Sam Bahadur: Gallant in war, flamboyant in peace

WAR VETERAN: India rode on its lucky mascot � Manekshaw - to a famous victory in 1971.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Television, for politicians with a vision

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• In Pics: Life and times of Sam Bahadur
• India's first Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in coma
• Sam Manekshaw hospitalised

Keywords: Indian Army, Field Marshal

New Delhi: The Indian military's finest hour was, in a manner of speaking, never a device of India's own making.

It was thrust upon India by the humanitarian crisis resulting from a Pakistani military crackdown on its own countrymen in East Pakistan, which led to a huge exodus into India.

Initially, India's Army Chief General Sam Manekshaw resisted the political call to go headlong into battle, knowing a war could not be won in the riverine delta of East Bengal during the monsoon.

Fending off a political directive was tricky but was vintage Manekshaw.

“Mrs Gandhi had an awful temper. She said, "What are you doing about it? I want you to march into East Pakistan'. I said the monsoon will be breaking in few days' time and my movements will be confined to roads. The Air Force will not able to support me. If I were to go in, I guarantee you a 100 pc defeat,” Manekshaw recalled in a documentary.

But once the time was right, there was no looking back. India rode on its lucky mascot – Manekshaw - to a famous victory, which led to the birth of a new nation.

Amazingly, the capture of Dhaka or the break-up of Pakistan was never an Indian war objective to begin with.

“Directions were limited objectives to start with,” recalls 1971 War veteran, Lt General (Retd) JFR Jacob.

Some inspired military leadership created strategic room for India which comes but rarely in history.

India left the Pakistani Army stunned by getting off the highways dominated by the Pakistanis and launching a blitzkrieg along the by-ways on the flanks.

“We knew Niazi's strategy was to defend the ccities and make them into fortresses. So we decided to bypass them and use subsidiary tracks to go on to Dakar,” recalls Jacob.

Daring moves like the para-drop of a battalion at Tanghail and the airlift of advancing troops across the Meghna river, left the Pakistani defenders unnerved.

Sensing a Pakistani collapse, India seized the moment and closed in on Dhaka.

Manekshaw inspired confidence, giving his subordinates freedom of action, and credit. Never a glory seeker, he let Generals Arora and Jacob claim the surrender by the Pakistani commander, Lt General AAK Niazi.

The honourable treatment of 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war added to Manekshaw's glory.

“The 11th man took out his pagri (headgear) and put it on my feet. He said, "Huzoor aap hain toh huma zinda hain. Mere paanch ladke aapki qaid mein hain. Unki chitthi aati hai. Aapne sabko Quran-e-Sharif di. Wo log charpoy par sote hain, aapke jawaan zameen par sote hain (Sir, we are alive because of you.Five of my men are with you. I heard you give them Quran to read and while your soldiers sleep on hard ground, they sleep on charpoys)

In one fell swoop, the forces led by Sam Manekshaw stamped India's pre-eminence in the region. And Manekshaw ensured a place in history as India's most charismatic military leader, flamboyant in peace and gallant in war.