ऐ मेरे वतन के लोगों, ज़रा आँख में भर लो पानी, जो शहीद हुए हैं उनकी ज़रा याद करो क़ुरबानी!
PM Nehru wept when he heard the iconic song by Lata Mangeshkar, describing the valour and courage of Indian soldiers who died fighting the Indo-China war of Oct-Nov 1962. This war inflicted a humiliating defeat on India, and it made not just the PM, but the entire country cry. But had PM Nehru taken timely actions, the war could have been avoided, or at the least not lost so humiliatingly.
A report tabled later in the parliament stated 10,000 deaths in this war, out of which ~6,500 were due to unpreparedness of the army. The Chinese crossed the Himalayan range and marched inward more than 500 KM till Tezpur (the plains) in Assam. Then on 20th November they stopped, turned back and receded to McMahon Line (the international border between India and China, which China still does not accept as valid), and we were saved from further humiliation. (It could be that the possibility of US and Israel offering military support to India on Nehru's request, could have deterred China from continuing the war further, China was not that strong in 1962 to confront the US).
The many signs of China's preparations were clearly visible from as early as 1956. Nehru ignored most of them, because according to his calculations China attacking India was unthinkable - except that it actually happened early morning of 19th Oct 1962.
The 1950s saw India growing in significance as a new-born leader of Asia under PM Nehru. Only two year post Indian independence, on 1st Oct 1949, the Mao Zedong-led communists took charge of Mainland China. From that day itself Mao was watching India and getting restless at its rising image in Asia.
China was upset with India’s stand on NEFA (North-East Frontier Agency - what is today's Arunachal Pradesh). It considered the McMahon Line invalid. It saw India (no matter how much ever it called itself non-aligned) aligned with the British camp ever since its inclusion in the Commonwealth of Nations. It also witnessed many Asian and African nations aligning with Nehru-Led NAM (Non-Alignment Movement. Out of 150+ members of the UN, 100+ were NAM members and they saw Nehru as the movement's unquestioned leader). And Mao was not liking this position of India. Moreover Mao considered himself as the tallest leader of the socialist/communist world, even higher than Joseph Stalin of the then USSR. Mao believed India's Socialism was a farce.
When China annexed Tibet in the 1950, Sardar Patel had written Nehru an 8-page letter about China's expansionist philosophy, warning Nehru that India must prepare to confront China. Nehru never tabled that letter in the parliament. Unfortunately, Patel passed away in Dec 1950 and along with him also died a force that could have made Nehru act differently.
K.M. Panikkar, Indian Ambassador in Beijing in early 50s, despite being a communist himself and sympathetic toward communist China, had warned Nehru of China's expansionist plans including the possibility that of its attack through Himalayas as well as via the sea. Nehru chose to ignore. In 1959, an officer or Indian Foreign services, after realizing that none of reports sent to the Foreign ministry were taken to Nehru, bypassed the ministry and met Nehru directly highlighting the China threat. Instead of paying serious attention to the matter, Nehru severely rebuked him and ignored the report.
Nehru, by not tabling any of these reports in the parliament kept India's law makers in the dark for years - about the real and growing China threat. Neither did he take decisions to strengthen the Indian army. The Indian army continued to stay under-equipped, under-prepared for the war as well as for the brutal winter.
Over these years many advised Nehru to avert the threat through diplomatic discussions and/or to prepare India for a strong retaliation. What was Nehru thinking? Why was he so confident that China could never look at India as an adversary? After all he was building a Socialist India driving Industrialization based on Soviet and Chinese principles of a "Government controlled, Planned Economy". Nehru, supported strongly in this view by V.K. Krishna Menon (described as the second most powerful man after Nehru), felt confident that China was viewing India as a nation aligned with the socialist camp (although a politically non-aligned one, neither in the US camp, nor in the USSR camp during the Cold war). When China annexed Tibet, Nehru even accepted Tibet as integral part of China. Nehru had gone out of the way to please Chinese leadership by ignoring constant requests of Tibet, a friend nation, to Nehru to back it rather than China. Moreover, India was constantly drumming up the "Hindi-Chini bhai bhai" slogan to world. Nehru also knew that Mao and Zhou Enlai (China's Premier) shared stage with him at several global events giving a message of being a friend. Nehru even supported Mao's Communist Government as the legitimate government of China over Taiwan's government led by Chiang Kai-shek (whom the US acknowledged as the legitimate China instead).
With this background, it was "impossible that China would attack India" - This is what Nehru thought. His Idealistic, Utopian socialist ideology made him confident that all the reported China threats must be a "miscalculation".
With this background, it was "impossible that China would attack India" - This is what Nehru thought. His Idealistic, Utopian socialist ideology made him confident that all the reported China threats must be a "miscalculation".
No one that time in the govt opposed Nehru. Nehru's image as a global leader was so tall, officers and ministers assumed that Nehru could never go wrong. Well, in case of Indo-China war PM Nehru made a Himalayan blunder.
Just when the two nations were on the brink of the war, Nehru, when asked by a journalist about Chinese military built-up, responded saying that India has adopted a forward policy and he has instructed the Indian Military to strike down any aggression by China. Externally, this statement misled the world into thinking that it was India who started the war. And, internally it shocked the Indian army which felt it was never allowed to prepare for the war despite continuous warnings.
China did not annex any Indian territory in that war. But they made a point: "India is weak and cannot even protect its own boundaries. China (and Mao) should be looked at as the leader of Asia and not India (or Nehru)". More than military, it was a blow to India's pride, its global standing, Nehru's global image, the NAM movement and India's dream of becoming the unquestioned leader of Asia.
No wonder Nehru cried after listening to the song, a part of it must have been from him recalling the severe blunder he made in handling the war. Had PM Nehru acted differently, he would saved both himself and India from tears.
Authored by: Mandar Garge (Mar 09, 2020)
No wonder Nehru cried after listening to the song, a part of it must have been from him recalling the severe blunder he made in handling the war. Had PM Nehru acted differently, he would saved both himself and India from tears.
Authored by: Mandar Garge (Mar 09, 2020)
