INDIA LET DOWN BADLY BY A COTERIE IN 1962 WAR WITH CHINA

INDIA  LET DOWN BADLY BY A COTERIE IN 1962 war

       Dr prof Col Kuntamukkala Prabhakar Rao

I read aIl books on 1962 war available. Everything summarily points towards the Nehru Menon coterie and their failure in understanding defence requirements projected by service chiefs particularly. gen Thimmayya who was a towering personality internationally.Nehru was scared of a possible coup by the army chief and  and it haunted him all the time.Nehru  played all his cards to humiliate the general everywhere particularly in parliament after he withdrew his resignation after a show down with Menon.He was most scared of General Thimmayya who was admired worldwide. Most of the newly liberated nations fell to army in coups and such Pakistan was next door under self styled Field marshal Ayub Khan .Coups worldwide was common  in those days and Nehru was worried. he had no sleep.Nehru from the days of  newly acquired freedom was always harping on non violence, peace etc and even was contemplating  disbanding services saying India had no enemies and police was  sufficient for security of  the nation.  how foolish he was as a statesman!he  even said to  General sir Lockhart  later succeeded by Gen Roy butcher another English man distinguished officer, who was chief in 1948 saying the same words.but the INDO pak war of 1947 opened his eyes and Nehru had to eat his own words. Failure in 1962 war made severe effect on Nehru mentally,  physically and health wise and lowered his image internationally . his China policy was shattered. Chou enlarge of China graced India by a visit few years ago and nehruvian govt went berserk  with happiness with slogan a. Hindi chini bhai bhai.. The Chinese attack on our borderers came as a bolt from blue  and Nehru became pale with horror.. defeat in the war although our army fought valiantly  at places to last man and last bullet was no match for PLA that just poured in a ratio if I to 11 or more. India suffered many casualties including very brave officers and men  who were neglected by the Nehruvian govt  all these years. there was no recovery for Nehru and he died in a span of two years shaken ,broken , severely criticised ,mauled everywhere for his failure and image tarnished too. demands came up for his dismissal too.He lived in fools paradise of  Gandhian philosophy of non violence and universal brotherhood that our neighbours never accepted.he was living in false world of his own till light was extinguished in his once distinguished life for his failures. the Nobel peace prize also turned its face away from him. Of course he had self declared Bharat Ratna.58 years are over since 1962 war was fought and goofed up by the politicians and the coterie. But the official  report compiled by brooks and PsBhagat is still kept classified. Some portion  reportedly part I was publicised by  Australian journalist Maxwell some time ago and the govt withdrew it. But by the time , many might have downloaded the contents. part II of the report  contents are not revealed. it us learnt that it contained memos office orders, instructions, notes, minutes of meetings etc and nothing much is useful. it is learnt that the leaked contents by maxwell  have critically found failures in administration. Leadership at different levels including civil and military officials.Probably  ,the govt feels that the remarks of castigation from the report would not be in the interest of the country and hence the report is with held. it is akin to classified files of Netajis disappearance.But  the report should be made open to public to reveal how politics and parties  and leaders played havoc with security of the country. to remain in power armed forces were systematically let down by the Nehruvian govt causing greatest humiliation to this nation.Even now The govt gave orders to field commanders to fire only after troops at Galwan valley had to resort to unarmed combat and fought with sticks stones and rods etc.PLA. Was well prepared by spiked wooden clubs, iron pickets with  with nailed wire would around.we lost twenty brave men including the commanding officer of 16  Bihar REGT in the night scuffle.The finger points to failure of higher leadership. situation us grim and continues to be grim. There are many round pegs in square hols throughout the chain of command and the guilty for the failures must be punished. On the whole we are same as we were. Sad state indeed.

       Lessons have not been learnt yet inspite of fighting three to four wars. recent Chinese India confrontation  was the outcome of failure of intelligence agencies to keep watch at the borders.Now it s fully known that concerned  persons literally slept while PLA occupied ares in our jurisdiction after crossing LAc , even built structures for defence  and strengthened themselves. They also moved heavy equipment liketanks and heavy calibre artillery guns. This later resulted in serious hand to Gand combat at Galwan valley that saw death of our twenty men including a. Colonel. the field commanders have been negotiating and discussing with PLA commanders that appears to be never ending. as days pass  making the Chinese troops to with draw to original positions appears to be extremely difficult. Delaytactics of PLA  is resulting in further build up of PLA in terms of troops and heavy equipment  in depth areas at different locations  for a future serious confrontation leading to war. When do we learn.every time our leaders keep uttering that  our borders are safe and we shall not allow an inch of land to fall to enemy. But every time we are at receiving end.sad state of affairs in the country indeed.