A long, loyal tail of bravery & sacrifice!

Who were the stars of the 67th Republic Day parade? Thereby hangs a tail.… While the first-ever French army contingent being included was a piquant innovation, as was the double-marching display by the Indian Army’s elite paratroopers, the four-legged caped canine crusaders of our armed forces definitely stole the show. Returning to Rajpath after an unexplained gap of 26 years, they were a welcome addition to the other usual quadruped regulars of the parade: camels and horses. Indeed, if the papier mâché lions and tigers of the state tableaux are counted as well, it was an impressively diverse collection of non-human stalwarts of India.

But the 36 canine representatives — Labradors and German Shepherds, including eight females — of the 1,200 currently in active military service must be commended for pulling off a flawless march-past with dogged determination, with no paws or waggle. Given the most recent brave sacrifice of one of their canine comrades — the Labrador Mansi along with her handler Bashir Ahmed — while foiling terrorist infiltration in Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir last August, the inclusion of these disciplined and loyal K9 soldiers of the Remount Veterinary Corps is a timely reminder of their contribution to the safety and security of the country. Hats woof to them!