Bharat Rakshak

He was summoned to a meeting of the Cabinet where, as he recalled later, everyone present at the meeting was vying with the others to present to the prime minister his grasp of the situation and offering one suggestion after another as to what should be done. After hearing most of the speakers, the prime minister enquired whether the officiating army chief, until then a silent spectator, had something to say. "I am afraid they are enacting Hamlet without the Prince," he said. "I will now tell you exactly what has happened, and how I intend to deal with the situation." He then proceeded to do so.

He took over 4 Corps on 28th November 1962 on promotion to lieutenant general, and the same day addressed a conference of what must surely have been a very shaken group of staff officers. He entered the room with his usual jaunty step, looked as if he were meeting each eye trained on him and said, ‘Gentleman, I have arrived! There will be no more withdrawals in 4 Corps, thank you;' and walked out. But the charisma that surrounds the man had preceded him and soldier and officer alike knew the 'chosen one' had arrived and henceforth all would be well. It was as if the dark and oppressive atmosphere had suddenly been lightened and Sam was the bearer of the light.

he once met Lieutenant General Kulwant Singh, at that time commanding Western Army and an awe-inspiring man, in a jacket that could best he described as a cross between a regulation shirt and bush shirt. When the army commander pointed this out he was asked: "Have you come to see my formation or my dress?"

Bengal in those days was a very troubled state where anarchy was prevalent, and law and order was almost on the way out. Sam was traveling to Dum Dum airport, Calcutta, once when he found the road blocked for traffic by a huge crowd being harangued by one person. The outrider and the staff officer accompanying him both advised a detour, but this would have meant running away and would have been noticed by the locals. So he got out of his staff car instead, and started walking up to the speaker who, he discovered to his disquiet as he approached, was a 'huge fellow, well over six feet tall.' Anyway, hiding his mounting uneasiness, he put his hand out and announced, 'I am Sam Manekshaw.' This unsettled the other person somewhat as he had probably anticipated an argument. He too, put his hand out and mumbled his name. He was then asked to clear the road, as otherwise 'I shall miss my plane.' The speaker, by now completely confused, hastened to obey, and the last glimpse the army commander had of his latest acquaintance was of that worthy helping to clear the road.

On 22nd February 1942, occurred the much publicised event when Sam was wounded. The retreat through the Burma jungle ended abruptly for him on 22nd February 1942, when seven bullets from a Japanese machine gun whipped through his body. The young captain who had just led two companies in the courageous capture of a vital hill was awarded the Military Cross. "We made an immediate recommendation," a senior officer explained, "because you can't award a dead man the Military Cross."

His mastery of detail was fantastic and, as I was to learn later, he could quote an answer given verbally or in writing months previously to correct someone who was saying something else. A battalion employed in the Mizo Hills, paying perhaps a little more attention to the welfare of its troops and, in the process, a little less than desirable to the operational side received a rude reminder that 'someone up there' was watching, very keenly, every move that was made. A parcel of bangles was delivered to the commanding officer with the compliments of the army commander with a cryptic note: 'If you are avoiding contact with the hostile give these to your men to wear.” Needless to say, the next few weeks saw a flurry of activity by this battalion resulting in another, more soothing message: 'send the bangles back.'

When the wife of a former army chief asked Manekshaw how he managed to remember the first names of most army wives, the field marshal remarked there are two things no honourable man should forget: His wife's birthday and the first name of the women around.

In the meantime, Manekshaw’s boat had got working and he was already back safe and sound. In a spontaneous gesture the smartly uniformed “Sam Bahadur” hugged my towel-clad father and uttered: “You are a bloody bahadur civilian, my friend.” A cocky junior standing close by had the temerity to say: “Is this little island really worth all this risk, sir?” Pat came the reply from a glaring Manekshaw: “Every inch of Indian territory is worth it, you idiot!”

Just before the Bangladesh operations in December 1971, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi [Images] asked Manekshaw ,who was the Army Chief then, "General are you ready" (for the war). Pat came the reply from the dapper officer, "I am always ready sweetie." Indira was not unpleased, nor offended.

On another occasion, Indira asked him whether he was planning to take over the country. Pointing to his long nose, the General replied: "I don't use it to poke into other's affairs."

When Indira asked him to go to Dhaka and accept the surrender of Pakistani forces, Manekshaw declined, magnanimously saying that honour should go to his Army commander in the East (Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora).

Manekshaw said he would only go if it were to accept the surrender of the entire Pakistani army.

The Field Marshal's wit was legendary. Once on a visit to his unit as Commanding Officer he asked what action was taken against a man who contracted veneral disease and when he was told the man's head was shaved off, he roared. "Shaved off?

Dammit. he didn't do it with his head."

Dixit also recounts the delightful episode of Mrs Gandhi chiding General Manekshaw for drinking during military briefings, to which he replied, "Madam, the brand name of the whisky is Black Dog, which [President] Yahya Khan drinks. I am quite sure that I shall overdrink him and outfight him. Please do not get angry."

There is a very thin line between being dismissed and becoming a Field Marshal. In 1971, when Pakistan cracked down in East Pakistan, hundreds and thousands of refugees started pouring into India, into West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. The Prime Minister held a Cabinet meeting in her office. The External Affairs Minister Sardar Swaran Singh, the Agriculture Minister, Mr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, the Defence Minister, Babu Jagjivan Ram and the Finance Minister, Yashwant Rao Chavan were present. I was then summoned.

A very angry, grim-faced Prime Minister read out the telegrams from the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. She then turned around to me and said, “What are you doing about it?”

And I said, “Nothing, it’s got nothing to do with me. You didn’t consult me when you allowed the BSF, the CRP and RAW to encourage the Pakistanis to revolt. Now that you are in trouble, you come to me. I have a long nose. I know what’s happening.”

I then asked her what she wanted me to do.

She said, “I want you to enter Pakistan.”

And I responded, “That means war!”

She said, “I do not mind if it is war.”

“Have you read the Bible?”, I said.

The Foreign Minister, Sardar Swaran Singh asked, “What has Bible got to do with this?”

I explained, that the first book, the first chapter, the first words, the first sentence God said was, “Let there be light” and there was light. Now you say, “Let there be war” and there will be war, but are you prepared? I am certainly not. This is the end of April. The Himalayan passes are opening and there can be an attack from China if China gives us an ultimatum.

The Foreign Minister asked, “Will China give an ultimatum?” And I said, “You are the Foreign Minister, you tell me”. I told them that my armoured division and two of my infantry divisions were away. One in the Jhansi/Babina area, the other in Samba and the third one in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. I mentioned that I will require all the road space, all the railway wagons, the entire railway system to move these formations to the operational areas and that harvesting was in progress in the Punjab and UP and they would not be able to move the harvest which would rot; and I pointed out to the Agriculture Minister that it wouldn’t be my responsibility if there was a famine. Then I said, “My armoured division, which is my big striking force is supposed to have 189 tanks operational. I have got only 11 tanks that are fit to fight.”

The Finance Minister, who is a friend of mine asked, “Sam why only 11?”

So I told him, “Because you are the Finance Minister. I have been asking you for money for over a year and you say you haven’t got it!”

And finally I turned around to the Prime Minister and said that the rains were about to start in East Pakistan and when it rains there, it pours and when it pours, the whole countryside is flooded. The snows are melting, the rivers would become like oceans. If you stand on one bank, you can’t see the other. All my movement would be confined to roads. The Air Force, because of climatic conditions would not be able to support me. Now Prime Minister, give me your orders. The grim Prime Minister with her teeth clenched said, “The Cabinet will meet again at four o’clock”.

The members of the Cabinet started walking out. I being the junior most was the last to go and as I was leaving, she said,”Chief, will you stay back?”

I turned around and said, “Prime Minister, before you open your mouth, may I send you my resignation on grounds of health, mental or physical?”

She said, “Every thing you told me is true”.

“Yes! It is my job to tell you the truth” I responded, “and it is my job to fight, it is my job to fight to win and I have to tell you the truth.”

She smiled at me and said, “All right Sam, you know what I want?”

I said, “Yes, I know what you want!”

Then one day, a worried Mrs Gandhi asked him to come to Parliament House and "looked me straight into my eyes and said you are my problem,'' he said.

Shaken up, Manekshaw, the hero of the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict, said "I put my nose next to hers and said what do you think ?''

She said "you can't. "

"Do you think I am so incompetent? " Manekshaw replied.

"I didn't mean that Sam. You wouldn't,'' he recalled Mrs Gandhi as having argued.

The former army chief said he related a ``little jingle'' to the prime minister,
"you mind your own business and I'll mind mine. You kiss your own sweetheart and I'll kiss mine. I don't interfere politically as long as nobody interferes with me in the army''.

In 1967 I joined his staff at Kolkata. Soon after my arrival I sent a paper up for his signature with the file note, "The Army Commander may sign if he approves." Within 10 minutes Sam breezed into my cabin holding my file at arm’s length, asking, "Is this offending file yours? What do you mean by saying ‘the Army Commander may sign if he approves?’ What do you think I have brought you here for? If you consider that I must sign this paper, just say so and I will sign!" He had ensured that I was not diminished in the eyes of my intervening superiors, and that I was encouraged to take decisions even on his behalf. During my service of 35 years I rarely came across officers who went to such lengths to groom their subordinates.

In November 1971, when we were awaiting orders from the government, Manekshaw addressed a huge gathering of soldiers all keyed up to advance into Pakistan. He very forcefully stressed that we must treat all women in Pakistan with great respect and consideration. In the middle of his address, he suddenly pointed to a burly soldier of the Sikh Light Infantry, "O, tera dhiyan kithe wey! Yad rakhin Pakistan vich sarian zenanian terian Mawan te bhainan hon gian!" (Hey, what are you thinking of! Remember to treat all women in Pakistan like your mother and sisters). The impact was instant and electric, and the message went home.

Manekshaw also re-emphasised the dignity of soldiering in the corridors of power in New Delhi. On a rather warm day the Defence Secretary , Harish Sarin, a very powerful civil servant, upon entering the Ministry’s conference room said to a Colonel sitting close to a window, "You there, open that window!" Before the Colonel could get up came a sharp "Sit down" came from Manekshaw, who had also just entered from another door. Turning to the Secretary, he said, "Mr. Secretary, don’t you ever address one of my officers in that tone of voice. You may say, "Sam, would you please open that window, and I will open the window for you. That officer is a Colonel, and not ‘You there’."