archive: Must Sonia revive memories of '62 when we are winning in '99?
Must Sonia revive memories of '62 when we are winning in '99?
Kanchan Gupta
Rediff on Net
July 1, 1999
Title: Must Sonia revive memories of '62 when we are winning in '99?
Author: Kanchan Gupta
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: July 1, 1999
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has suddenly discovered virtue in
recalling Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's conduct of affairs of the state
during the Chinese aggression of 1962. She was, of course, nowhere
near India during those three months of national humiliation when a
confused political leadership failed abysmally to provide even a
modicum of sense of direction to the Indian response - both military
and diplomatic.
Much after the guns had fallen silent following China's declaration of
unilateral ceasefire on November 22, 1962 - a declaration preceded by
Peking's achievement of its military objectives - the nation had to
take solace in Nehru's regretful comment, "We were living in an
artificial atmosphere of our own creation."
As much as 38,000 sq km of national territory had been lost. As many
as 1,383 soldiers had been killed; 1,696 soldiers were missing; and,
3,968 soldiers had been captured. These were the hard, humiliating,
demoralising realities of the Chinese aggression and the Indian
response directed by Nehru's government. The nascent Indian economy
was in a shambles and for all our self-righteous posturing in the
global arena, India stood cruelly isolated, its international prestige
savaged.
Yet no Opposition leader held Nehru personally responsible, nor did
anybody, least of all any Opposition party, for whatever the
Opposition was worth in those days, flog the government. It was seen
as a national failure and the nation rose to the occasion as a
collective whole. Ironically, the assault on Nehru came from his own
party and his own colleagues: Senior Congress leaders, including
Govind Ballabh Pant, Hanumanthaiah and Mahabir bayed for Defence
Minister Krishna Menon's blood.
Nehru, who had repeatedly allayed Parliament's apprehensions during
the early days with what would later turn out to be his infamous last
words, nothing "very serious" need be apprehended, did not have to
contend with an irate Opposition but a furious Congress. In the end,
he had to buy peace by sacking Krishna Menon and bringing in Y B
Chavan.
The "White Papers" to which Sonia Gandhi and her cohorts are now so
forcefully referring to were nothing more than pathetic attempts to
paint the Chinese as the villains and absolve the Nehru government of
all responsibility. The Congress president has been, understandably,
silent about the real story of India's political, diplomatic and
military debacle never being made public.
The inquiry report, which looked into why India lost to the Chinese, a
defeat that scarred the national psyche, prepared by Lt Gen Henderson
Brooks was not made public by Nehru, whom Sonia Gandhi has rightly
described as a "great democrat". When there was a clamour, once again
from within Congress ranks, to make the report public, Nehru's defence
minister stood up in the Lok Sabha on September 2, 1963, and said: "I
am sure that the House would appreciate that by the very nature of the
contents it would not be in the public interest to lay the (Henderson
Brooks) report on the table of the House."
Having set that precedent in 1963, the Congress would naturally expect
the government of the day to behave contrarily in 1999!
That apart, it is facetious to draw parallels between the 1962
aggression and the 1999 incursion. Unlike in 1962, India is no longer
"living in an artificial atmosphere of our own creation." In 1962, it
was a debacle of unimaginable proportion, matched by the total
collapse of the political leadership. In 1999, Operation Vijay has so
far provided enough evidence of victory over the enemy; there has been
nothing to suggest that the political leadership is confused: Nobody
has suggested, till now, that "not a blade of grass grows in Drass",
as Nehru had described NEFA. If India stood isolated in 1962, it is
the enemy who stands isolated in 1999.
In 1962, our jawans were made to face the enemy in monsoon and winter
conditions clad in nothing more than normal gear. There were no
woolens, no mountain shoes, no socks. They fought on empty stomachs as
the government in Delhi was too shell-shocked to organise the
logistics of reaching rations to the front and those despatched to the
front were not given any "emergency survival rations". There was no
foolscap paper to draw maps and field sketches.
If General Kaul had to send a message to his political master in Delhi
from Namka Chu, he had to despatch a soldier who would run all the way
to Lumpu, 25 km away. From there it would be routed to Zimithaung.
>From Zimithaung it would be telegraphed to Tezpur; from Tezpur to
Lucknow; from Lucknow to Delhi. A full three days would lapse between
the despatch and receipt of the message - that is how Nehru's
Government conducted the war in 1962. Must we compare it to how
messages are being relayed from Tiger Hill to Delhi in 1999?
To talk of 1962 in today's situation is silly. But it is also
demoralising for our jawans and demeaning for a nation that has left
the shameful memory of that defeat behind and emerged as a powerful
world player.
Depending on script-writers and factotums can be embarrassing for
politicians. But in this case, it has turned out to be embarrassing
for the entire nation as Sonia Gandhi has effectively revived memories
of a war best forgotten.
At a time when Indian troops are fighting enemy forces, they
definitely do not need to be reminded of what happened in 1962, that
too by a person ill-informed of facts and obviously ignorant of what
actually happened during the Chinese aggression and later. Had it not
been so, then she would not have drawn a comparison between 1962 and
1999. For,
In 1962, India was losing territory by the day. In 1999, India is
regaining territory by the day.
In 1962, Indian forces were swamped by enemy troops. In 1999, the
Indian army and air force have contained the intrusion and limited it
to the Kargil sector.
In 1962, Jawaharlal Nehru's government was confused in its response
and ran around like a headless chicken. In 1999, there is clarity in
thinking and purposefulness in action.
In 1962, India was diplomatically isolated with no country coming to
its aid and the "Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai" slogan inviting nothing but
pitiless ridicule. In 1999, it is exactly the other way round: India
is backed by international opinion and the Lahore Declaration is being
seen as the benchmark for achieving a lasting peace in the region.
In 1962, it is the Congress which had turned on the government of the
day, exposing fissures within the ruling party over the handling of
the war. In 1999, the allies in government are united, as are the
people, in pursuing the sole objective of freeing Indian territory of
all intruders.
As I said, it is silly to compared 1962 with 1999. But who is to tell
madam that she doesn't know what she is talking about?
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