Major General (retd) Ian Cardozo expressed his opinion that Agniveer is a wrong concept and needs to be reformed. Major General Cardozo is popularly known as ‘Kadtus Saab’. He was speaking at a program organized by the local Center of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir Studies at Chitnavis Center.
It takes about 9 years for a soldier to get familiar with the real work of the Indian Army. However, for Agniveer, this period is only four years. So it can be troublesome in future. Cardozo also expressed fear that this could lead to the development of mercenaries and could be dangerous for the security of our country.
Lt Gen (retd) Gadre, who was sitting in the audience, also supported Maj Gen Cardozo’s views.
Responding to a question from the audience at the event, Cardozo expressed concern over the fate of fire fighters. he said, corporate companies are very unlikely to accommodate these soldiers. so eventually some of them will do security guard and other similar jobs.
Major General Ian Cardozo is the first officer who commanded the command and then the brigade. Major General Cardozo got his name from his ‘Paltan’ – 4th Battalion and 5th Gurkha Regiment. he also shared some inspiring stories from his life. accordingly, Cardozo fought in the Indo-China War of 1962 and the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971.
Narrating an anecdote from the wartime Bangladesh Liberation War, Cardozo said that compared to us, Pakistan had a larger deployment in the east. However, due to a piece of news, the Pakistani army was confused. During this battle, Cardozo accidentally stepped on a land mine and was seriously injured. in the absence of adequate medical help, Kadtus Saab removed the khukri and amputated his leg. Although the incident is considered heroic by everyone, the General does not like to talk about it more. Explaining the reason behind it, he expressed the feeling that soldiers always do such heroic deeds. Cardozo gave the success mantra to the students and NCC cadets in attendance saying, ‘Do what you love; Love what you do; Never fear and never give up’.