Peace is the dream of the wise, war is the history of man - Richard Burton
In 5000 years of recorded history there have been 15000 wars, roughly three a year. Peace is thus a placebo, and war the bitter pill of human existence. History dictates that nations keep ever in readiness for war to savour the peace it promises. That’s where India was found wanting. Lulled into torpor by the fraternal catchphrase- ‘Hindi-chini bhai bhai’ - it was caught off guard and ill-prepared in 1962. China scuppered her comprehensively.
This autobiography of Bijji, as he was popularly known, goes beyond sketching a military career ; it gives startling revelations and insights into the Indo-China border situation culminating in the war. He had commanded the 4th Corps on the NEFA ( now Arunachal Pradesh ) battlefront. It also makes other wide ranging observations about contemporaneous political and military affairs of national import, from the Kashmir insurrection in 1947, to liberation of Goa in 1961, and finally the Indo-Pak 1965 war.
Early childhood in Taran Taran, losing his childhood flame early on from illness, trained at the prestigious Sandhurst military school, the recruiting ground for Officers in the British Army he climbed up steadily in the military hierarchy to the rank of Lt. Gen in 1960. He saw military ops in Arakan in WW II, was associated both with ground ops in Kashmir, later as a member of the diplomatic team arguing India’s Kashmir case at the UN, served the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission in Korea in 1953, was involved in the 1961 liberation of Goa. And in an anticlimax but in the highest military traditions he resigned his commission after the debacle of 4Corps he led. Bijji remained a teetotaller and non smoker throughout his life.
He gives a very vivid and detailed account of the fiasco on NEFA war front, painting a pathetic picture of failure in leadership and strategy at all levels -military,politics,diplomacy - and utter lack of grit and endurance. It truly was a war that was not, only a series of disorganised, chaotic, hasty retreats from one defensive position to back deeper and deeper into Indian territory with waves of Chinese soldiers sniping at army’s heels. There were sporadic acts of immense bravery and valour and odd units showing remarkable pluck and resilience to repulse repeated waves of Chinese attacks, but on the whole, it was an inglorious, ignominious and humiliating end for an army that had performed so creditably in the two world wars.
Additionally, Bijji’s biting commentary on powerful personages who strutted on the national stage at the material time, their personality traits and esoteric work ethics makes for interesting reading. Certainly Bijji casts no halos over any of them , being rather iconoclastic baring their strengths and weaknesses. Under his discriminating scrutiny pass Krishna Menon, Sheikh Abdullah, Gen , Kripalani , JP and some other VVIPs of that era. About the two prima donnas in the political opera theatre, he has this to say.
Nehru and Patel had violent differences of opinion, he affirms. Patel was a realist whilst Nehru an idealist. Many of our leaders both respected and feared Patel whereas they only revered Nehru. India could not do without either of them.
Nehru, he opines, had ‘many qualities rarely seen in a man. There was hardly another man as free from fear and hatred as he’, yet he was egotistic and vain with conspicuous blind spots. Things plodded under him as he believed in hastening slowly. The author has more unpalatable comments but wraps up stating that he had done more for the country than anyone since Ashok and Akbar and made India a democracy.
As if to vouchsafe Nehru’s democratic credentials he refers to ‘Rashtrapati’ , an article published in Modern Review written anonymously by Nehru with the pen name Chanakya. Nehru warns the people against himself, “ is it not possible that Jawaharlal might fancy himself a Caesar, therein lies the danger for Jawaharlal and for India.. .....his conceit is already formidable. It must be checked . We want no Caesars.”
About political interference in military affairs, he avers, war is an inevitable consequence of human existence. Political leaders must, therefore, understand military affairs. While giving freedom of action to the forces, they should never abdicate political control of war.
About the need to keep public informed of progress in military affairs, he opines, “there must be constant and critical but legitimate comment, apart from adoration of our defence efforts, in the press and other forums , as in other democracies, to keep our strategists on their toes. We must also maintain our morale by not only harping on our triumphs but also maligning our reverses, if any”. He advocates war correspondents being facilitated to report from battle-lines. Else we may have the ridiculous mockery of TV Channels designating Leh, a good 200 kms away from Galwan hotspot, as Ground Zero, as some just did.
Of what use history if we don’t distil appropriate lessons from it to inform the present and guide the future? Bijji is not a mere witness but a participant too in the momentous events recounted in the autobiography. So what historical lessons it has for the readers?
In the author’s analysis, Chinese attacked to signal their emergence as a powerhouse with Asia as its particular sphere of influence. It wished to demonstrate the superiority of its communist system of governance and economic production. That it could only do by humiliating India with an ideologically antithetical political and economic system. And not the least, to divert attention of its people from the colossal failure of ‘Great Leap Forward’. Do any of these imperatives still weigh with them ? Time to pause and ponder.
To what causes does the author attribute our rout ? Right through the 50s China kept gobbling up Aksai Chin, nibbling into our NEFA borders, building logistical infra right upto its claimed borders, yet at no level did the army analyse Chinese military tactics, its political and military behaviour, and draw up counter measures. The political leadership failed to provide the wherewithal the army needed or build logistical infra to support its operations in the difficult elevated mountainous terrain. India woke up too late to stem the Chinese tide let alone turn it in their favour when the war finally broke out.
Michael Pillsbury reveals in ,’A Hundred year Marathon’, China has set its long term goal- replacing America as the global superpower. Does India have a strategic masterplan and long term goals that include a blueprint to neutralise its hegemonic propensities on our long borders ? Chinese intrusions have increased manifold as if living upto its 1962 admonition that it reserved the right to come back if India reoccupied the areas vacated by it ( what irony ! the territories it supposedly vacated were the ones India claimed to be within its territorial boundaries). Every intrusion sees India in a reactive mode. When the bloody clashes took place in May the Defence Minister rushed to Russia to purchase armaments off the shelf reminiscent of Nehru’s similar appeal to the world at large in 1962. Are we still underprepared ? Again, Time to pause and ponder.
The echoes of freedom struggle have long since died down, memories of 1965 and 1971 wars lie considerably faded in minds of those born a decade or so past independence. To millennials and GenZ it is a blank sheet. These generations, in all probability, learnt of these national torments from secondary historical sources. That may lead to a fallacious grounding for such narratives have an element of selectivity - in choosing the facts to thread into historical tapestries that reflect the design and hues after the author’s wish. It risks becoming HIS STORY rather than HISTORY ; one that borders on history and myth and consequently arrives at wrong historical lessons. Once in a while it’s good to revert to primary sources to cross check and this book is one such.
Of course, there is that inevitable human bias in the narrative. The tone and tenor is exculpatory, aimed at rebutting the plethora of unfounded criticisms that dogged his career. Still, the book is a wonderful read, recalling and reliving episodic historical moments, and not to mention, Bijji writes feelingly. And it’s a topical read too.
