The row in JNU sparked by alleged anti-national slogans shouted on the campus has been debated across the nation. As the martyrdom of jawans has been a point mentioned several times in the nationalism debate, several ex-servicemen have also voiced their opinion on the issue.
While retired Major General GD Bakshi, accompanied by other retired army officers, suggested bringing a tank on the campus to instil nationalism, there were also ex-servicemen who stood with JNU students. Like this one:
Speaking to JNU students, Retd Colonel L Misra highlighted the problems faced by Indian army jawans, which he said do not come out in the media as much as a “tamasha” over their deaths, and also brought up the government’s apathy towards retired army officers asking for OROP.
Or this one:
In response to the rhetoric about tax payers money in JNU, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Ramdas brought up how loans worth more than one lakh crores were written off by public sector banks in three years, which he said was also tax payers’ money. He said public sector banks are treated like “private treasury boxes”.
Or this one:
Former Naval officer and academic Atul Bhardwaj also spoke out in support of JNU students. Bhardwaj said he loved his country and didn’t want it to go down “Pakistan’s path”. He also said students should challenge old theories and power structures in the country.