1962: The War That Wasn't

“Avenge our unplayed lives, redeem the unredeemable  sacrifice,
       In freedom and integrity, let this be your inheritance, and our unwritten epitaph.”

Extract From The Book :-  “At the time when rest of the world was exhausted from the Second World War and attention was focused on the Cold war, Chinese supremo Mao Tse-Tung (Mao Zedong) pulled off one of the greatest real estate coups of all time. The Chinese played their cards in such a manner that the Indians lost what should have been at best a defensive war by not fighting it at all.”

                                     Since Indian independence we have fought five major wars four against Pakistan and one with China. While we successfully defended and won wars against Pakistan the battle in the high Himalayas in October-November 1962 left India humiliated and psyche scarred till now. 

                                        1962: The War That Wasn’t by Shiv Kumar Verma is an extraordinary attempt to unravel truth about Indo-China war fiasco, that till now is shrouded in myth and mystery, for the only official inquiry, the Brooks-Henderson/Bhagat Report on India’s catastrophic defeat in the war, has remained locked away, seen only by  very few in the military hierarchy over the past 50 odd years (media reports).

                                     This incredible book should be broadly divided into three phases, complete lack of understanding of the problem coupled with nepotism of narcissist PM and cowardly display by incompetent top military commanders who weren't chosen on merit . The incompetent politicians J.L Nehru(PM) and K.Menon(Defense Minister) who scuttled any positive attempt by Army to assert its authority by taking independent decisions. By humiliating Top military brass and replacing them with incompetent puppet officers with total lack of credentials were the genesis of defeat. In the end, the cowardice of those chosen few with bizarre military decisions on ground led to the worst defeat India faced despite exemplary courage shown by soldiers.

                                     So obsessed was Nehru for his image as leader of "Third World" and statesmanship that he supported China on all international forums despite China’s annexation of Sinkiang (Xinjiang) in 1949 and Tibet in 1950. When General KM Cariappa brought to Nehru’s notice in early 1951 that some Chinese troops were apprehended with maps showing parts of the North East Frontier Agency as part of China, he retorted, “It is not for the Army to decide who the nation’s likely enemies would be.”

                                       Despite total lack of infrastructure, no winter clothing, food to sustain, forget artillery support there's no basic ammunition to fight yet our soldiers on ground fought valiantly. Without providing the additional resources required, handing over the borders to the army was a meaningless gesture.” writes Verma. 

                                        In the end over 4,000 were taken prisoners of war by China , and an entire division of over 15,000 ill-equipped was routed in the face of the massive Chinese onslaught. While Chinese officially admit to 2,419 casualties (722 dead and 1,697 wounded) on their side. In my opinion this book is a must read, as it was not only ill preparedness but total collapse of decision making process at higher level .We must all debate and learn from mistakes and take decisive measures to prevent any catastrophe in future.