05-08-2007, 10:44 PM
SAM n IG before 1971 war link
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I will just read out a portion of an interview by General Maneckshaw. Now this was received by Mrs Gandhi on the 4th of April, Mother even notes the date, she sent the message on 3rd but Mrs. Gandhi received the message on 4th, "The urgent recognition of Bangladesh is imperative." So, sometime in April, she called a cabinet meeting in which General Maneckshaw was invited. I will just read out certain portions from an interview which General Maneckshaw gave a few years later. You will get an idea of the actual situation at that time..
Mrs Indira Gandhi telling Maneckshaw, "Look at this, - so many are coming in -there is a telegram from the Chief Minister of Assam, a telegram from. what are you doing about it? she said to me.
I said nothing. What has it got to do with me,
She said, "Can't you do something? "Can't you do something? Why don't you do something?"
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to march in".
I said, "that means war". And she said, "I don't mind if it is war".
So I sat down and said, "Have you read the Bible?"
Sardar Swaran Singh said. "What has the Bible got to do with it?"
"In the First Book, The First Chapter, the First Paragraph of the Bible, God said, 'Let there be Light' and there was light. So you feel, Let there be war and there shall be war. Are you ready? I certainly am not ready".
Then I said, "I will tell you what is happening? It is now the end of April. In a few days' time the monsoon will break and in East Pakistan, when it rains, the rivers become like oceans. If you stand on one side, you can't see the other. I would be confined to the roads. The Air Force would not be able to support me and the Pakistanis would thrash me - that's one. Secondly my armoured divisions, is in the Babina area, another one in Secunderabad. We are now harvesting. I will require every vehicle, every truck, all the road space, all the railway space to move my soldiers and you will not be able to move our crops" and I turned to Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, the Agriculture Minister and said, " If there is famine in India, they will blame you. I would not be there to take the blame". Then I turned around and said, "My armoured division which is supposed to be my strike force has got 12 tanks which are operational out of the whole lot".
Chavan asked, 'Sam, why only 12?'
I said, "Sir, because you are the Finance Minister. I have been asking, pleading for months and you said that you have got no money. That's why".
Then I said,<b> "Prime Minister, if in 1962 if your father had asked me as Army Chief and not General Thapar and your father had said,'Throw the Chinese out', I would have turned around and told him. 'Look, there are problems'. Now I am telling you what the problems are. If you still want me to go ahead, Prime Minister, I will guarantee you 100% defeat. Now, give me your orders". </b>
Then Jagjeevan Ram said, "Sam, Maan Jao Na".
I said, "I have given my professional view now. Now the Government must take a decision" .
The Prime Minister did not say anything, she was red in the face and said, 'Achcha, char baje milenge'.
Everybody walked out, I, being the junior most, was the last to leave and I smiled at her. "Chief, sit down".
So, I said, " Prime Minister, before you open your mouth, do you want me to send in my resignation on the grounds of mental health or physical?'"
She said, "Oh, sit down Sam. Everything you told me is true".
"Yes. Look it is my job to fight. It is my job to fight to win. Are you ready? I certainly am not ready. Have you internally got everything ready? Internationally have you got everything ready? I don't think so. I know what you want, but I must do it in my own time and I guarantee you 100 percent success. But I want to make it quite clear. There must be one commander. I don't mind, I will work under the BSF, under the CRPF, under anybody you like. But I will not have a Soviet telling me what to do and I must have one political master who will give me instructions. I do not want the refugee ministry, home ministry, defence ministry all telling me. Now make up your mind."
She said, 'All right Sam, nobody will interfere, you will be in command.'
So it is clear that Indira Gandhi could not recognise Bangladesh immediately because the Army was not ready. And it was not the fault of the army that it was not ready. And again, the army was not ready because there was not sufficient governmental support. This has been the one of the bane of Indian history after independence. Unfortunately this is the bane even today. General Ved Malik said a few days back, "If war is thrust upon us, we will fight with what we have". Unfortunately what we have is not all what we need. Anyway, the war in Bangladesh was over. It was a resounding victory. I will not go into any details but it must be noted that the help of the Mother was invaluable. She took active interest in the War and she had a map f Bangladesh in front of her on her table and She concentrated on it everyday. Her help was not only occult, she was in actual touch with some of the officers of the Indian Army. However that is another story, a story by itself.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->I will just read out a portion of an interview by General Maneckshaw. Now this was received by Mrs Gandhi on the 4th of April, Mother even notes the date, she sent the message on 3rd but Mrs. Gandhi received the message on 4th, "The urgent recognition of Bangladesh is imperative." So, sometime in April, she called a cabinet meeting in which General Maneckshaw was invited. I will just read out certain portions from an interview which General Maneckshaw gave a few years later. You will get an idea of the actual situation at that time..
Mrs Indira Gandhi telling Maneckshaw, "Look at this, - so many are coming in -there is a telegram from the Chief Minister of Assam, a telegram from. what are you doing about it? she said to me.
I said nothing. What has it got to do with me,
She said, "Can't you do something? "Can't you do something? Why don't you do something?"
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to march in".
I said, "that means war". And she said, "I don't mind if it is war".
So I sat down and said, "Have you read the Bible?"
Sardar Swaran Singh said. "What has the Bible got to do with it?"
"In the First Book, The First Chapter, the First Paragraph of the Bible, God said, 'Let there be Light' and there was light. So you feel, Let there be war and there shall be war. Are you ready? I certainly am not ready".
Then I said, "I will tell you what is happening? It is now the end of April. In a few days' time the monsoon will break and in East Pakistan, when it rains, the rivers become like oceans. If you stand on one side, you can't see the other. I would be confined to the roads. The Air Force would not be able to support me and the Pakistanis would thrash me - that's one. Secondly my armoured divisions, is in the Babina area, another one in Secunderabad. We are now harvesting. I will require every vehicle, every truck, all the road space, all the railway space to move my soldiers and you will not be able to move our crops" and I turned to Fakruddin Ali Ahmed, the Agriculture Minister and said, " If there is famine in India, they will blame you. I would not be there to take the blame". Then I turned around and said, "My armoured division which is supposed to be my strike force has got 12 tanks which are operational out of the whole lot".
Chavan asked, 'Sam, why only 12?'
I said, "Sir, because you are the Finance Minister. I have been asking, pleading for months and you said that you have got no money. That's why".
Then I said,<b> "Prime Minister, if in 1962 if your father had asked me as Army Chief and not General Thapar and your father had said,'Throw the Chinese out', I would have turned around and told him. 'Look, there are problems'. Now I am telling you what the problems are. If you still want me to go ahead, Prime Minister, I will guarantee you 100% defeat. Now, give me your orders". </b>
Then Jagjeevan Ram said, "Sam, Maan Jao Na".
I said, "I have given my professional view now. Now the Government must take a decision" .
The Prime Minister did not say anything, she was red in the face and said, 'Achcha, char baje milenge'.
Everybody walked out, I, being the junior most, was the last to leave and I smiled at her. "Chief, sit down".
So, I said, " Prime Minister, before you open your mouth, do you want me to send in my resignation on the grounds of mental health or physical?'"
She said, "Oh, sit down Sam. Everything you told me is true".
"Yes. Look it is my job to fight. It is my job to fight to win. Are you ready? I certainly am not ready. Have you internally got everything ready? Internationally have you got everything ready? I don't think so. I know what you want, but I must do it in my own time and I guarantee you 100 percent success. But I want to make it quite clear. There must be one commander. I don't mind, I will work under the BSF, under the CRPF, under anybody you like. But I will not have a Soviet telling me what to do and I must have one political master who will give me instructions. I do not want the refugee ministry, home ministry, defence ministry all telling me. Now make up your mind."
She said, 'All right Sam, nobody will interfere, you will be in command.'
So it is clear that Indira Gandhi could not recognise Bangladesh immediately because the Army was not ready. And it was not the fault of the army that it was not ready. And again, the army was not ready because there was not sufficient governmental support. This has been the one of the bane of Indian history after independence. Unfortunately this is the bane even today. General Ved Malik said a few days back, "If war is thrust upon us, we will fight with what we have". Unfortunately what we have is not all what we need. Anyway, the war in Bangladesh was over. It was a resounding victory. I will not go into any details but it must be noted that the help of the Mother was invaluable. She took active interest in the War and she had a map f Bangladesh in front of her on her table and She concentrated on it everyday. Her help was not only occult, she was in actual touch with some of the officers of the Indian Army. However that is another story, a story by itself.
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