http://uswww.rediff.com/news/report/six ... 170127.htm
6 were hanged in 1950 for attempt to kill General Cariappa: Declassified CIA report
January 27, 2017 10:39 IST
Documents declassified by the US espionage agency, the Central Intelligence Agency have revealed a shocking bit of information regarding an assassination attempt in 1950 on Field Marshal K N Cariappa, who took over as the first Indian Commander in Chief of the Indian Army from British Army officer General Roy Bucher on January 15, 1949.
"An attempt to assassinate General Cariappa, the commander-in-chief of Indian Army, was made during the General’s recent inspection tour of East Punjab,” said the CIA declassified report, titled "Rift in Officers corps of the Indian Army", filed on June 12, 1950 that was hitherto unknown to the public.
The report is among some 13 million declassified documents, which the CIA have released online. The report was declassified in accordance with the US government’s 1995 executive order that allows automatic declassification of nonexempt historically valuable records 25 years or older.
The "confidential" report states that six people were sentenced to death for making an attempt on the life of Cariappa.
"Six persons have been sentenced to death in connection with the plot; several high army officers are believed to be involved," the report said without identifying those sent to the gallows.
The report also states, "General Cariappa as South Indian is resented by the Sikh officers of the Indian Army. The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) is capitalising on the North-South split among army officers, persuading Sikh officers, whom informant considers treacherous and unreliable, to spread dissension. Officers from Travancore (later Kerala), Madras and Maharashtra are invariable loyal to General Cariappa."
That the US intelligence didn't see Cariappa favourably is reflected clearly in yet another declassified CIA document dated December 15, 1948 which states: "The impending departure of General Sir Roy Bucher, the British officer now commanding the Indian Army, increases the possibility of an open warfare between India and Pakistan. General Bucher, who is to reliquish the office of Comander-in-Chief on August 15, has exerted a moderating influence on Indian military policy and with the cooperation of his British opposite number in Pakistan has kept to a minimum direct encounter between the Indian Army and Pakistan's regular troops in Kashmir."
"His successor, Lieutenant General K M Cariappa, gives the impression of being vain, temperamentally unstable, and lacking sound military judgement; there is a danger that in attempting to give palatable military advice to the Indian government he may fail to give due consideration to all of the military and political factors involved and that he may use his new position to seek the personal glory that a speedy termination of the Kashmir campaign would provide."
General Cariappa was then the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Command during the Jammu and Kashmir operations.
But could these notes just be tales of fantasy?
The assassination attempt report too is preposterous, Air Marshal (retd) Nanda Cariappa, General Cariappa's son, told Outlook magazine.
"I think it is implausible, I have never heard about it, quite honestly, and nobody I know has ever heard about it. In 1950, one year into being the commander in chief, he was in good terms with the politicians. I can’t think of anybody who would want to bump him off," said Air Marshal (retd) Nanda, who retired from the IAF 20 years ago.
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