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The book describes the partition
of India as well as the integration of various states into
India. The Indo-Pak war 1947-48 which started on October 22,
1947 is then dealt with in a precise manner, bringing out the
salient features of the operations. The cease fire from January
1, 1949 allowed Pakistan to retain large J&K territory in
the north under its possession which has allowed it to claim the
remainder of the J&K state. Pakistan had captured Zojila
Pass area as well as Kargil in 1948 but our forces recaptured
them, thus opening the road to Leh. Pakistani forces were on the
run when cease fire was accepted by India on January 1, 1949.
The book then
narrates the various important events as well as battles fought
in 1965 Indo-Pak war. Pakistan’s aim in the 1965 war was to
capture J&K and so its main thrust was in J&K. India’s
offensive in Punjab came as a big surprise to Pakistan. External
pressure compelled India to terminate the hostilities when the
Pakistani forces had suffered sufficient attritions,
particularly in the tank fleet. "Regrettably, what the
Indian soldier had won with so mulch loss of blood was given
away at the political table at Tashkent."
The 1971 war is
described in detail. The Indian Cabinet met in April 1971 to
take a decision regarding Pakistan. The general opinion in the
government, as well as among the population was to go for war in
order to stop millions of refugees pouring into Indian from
Bangladesh. However, when Gen Manekshaw was asked for his
opinion he is reported to have bluntly replied: "I
guarantee you 100 per cent defeat if you want to go in
now". So Gen Manekshaw was given time to gear up the forces
which had a large number of deficiencies. No wonder, India
achieved a marvellous victory in Bangladesh resulting in
surrender of one lakh Pakistani forces in Dhaka in December 1971
after a short campaign of 14 days only.
India signed
the famous Shimla Agreement of July 2, 1972. As a result of this
agreement, India returned 13,309 sq. km. to Pakistan while she
got back only 916 sq km of territory from West Pakistan. India
returned nearly one lakh prisoners to Pakistan hoping that it
would ease the relations between the two countries. However,
they deteriorated markedly when Gen Zia took over as military
dictator. Terrorism was introduced in J&K and it is
continuing till today. The war in Kargil in 1999 was a part of
this over-all scenario.
At the end it gives useful
suggestions to improve the defence setup of the country. The
Defence Ministry and senior military officers as well as
intellectuals of the country would do well to go through the
thoughtful suggestions put forward by the author in the last two
chapters. The book is well illustrated with a dozen photographs
and maps and makes an interesting reading.
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