New Delhi, Feb. 8: Seven years after retired colonel Kanwar Bhardwaj accepted his son’s posthumous Shaurya Chakra with a proud but grieving heart, he returned it today.

He grieved even more giving it back but was too proud to hold on to the medal in the face of a perceived government snub.

Captain Umang Bhardwaj’s Shaurya Chakra was one of several hundred medals and gallantry awards returned to the office of the Supreme Commander, the President, by former servicemen protesting the government’s failure to accept their demand for “one-rank, one-pension”.

Retired personnel’s pension depends on their last salary, and pay increases over the years means the earlier one has retired, the lower his pension. So a colonel retiring today stands to receive 10 per cent more pension than a lieutenant general who has retired after fighting wars from the Chinese border to Kargil.

“My son had earned the award by killing 22 terrorists (in Mendhar, Jammu and Kashmir), so returning the medal was not easy. I am very upset and hope the government sees our tears of blood,” Bhardwaj said.

Medals belonging to over 150 former servicemen — some had more than one — were returned today. Former generals and jawans gathered at Jantar Mantar, then walked side by side to Rashtrapati Bhavan, collected their medals in a box and handed it over to a deputy secretary. President Pratibha Patil was away in Mumbai.

“They (Rashtrapati Bhavan officials) were kind enough to offer us tea and biscuits but we said it was a sombre occasion and would only drink water,” said retired lieutenant general Raj Kadiyan, president of the Indian Ex-servicemen Movement.

Kadiyan returned 19 medals earned over four decades in the army, including a Param Vishisht Seva Medal, an Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and a Vishisht Seva Medal.

The former servicemen’s move, a first in the country and coming ahead of the general election, will embarrass the Congress whose 2004 manifesto had promised to “re-examine” the issue and find a solution “expeditiously”.