Sam Bahadur – Reprise

I got this very indignant email from a friend.

I quote,

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SORRY SAM, WE INDIANS NEED TO HANG OUR HEADS IN SHAME

It has also been remarkable for the complete lack of grace and gratitude, civility and courtesy, decency and decorum on the part of the bold-faced names rapaciously grazing the lawns of power in Delhi and elsewhere, for the brain behind India’s only decisive military victory.

*   Pratibha Patil , the   commander-in-chief of the armed forces with all the time in the world: Absent (in fact she was visiting her flat in Mumbai)

*   Hamid Ansari : Vice-president   releasing books and writing reviews of books by fellow-travellers: Absent

*   Manmohan Singh , the prime   minister who could do with a bit of the field marshal’s charisma and heroism:   Absent

*   Sonia Gandhi : daughter-in-law of   the woman the field marshal called ’sweetie’: Absent

*   L K Advani : prime minister in   waiting of the party which would like to do to Pakistan what Manekshaw did:   Absent

*   M Karunanidhi and Surjit Singh   Barnala : chief minister and governor of the state which Manekshaw had   made his home for 35 years: Absent

Politicians may have their reasons. They always do. Maybe, there are issues like protocol. Maybe, this is one way in which ‘civil India’ shows the armed forces its place. Maybe, this is why we are not as militaristic as Pakistan. Maybe, the knees are just too old to climb the hills.
But what about the armed forces itself?

*   A K Antony: the defence minister ‘now behaving   like the chairman of the confederation of the armed forces’ trade unions:   absent ‘due to prior political engagements’.

*   The chief of army staff: absent (away in   Russia)

*   The chief of navy staff: absent

*   The chief of air staff (incidentally, a Parsi):   absent

The contrast couldn’t be starker:

*   When Amitabh Bachchan was ill after   being socked in the stomach during the shooting of Coolie , Indira   Gandhi flew down to Bombay to show her concern.

*   When Dhirubhai Ambani died, L K Advani   cut short his Gujarat tour to pay his respects to an ‘embodiment of   initiative, enterprise and determination’.

*   When Pramod Mahajan was shot dead by his   brother, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekawat had the time to attend the   funeral.

Our VIPs and VVIPs have time for dead and dying celebrities, charlatans, fixers. Not for a field marshal?

Somebody should have told the geniuses in Delhi that Sam, the Bahadur, passed away in Wellington, Ooty, not Wellington, New Zealand. The nearest civil airport is Coimbatore, just 80 km away.
If this is how we say goodbye to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, any wonder why Rang de Basanti could successfully tap into the anger  of an entire generation?

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The only saving grace were the Gurkhas, who served as the pall bearers and draped the Indian flag on him.

Sam Bahadur

Our good friend Gulshan Singh’s birthday, June 27, became a big day in Indian history with the passing of Sam Bahadur. The page on Sam Manekshaw on Wikipedia while quite detailed does not write anything on his association with the Gurkhas.

The Bharat Rakshak website has more details

Lt. Gen (Retd) Depinder Singh, his former military assistant, writes this story in his memoirs

He was officiating as Army Chief in 1967 when the Chinese had their first clash with the Indian Army since 1962. This occurred at the 14,000 foot high pass, Natu La, in Sikkim where the Chinese learnt to their cost that the Indian Army of 1967 was a different kettle of fish from that of 1962. He was summoned to a meeting of the Cabinet where, as he recalled later, everyone present at the meeting was vying with the others to present to the Prime Minister his grasp of the situation and offering one suggestion after another as to what should be done. After hearing most of the speakers, the Prime Minister enquired whether the officiating army chief, until then a silent spectator, had something to say. “I am afraid they are enacting Hamlet without the Prince,” he said. “I will now tell you exactly what has happened, and how I intend to deal with the situation.” He then proceeded to do so.

Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw MC

Apr 3, 1914 – June 27, 2008