lot more than meets the eye in the unceremonious end of what was a glorious career. “How can you treat in this manner a brave and dedicated soldier like him, who has been decorated for his selfless service not only once or twice but as many as 17 times,’’ asks village Sarpanch Gurdial Singh.
Disappointed residents of the village, commonly referred to as ‘shaheedan da pind’ in the region due to being home to a large number of martyrs and decorated soldiers, have urged the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Prime Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to re-think on the decision keeping in mind the contribution of the officer.
Mr Sukhpal Singh, another resident, said the villagers know the complete personality of the officer who, despite living far
away, used to write letters to the district administration and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal regarding development works in the village and need to redress grievances of the villagers. The villagers showed a number of such letters to The Tribune.
The family members of the Air Force officer are also deeply disappointed at the turn of events. “Manjit has not done anything wrong. His rank needs to be restored to him with full honours as the government cannot ignore his service to the nation for over 30 years,’’ says a cousin, Mr Inderjit Singh, who lives in Shaheed Karnail Singh Nagar at Ludhiana.
He added that the officer was so devoted to the service that he had not taken 40 leaves in his career of over three decades. He said he always wanted to come to the northern region to serve his people here.
Not many people know that Air Marshal Sekhon was with Param Vir Chakra winner Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon at the time of his brave feat against the Pakistani forces. Air Marshal Sekhon was also awarded Vir Chakra later. He went on to win 16 more awards in later actions and is one of the highest decorated officers in the Air Force. He was instrumental in re-occupying an Indian post from the Pakistan forces in Jammu and Kashmir and as an acknowledgement of his success, the post is still called ‘Manjit Post’.
