On Monday evening, four former Navy officers and one retired army colonel slammed Minister Nitin Gadkari's recent comments about the Indian Navy. The Minister had said that the Navy had an anti-development stance and that he cannot give them an inch of land in South Mumbai. He had then, in his infamous tirade, thundered that the forces were supposed to be at the border keeping us safe from attacks, and not asking for SoBo land. The five retired defence personnel, who hit back at his remarks, spoke for most when they said that the morale of the force is dented by such words. More former defence personnel must continue slamming such statements in the social media, so that the message is reinforced.

Most of all, it should be Gadkari who must have the grace to clear the air about what exactly he meant by these remarks. There will now be little point in waffling or even taking recourse in the overused, "misquoted in the media" excuse.