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Controversy erupts over veterans' plea to President

Many 'signatories' deny signing letter slamming politicisation of forces

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A contentious letter written on a plain paper addressed to President Ram Nath Kovind and allegedly endorsed by 156 armed forces veterans including three former Army chiefs and four former Navy chiefs sparked a nationwide uproar on Friday.

The 661-word letter alleges that the ruling BJP was taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes and even calling the armed "Modiji ki sena".

Rashtrapati Bhavan denied receiving any such letter. Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman questioned its authenticity, while many peopel names as signatories denied signing it and labelled the letter "fake". Some, however, did agree that they had consented to be signatories to the letter.

The letter's authenticity could not be independently established by DNA till the time of going to press as a majority of the 156 signatories were not available or could not be reached for clarification.

Former Army chief General Sunith Francis Rodrigues, who is mentioned as the first signatory in the letter, denies signing it. "Don't know what this is all about. All my life, we've been apolitical. After 42 years as an officer, it's a little late to change. Always put India first. Don't know who these people are, classic manifestation of fake news."

Air Chief Marshal (retd) Nirmal Chandra Suri says, "This is not Admiral Ramdas' letter and it has been done by some Major Chaudhary. He has written this and it was coming on WhatsApp and emails. To put an end to it, I wrote that armed forces are apolitical and support the politically elected government. And no, my consent has not been taken for any such letter," he said.

As the text of the letter went viral on social media, Major General (retd) Harsha Kakkar asserted that the letter includes his name and he supports its contents.

"This letter has my support. Every political party is asking for votes using armed forces, by taking their names — be it Yogi, Urmila, Kejriwal, Kumaraswamy or Farooq Abdullah."

The letter referred to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's statement describing the Indian Army as "Modiji ki sena" (Narendra Modi's army) in an election speech earlier this month.

The letter also cites "election platforms and campaigns where party workers are seen wearing military uniforms and posters with pictures of soldiers, especially Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman".

Indian Air Force Pilot Abhinandan was held captive for three days by Pakistan after his plane was shot down in an air duel between the two countries on February 27.

"With the general elections round the corner, and given the prevailing environment where parties and candidates seem to be acting in total disregard of the declaration of the model code of conduct, we fear such incidents may only increase as polling day draws near," the letter states.

It also states that misuse of armed forces will affect the morale and fighting efficiency of the forces and thus affect national security and integrity.

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