Over 300 Army officers and their families had to go home disappointed when screening of Salman-starrer Kick at Ahmedabad Cantonment was cancelled, following power struggle between GOC and NCC ADG.
A public showdown between two major generals at a movie screening in the Army Cantonment at Shahibaug caused armymen and their families — who had gathered with great excitement at Walker Hall to watch a screening of Salman Khan-starrer Kick — to return home disappointed, when a spat over seniority between Major General Dilawar Singh, additional director general (ADG) of NCC, and Major General S S Hasabnis, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 11th Infantry Division, led the movie to be cancelled.
The incident occurred around 8 pm on Sunday. "Major General Singh informed the staff at Walker Hall that he would arrive with his wife to watch the movie. The 300-seater hall was full when the Singhs reached the hall. The couple sat in the front row where seats for the General Officer Commanding (GOC) are reserved. Ten minutes later, Major General Hasabnis walked up to Singh and asked him to vacate the seat in front of everyone in the hall. When Singh refused, Hasabnis asked the staff to cancel the show. Soon, a slide flashed on screen, stating that the movie cannot be shown due to 'technical error'. Everyone went home disappointed," said a reliable source.
Within minutes, a message narrating the incident went viral. It stated, "ADG... rank of Major General sat down on GOC's seat, the only seat available at movie hall for general rank officers. For 8 pm show. Requsted to vacate as expected he declined. The movie was not run. On instructions of GOC Ahmedabad div. What a shame and immaturity on behalf of GOC Ahmedabad division. All jawans, families, and officers and their families in full view seeing the drama. Shame! [sic]"
The incident was provoked by the ongoing power struggle between the two major generals. Narrating the sequence of events that culminated in Sunday's tiff, Ahmedabad Gymkhana President Yunus Sheikh said, "Our club faced an issue with Army and NCC officers transferring out of Ahmedabad station without paying their bills. Our committee asked the 11th Infantry Division to give guarantee of payment through their Golden Qatar mess. They agreed to pay for officers serving the Army and asked us to contact NCC for their officers. When we discussed this issue with Major General Singh, he requested for the by-laws of the club. One of the rules stated that the senior-most general in the station is appointed as patron of the club. Upon reading this, Singh realised he was senior to Hasabnis, who was then being honoured as the patron, and wrote a letter to the club stating he was the senior-most."
Interestingly, Singh was posted in Ahmedabad about a year and a half ago while Hasabnis was posted here only in December 2013. Mirror learnt that Singh reported Sunday's incident to Army headquarters in Pune.
On Monday morning, Singh reportedly received a call from Hasabnis, apologising for the incident.
via Pune Mirror ,
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