Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also criticized their eviction and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept on Independence Day Saturday their demand for OROP.
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The former servicemen were allowed by the Delhi Police to continue their protest at Jantar Mantar after a brief scuffle.
A senior police officer said, “As Delhi is on a high alert ahead of Independence Day so we are removing the protestors to ensure security”.
Ex-servicemen said that there “concrete indications” are towards the announcement of much delayed scheme by the PM from the ramparts of Red Fort and that the government is presently waiting for the final approval from the PMO.
Later the Delhi Police introduced that the ex-servicemen can proceed with their protest.
“Ex-servicemen being forcibly thrown out of jantar mantar?”
Congress on Friday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise that he made on OROP (One Rank One Pension) when he started the election campaign in Rewari, Haryana.
“This is an attempt to get rid of us as they don’t have an answer to our demands”, said Anil Kaul, a former colonel and spokesman for the United Front of Ex-Servicemen.
Close to 22 lakh ex-servicemen and over six lakh war widows stand to be immediate beneficiaries of the scheme, which envisages a uniform pension for the defence personnel who retire in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement. They have maintained that they do not want any change and do not want the OROP to be diluted.
They would also be entitled to a year’s back pensions at the new rate, which would be a windfall for pensioners.
The military veterans say they will wait till August 15 and if the government does not honour their demands they will step up their protests by staging more hunger strikes around the country.
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“We wish to focus attention on some issues that have grave implications for national security, and merit your attention, not only as the supreme commander of the armed forces but also as the first citizen of India”, they urged in an open letter written to president. Currently, 25 former army men are demanding for OROP.
