Revisiting Himalayan Blunder.

Brigadier JP Dalvi had highlighted the following aspects following the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Do we still have any of the points lingering without any change, even after 58 years?   

·     *  India has a near unbroken record of military failures through the ages.

·          *    My countrymen were so conscious of what they owed Nehru that they did not want to hear about his faults.     

·          *     Seldom has the bravery of Indian soldier been utilised to win battlefield victories and thus attain        political objectives.

·          *      Friendly gestures by enemy cannot be used as an excuse for improvident hopes military inaction  and neglect.

·          *     Crash programmes have no place in long term planning.

·          *     Nehru won his Pyrrhic victory but lived to regret it.

·          *    Thimmayya needed no lessons in elementary patriotism.

·          *     Are the nation’s leaders supposed to dispense with military principles and prudence under pressure    from as nebulous a factor as public opinion?

·          *    Public opinion is an unsatisfactory reason for abandoning the basic canons of war.

·          *     It is the duty of soldiers to obey; it is equally the duty of senior soldiers on rare occasions to say that certain orders cannot be obeyed.

·          *     Kaul met most of the important politicians and government officials long before he would have done in the line of duty.

·           *     Anyone who had his ear and confidence wielded immense power.

·           *     An order more easy to issue than obey – “Fight last man last round”.

·           *     Indian Army had got into the questionable habit of rushing senior officers to the front on every occasion.

·           *    Wars are not decided in the corridors of the central secretariat, wars are not based on wishful thinking and wars are not rash promises or improvident expectations. The Himalayan mountains cannot be ignored on the pleaof urgent political necessity.

·            *     To be right and over ruled is not forgiven to personsin responsible positions.

·            *     Army Commander Gen Sen appeared to be a malignant shadow over the military horizon. 

·            *     If the attacking troops do not have a reasonable chance of success then they have been ordered to     be murdered.

·            *     Indian Army is not a mercenary army and does not expect special monetary inducements to do its duty.

·            *     We were asked to be Lions in action and dogs in obedience.

·            *     The government had become a prisoner of its own facile pronouncements.

·             *     Generals of the Army should serve in anonymity and should have no outside sponsorship. They     can ill afford to be controversial figures.

·              *    Nehru’s long era of undisputed rule had reached a penumbra.

·              *     Indian Army needs almost everything except courage.

·              *     India politicians and civil servants ensure that the army is always asking, begging, pleading and justifying.

·               *     Only if the politicians will appreciate how damaging their casual utterances can be to officialdom they may learn the virtues of silence.

·               *    Bluffing the Indian people was easy; it was not so easy to bluff the Chinese.

·               *    War is not a game of giant geniuses who rely on hunches. It is a game with many humble players, each contributing his mite to the overall effort.

·                *     The natural sense of duty and discipline of the officer corps was mistaken for servility and weakness.

·                *     Indian politicians are the only ones in the world who have no experience of war.

·                *     The trade union of the staff college qualified officers in army is very strong.

·                 *     There was a rift between the ‘Brass’ and the ‘Boots’.

·                 *     Military disaster is often national decline exposed in the violence of battle. 

 A    My take. A scrutiny of the serials above makes it clear that a few of the observations still linger for     want of a satisfactory resolution!

T

Ta    Tailpiece.

 H    Had got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. Suma wasn't available, Suraaj    bought in fruits and other sundries, his wife sent across grated coconut, which were sent earlier. 

H     Had participated in the 480th session of the Aazhchakkoottam of the Foundation which encompassed    Dr George Onakkoor's lecture on 'Covid and Onam Celebrations' at the webinar between 1600 and       1700 hrs.