Thread by @sheshapatangi1

Had India begun preparation for a ‘possible’ war with China, as professionally advised by #GeneralThimayya in 1959, history would have been very different.

In independent India’s history of 68-odd years, we have fought five major wars, four of which were with Pakistan and one

with China. The Indo-Pak wars went clearly in our favour, although the 1965 clash may not have had as definitive an outcome as we wanted. The Indo-China war of 1962 was a monumental fiasco, the ripple effects of which still resonate in our collective psyche.

Shiv Kunal Verma’s

book titled, “1962: THE WAR THAT WASN’T” tries to give a complete account of 1962 War between India and China. General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya, Padma Bhushan, DSO was Indian Army Chief from 08 May 1957 to 07 May 1961, and General Pran Nath Thapar served as Indian Army Chief

from 08 May 1961 to 19 Nov 1962. The War was initiated by China during October 1962 and ended on November 21, 1962 when China declared unilateral cease-fire and withdrew from captured territory.To accomplish this military mission which barely lasted one month,

China admitted a price tab of 2,419 casualties(722 dead and 1,697 wounded).
In 1950, when the Chinese invaded Tibet, Gen Cariappa, the Army Chief, had apprised Nehru that the Army in its present state was not capable of fighting the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). However,

the honest professional advice was brushed aside, which led to serious consequences a decade later. In 1959, ten years after Cariappa’s warning was ignored, the then CoAS, Gen Thimayya, had a heated exchange with Nehru on the issue of the handing over of NEFA (present Arunachal)

to the Army, a diktat Nehru had unilaterally issued in Parliament without having consulted or discussed its implications with the Army Chief. Having done nothing to augment the resources of the Army or improving the communication infrastructure along the northern border since

Cariappa’s threat appraisal, Nehru was willy-nilly, making the Army a scapegoat for the governments inaction and failures.
Krishna Menon, Nehru’s henchman then ‘summoned’ the Chief and rebuked him for his exchange with Nehru and chastised him for having bypassed him who,

as defence minister was his immediate superior. Menon deviously maneuvered the situation and got Nehru to belittle the Chief in Parliament.
In 1955, Sidney Wignall, a British mountaineer was asked by the Army Chief Gen. K.S. Thimayya to get proof of the Aksai Chin road.

Like a spy thriller, Wignall was arrested and interrogated by the Chinese and finally released in the hope that he would never make it back to India amidst the heavy blizzards.
Wignall, however, reached India with his report which was trashed by Krishna Menon in Nehru’s presence

as “lapping up American CIA agent-provocateur propaganda.”
Nehru officially acknowledged the construction of the Sinkiang-Tibet highway through Aksai Chin in Parliament only in August 1959. It was this laissez faire which perhaps compelled Gen Thimayya to tell his officers that

“I hope that I am not leaving you as cannon fodder for the Chinese Communists.” The foreboding would come true three years later.
General K S Thimmayya's ability to project India’s honor was on full display during his handling of the NNRC in Korea.
The NNRC through CFI was

responsible for gathering non-repatriated prisoners into camps; that included nearly 170,000 prisoners held by UN forces who didn’t want to return to either China or North Korea.
In the face of Chinese demands for the forceful repatriation of their soldiers, the UN and the CFI

worked hard to explain to each prisoner their rights and privileges; they could then choose to go home or remain with the side that captured them.

This called for compassion, fairness, and neutrality on the part of the Indian Custodian Force, who rendered yeoman service during

the entire span of their mission from September 1953 to March 1954. On several occasions, intricate situations were resolved only because of the patience and tact of General KS Thimayya and Major General SPP Thorat. They proved their mettle, earning well-deserved praise for

their command & for India.
It was an unenviable task; in the end only less than 100 who wished not be repatriated to either country came back to India once the NNRC, CFO concluded their operations. A few Koreans chose to resettle in India, while others were repatriated to Brazil.

Gen Thimayya is not only an Indian military hero he is also a hero of the Korean War. It has been nearly 7 decades since the end of the Korean war but even till day he is remembered by Koreans with gratitude, affection. Gen Thimmayya was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1954 for his

service in Korea.
General Thimayya went on to become the COAS from 1957-1961. After his retirement the UN again requested for his service in 1964 to command UN troops operating on Cyprus in keeping with his reputation of impartiality displayed in Korea.

Gen Thimmayya, suffered a massive heart attack on December 18, 1965 at the age of 59, while stationed at Cyprus and the brave son of Bharath passed away leaving behind an unmatched legacy.

A #GeneralThimayya is not born in every generation. The likes of him there will seldom be a soldier. The General is a man's man, the Army his soul and his soul the Army.
#GeneralThimmayya
#Jayanti

#VANDEMATARAM

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