Today, let us remember Field Marshal SHFJ ‘Sam’ Manekshaw on his 110th birth anniversary.

Born into a Parsi family in Amritsar, the community had migrated from Persia to India to avoid religious persecution, first landed as refugees in Gujarat. Sam’s grandfather, Framji, was a teacher in Valsad; Morarji Desai, a freedom fighter who later would go on to become Prime Minister of India being one of his students.+ Sam’s father, Hormusji, born and raised in Valsad went on to study medicine at Grant Medical College, Bombay where he met and fell in love with Hilla Mehta. After a long courtship the young Hormusji dashed off his savings to propose to Hilla and they got married in 1899. His medical practice did not fare him well and the couple strived to make ends meet.+

India-Pakistan delineation teams headed by Lt Gen Premindra Singh Bhagat, PVSM, VC and Lt Gen Abdul Hameed Khan, SPK, SQA, met at Wagah and Suchetgarh to demarcate the Line of Control of J&K along the entire length on the map, in accordance to the Shimla Agreement.

Pakistani troops laid down their arms and surrendered to India for secession of East Pakistan as the new nation of Bangladesh. Indira Gandhi and Z.A. Bhutto met in Shimla to wrap up outstanding issues and after a prolonged negotiation, Shimla Agreement was signed in July 1972.+
The Agreement called for the disengagement of troops on either side of the international border to be completed within 30 days of its coming into force. In the case of J&K, Cease Fire Line would henceforth be known as the Line of Control (LOC). The troops would remain on the LOC resulting from the cease fire of 17 December 1971. This being the case, the LOC had actually to be delineated on the ground, detailed maps had to be prepared, conflicting claims resolved.

Despite having an upper hand, India failed in getting a formal sign-off by Bhutto to recognise this as an international border. Nor did we seek a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue.+

This year marks the 126th year of the Battle of Saragarhi.

At 0900 hours on the 12th of September 1897, 8000 tribals launched an attack on Saragarhi, a small fortress manned by 22 valiant men of 36th Sikhs, under the command of Havaldar Ishar Singh. Despite knowing that death was imminent, the garrison bravely held its ground for 6 hours 45 minutes killing 200 tribals and wounding another 600. While Battle Honours are Battalion specific, this battle stands as a Battle Honour for all of the 26 Battalions of the Sikh Regiment.

(Saragarhi on 14th September 1897, two days after the battle)
In 1893, the border was demarcated between British India and Afghanistan in the form of the Durand Line. It was 1,510 miles long, and split the Pashtun ethnic group so that roughly half was in Afghanistan and half in India. It was, in part, drawn up to weaken the Pashtun power in the hope they would be absorbed by the Raj. That, however, did not happen.+

Rumours had it that due to his remarkable contribution in the 1971 war, General S.H.F.J. Manekshaw was in line for a promotion to the rank of Field Marshal. However, it was also in common knowledge that the Defence Minister Jagjivan Ram was against this proposal and had previously stated to the Press that the Indian Army would never have a Field Marshal or a Five-Star General.

The wait stretched for months. It seemed like Manekshaw was paying the price for bypassing the Minister when the latter asked the reason for not implementing “Caste-based Reservations” in the Armed Forces.+
The book, A Soldier Recalls, by Lt Gen S.K. Sinha (he was the Deputy Adjutant General at the time) gives interesting insight, he writes:

“Relations between Jagjivan Ram and Manekshaw had not been too good. They had a confrontation on the issue of reservations in the Army for Scheduled Castes and Tribes. The Army was and still is, the only department of Government, where there is no reservation for any caste, though members of Scheduled Castes are recruited as soldiers in fairly large numbers. Class composition of regiments do amount to reservation for certain communities. However, this is more in the nature of preserving old traditions by continuing with the recruitment of certain traditional classes with a long military background.”+

There can be no better illustration of Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa’s sterling character, iron discipline, integrity and forthright views when his 27-year-old son, Flt Lt K.C. Cariappa’s Hunter aircraft was shot down while flying missions out of Halwara during in 1965 War.

He ejected and parachuted into a small area near Khem Karan that had been occupied by Pakistan. Seven Indian Air Force officers including him were taken Prisoners of War during the 1965 war.+
During interrogation, Junior Cariappa only revealed his name, rank and unit. He recounted:

“It happened on the last day of the conflict. I ejected out of my aircraft and parachuted into a small area near Khem Karan in Punjab that had been occupied by Pakistan, and was taken POW. Once you are taken as a POW and when you are questioned by the enemy personnel you are expected to divulge only three things: your name, rank and service number. This is the standard procedure. When they captured me, they asked me for these three things and I divulged them, I was then a Flight Lieutenant in service for 7-8 years. The information I had was as good as anybody else did. I did not know much and they too seemed to be aware of it. Yet they asked me questions like who are your batchmates; who are your senior officers.”

However, an hour later, jail guards rushed into his cell to inquire whether he was the son of General K.M. Cariappa.+

Manekshaw’s tenure as Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington is remembered as much for his significant contribution to development in curriculum, training and infrastructure as for its low ebb of victimisation. Defence Minister Krishna Menon, was looking for an opportunity to settle a score with General Manekshaw.

He disliked Manekshaw after being rebuffed in an attempt to rope him in a bid to isolate the then Indian Army Chief, General K.S. Thimayya, with whom Menon had differences. It happened in 1957 when he was promoted to Major General and posted to Jammu to command 26 Inf Div.+
Menon was on an official visit and casually asked Sam what he thought of General Thimayya. Thimayya was a brilliant officer, professionally competent and morally upright, whom Manekshaw held in high regard.+

On 28 April 1986, in the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the 87-year-old General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa was invested with the rank of Field Marshal and presented the baton of office by President Giani Zail Singh.

The book titled Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa written by his son, Air Marshal K.C. Cariappa (Retd), gives a detailed account of the event. He writes:

“It was a particularly memorable event for us in the family. His two surviving brothers Nanjappa and Bopaiah had arrived from Kodagu to be present at the Investiture Ceremony. The Ashoka Hall was filled to capacity by the high and the mighty of the land. Father was in his dress uniform, something he had not worn for many, many years. He wore, as always, narrow pointed shoes.+ At that time he was being treated for a particularly painful toe on his right foot. In fact at home he would always wear a shoe on the left foot, but allowed himself to wear a slipper on the right. He would often be in excruciating pain, but always maintained a stiff upper lip. For the investiture he would not hear of not wearing a shoe on his swollen foot.+

Our history is also full of inspiring stories of valour displayed by people who neither wore a uniform nor received any military training. In the picture, C-in-C General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa is decorating Dhobi Ram Chander with the second highest military decoration, Maha Vir Chakra for his gallantry during J&K operations 1947-48. He is one of the only two civilians to have been awarded the MVC, the other being, Civ Porter Mohd Ismail, a civilian labourer who volunteered to save a wounded man when a reconnaissance patrol was ambushed in the same operations.+
He displayed outstanding skill in negotiating the almost impassable snow-covered slopes swept by MMG fire. By superb physical effort he got the wounded man, bundled him up in his blanket and brought him to safety. Again on 14 September 1948, at Zojila Pass during an attack by 3 Jat, Ismail volunteered to accompany that unit as a guide. Advancing with the leading scouts in spite of close and continuous fire he guided the troops and it was only when a hidden MMG had wiped out the leading line that he fell into enemy hands and became a prisoner. On both occasions, Ismail displayed bravery, devotion to duty and disregard for personal safety.+

On 17 July 1959, Flt Lt Gita Chanda carved her place in history making her first successful parajump at the DZ (Dropping Zone) of the Paratrooper Training School, Agra becoming the first Indian woman to qualify as a paratrooper.

This is a story of Gita Chanda, a doctor in the… https://t.co/nWFidtbQH3twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Gita spent her early years in Rangpur (now in Bangladesh), daughter of Harendra Chanda who was a lecturer in Carmichael College. She was brilliant in academics. From excelling in classrooms to thriving under the demanding rigors of medical studies, her aspiration knew no bounds.… https://t.co/o1Z7ef8LrGtwitter.com/i/web/status/1…

In the previous thread, I covered Field Marshal S.H.F.J. Manekshaw’s life, from his family and childhood to joining the Army in the first batch of the IMA—The Pioneers; his young officer days with the Royal Scots and 4/12 FFR; he took 9 bullets and was awarded the Military Cross+ in 1942 during the World War II. From 1943-46, he moved every few months— attended the Staff College Course in Quetta, posted as Brigade Major to Razmak Brigade in North Waziristan, posted to 9/12 FFR in Burma under Gen W.J. Slim’s 14th Army, appointed the Directing Staff at the+

Today we remember Field Marshal SHFJ ‘Sam’ Manekshaw on his death anniversary.

Born into a Parsi family in 1914 in Amritsar, the community migrated from Persia to India to avoid religious persecution, first landed as refugees in Gujarat. Sam’s grandfather, Framji, was a teacher+ Valsad; Morarji Desai, a freedom fighter who later would go on to become Prime Minister of India being one of his students. Sam’s father, Hormusji, born & raised in Valsad went on to study medicine at Grant Medical College, Bombay where he met and fell in love with Hilla Mehta.+

There was a coup in Maldives on Nov 2/3, 1988. President Abdul Mamoon Gayoom, who was to visit India the next day, went into hiding and appealed to India for help. India's response was swift and on the night of Nov 3-4, 1988, the first contingent of our paratroops air landed+ at Hulule. By 7 am next morning our troops gained control over Malé and President Gayoom was rescued by 0230 hours on November 4, 1988. It m was a swift and surgical operation by any standard.+

Manekshaw’s tenure as Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington is remembered as much for his significant contribution to development in curriculum, training and infrastructure as for its low ebb of victimisation. Defence Minister Krishna Menon,was looking for+ an opportunity to settle a score with General Manekshaw.

He disliked Manekshaw after being rebuffed in an attempt to rope him in a bid to isolate the then Indian Army Chief, General K.S. Thimayya with whom Menon had differences.+

The Portuguese Government showed no signs of leaving Goa, Daman and Diu— their overseas possessions in India—even after August 1947. On the other hand, it seemed that they were negotiating with Pakistan for establishing a joint air and naval base at Goa.+ Popular movements in these settlements against the colonial rule and diplomatic efforts of Government of India made no impression on Government of Portugal. The security environment degraded quickly after Portuguese troops opened fire on an Indian vessel from Anji Dev Islands.+

Reminiscence of a Historic and Happy Association by Lt Gen Sagat Singh

The latter part of the year 1961 was lucky for me. In that year, I, a non-paratrooper, was posted to the coveted command of the 50 Independent Parachute Brigade; and had the good fortune of leading+ it in a lightning and highly successful operation in Goa in December 1961.

On taking over command, what struck me most was the outstanding comradeship,zeal and esprit de corps prevailing in all ranks throughout the brigade. It was a pleasure to be with this well-knit formation.+

Efforts should be concentrated on promotion of the study of military history, particulary Indian miltary history amidst the general public and officer corps. As of now, we have many books on Indian military history (fanfics/jingoism don’t count) and yet the ignorance of the+ average Indian of this subject has been appaling. Also, we have the poorest record-keeping in terms of preserving our own history, and whatever we are left with we have them restricted for ‘elites’ rather than archiving them online.+

Paratroopers in Goa 1961

Even after the last British soldier had left India in 1947, the country was not entirely free from foreign rule. The French and the Portuguese still clung to their possessions. These were small bits of land— Pondicherry and Chandernagore in the case+ of France; Goa, Daman and Diu in the case of Portugal— but it was repugnant to Indian sentiment that foreign flags should fly over them. The French later decided to quit (Chandernagore in 1949 and Pondicherry in 1954), but not Portuguese.+

A short thread on Army Medical Corps on its 259th raising day.

Within a Lotus wreath surmounted by the State Emblem, the rod of Aesculapius with a serpent intertwined the whole surmounting a scroll containing the words “ARMY MEDICAL CORPS”.+ The Bengal, Madras and Bombay Medical Services (IMS) were constituted in 1764 to include all the surgeons employed by the East India Company. For the short periods in 1766 and 1796, the Civil and Military Branches were organised into separate services, but on each occasion+

“Cats make friends with the cats and nowhere in the world do the cats make friends with the rats”— Mao

Political leaders go to war, the armed forces fight it and die. The kudos go to the political leaders, the blame to the armed forces. The country faces the consequences.+ A scenario for a hopefully successful denouement is created by the prudent and judicious mix of political and professional factors. This implies a certain degree of agreement between the political and professional leaders over the issues involved and catering for the factors+

The two war memorials in my city, Bikaner, remain in shambles and suffer from the apathy of civil authorities to whom I have raised these concerns time and again as the monuments deteriorate. What’s more funny is memorials are hardly 50-100 steps away from @BikanerDm office. We can hardly call it ‘old’. Names of the fallen soldiers were finally put on display on Kargil Vijay Diwas last year. Why was this memorial made when homeless people are shitting inside? It’s rather disrespectful that it is not maintained. @RajSampark

India-Pakistan delineation teams headed by Lt Gen Premindra Singh Bhagat, PVSM, VC and Lt Gen Abdul Hameed Khan, SPK, SQA, met at Wagah and Suchetgarh to demarcate the Line of Control of J&K along the entire length on the map, in accordance to the Shimla Agreement.+ Pakistani troops laid down their arms and surrendered to India for secession of East Pakistan as the new nation of Bangladesh. Indira Gandhi and Z.A. Bhutto met in Shimla to wrap up outstanding issues and after a prolonged negotiation, Shimla Agreement was signed in July 1972.+