Did Sam Manekshaw fight wrong enemies?

ONLY TWO Army appointments have been made by the Government of India since independence in 1947, in the rank of Field Marshal of the Indian Army. Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw was the first to be honoured. It was essentially in recognition of his leadership during the 1971 India-Pakistan war that dismembered the adversary and created Bangladesh. The government led by Indira Gandhi, by far the biggest beneficiary of the war, made the appointment in 1973. His senior KM Cariappa, who preceded him by 15 years, was appointed as Field Marshal only in 1983, long after his retirement.

“In a rare gesture, the government took a decision to give a state funeral,” beamed minister of defence (MoD) AK Antony when Manekshaw breathed his last at the age of 94 on June 27. There can be no controversy – whether in India, Bangladesh or even Pakistan – about giving a state funeral to the legendary soldier. Most people, particularly in the armed forces, however, could not fathom what was so rare about the ’gesture’. State honours to a real war hero is something that is taken for granted in countries with some self-respect left!

The ’gesture’ of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, in reality, was one of shaming the great hero. For, the honourable MoD did not find it prudent to waste his precious time by being present ceremonially. It was not that the senile politician, exhausted due to decades of politicking to become a Central minister, was too sick to stand the strain. (He had recently fainted during a ceremonial occasion but had recovered).

Anyway, the low profile Congress loyalist is not taken seriously even by his colleagues. Last year, the defence minister sheepishly pleaded in the Parliament that his colleague in charge of civil aviation would not exempt Service chiefs from being frisked at the airports. The privilege of exemption is reserved only for the ones chosen by god to lead the country. That included Robert Vadra, the non-descript son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress Party chief who could not even be a member of the government openly! A colonel recalled to a media person, “It’s only after the media took up this issue that the embarrassing matter was resolved.”

Anthony deputed a junior minister Pallam Raju, who even more low-profile than himself, to represent him at the ceremony. The minister of state (MoS) happened to be highest dignitary representing the government of India at the funeral of the country’s first Field Marshal! When pointedly asked about the poor representation at the funeral in Wellington, Anthony pretended as if he did not hear the question.

President Pratibha Patil, the supreme commander of the armed forces and the constitutional head of the country, was apparently busy in Maharashtra. After all, elections are round the corner and she is known to be loyal more to Sonia Gandhi and Nehru dynasty than anything else. Nobody dared to disturb the VVIP jet, kept in ’stand-by’ mode to cater to her emergency needs! The Prime Minister, of course was defending his master from attack from Left Front allies.

In the bizarre ’state honour’, none of the Service chiefs attended the funeral. A rear admiral of the Indian Navy and an air marshal of the Indian Air Force were asked to register the ’rare honour’ to the departed Field Marshal. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Air Chief Marshal FH Major were very busy at their headquarters, perhaps planning top level defence strategies. Army chief General Deepak Kapoor, away in Russia on tour, was represented by vice chief Lt-Gen ML Naidu, who took a civilian flight from Delhi.

A Brigadier put the insult in perspective: “We, as a nation, simply don’t respect or remember our heroes. Cricketing ones are honoured even after 25 years of winning a world cup; soldiering ones are forgotten promptly after the war is over. The nation turns to the armed forces only in times of emergency!”

The adulation of the Field Marshal is however not without controversies. Most people in the neighbourhood and many in India feel that the 1971 war was a diplomatic and economic disaster for India. Particularly the ones to think with their heads, who know what cost had to be paid by the common man in the country for the feat, point out that it only earned yet another adversary in the region. The war, that definitely helped the then Prime Minister to acquire a lot of clout, has not enhanced the standing of India as a responsible big brother. Bangladesh has never felt obliged to India for its creation and is suspicious of New Delhi, which did employ covert actions before the war. In fact, most of its votes in the international arena have been cast in the ’other’ direction.

It would be worth recalling the most plausible explanation doing the rounds as to why Indira Gandhi took the decision in January 1977 that proved suicidal for her absolute rule. Most politicians, bureaucrats and judges were meekly crawling when asked to kneel before the tyrant and her son Sanjay. The Congress president even declared shamelessly, “India is Indira.” Several people in the know have confirmed that Indira feared that Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw, then Chief of Army Staff, threatened to depose her if she did not immediately release all political prisoners and call elections.

The anti-tyranny movement warned Indians that the March 1977 elections might be their last chance to choose between democracy and dictatorship. Though Manekshaw denied any such thing, there could be no other possible explanation. But, no one can deny that most truly democratic governments in the world are set up by military chiefs. With that considered, perhaps Manekshaw fought the wrong enemies!