It was April 1971. The Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, S.H.F. J. Manekshaw, was summoned to a Cabinet meeting. He found the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, in a rage. “Do you know what is happening in East Pakistan?” “Yes, there are killings,” General Manekshaw replied. “I have telegrams from the Chief Ministers of Tripura, Manipur, Assam, Bengal, refugees are pouring in. You must stop them. If necessary, move into East Pakistan but stop them.” “You know that means war.”
“I don’t mind if it is war,” said the Prime Minister. The General then explained the dangers and told her: “I am not prepared.” She was furious. There was a long discussion. Finally, the General told her: “Prime Minister, if in 1962, your father had asked me as the Army chief and not Gen. ( Pran Nath) Thapar, and now your father had said ‘throw the Chinese out’, I would have turned around and told him, ‘look, these are the problems.’ Now I am telling you what the problems are. If you still want me to go ahead, Prime Minister, I guarantee you 200 per cent defeat. Now give me orders.” Jagjivan Ram, the Defence Minister, told: “ Sam maan jao na ( Sam, accept what she says).” Sam Bahadur, as he was fondly addressed as, said: “I have given my professional view. Now the government should take the decision.” She was red in face and suspended the Cabinet meeting till 4 pm. Everybody walked out and Sam was about to leave, she said, “Chief, sit down.”
“Prime Minister, before you say anything, do you want me to send in my resignation on the ground of mental health, or physical?” She said, “Oh, sit down, Sam. Everything you told, is it true?” “Yes. Look, it’s my job to fight. It is my job to fight and win. Are you ready? I certainly am not ready. Have you internally got everything ready? Internationally have you got everything ready? I don’t think so. I know what you want but I must do it in my own time and I guarantee you 100 per cent success. But, I want to make it clear. There must be one commander….Now, make up your mind.” She said, “All right, Sam, nobody will interfere, you will be commander.” Sam conveyed her promptly, “Thank you, I guarantee you accomplishment.” Lieutenant General Depinder Singh, who was his Military Assistant, writes in his book “Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw: Soldiering with Dignity”: “While thanking the Prime Minister for her support, the Chief stated that he could guarantee capture of East Pakistan in two weeks provided he was given free hand.” Of course, General Manekshaw had conveyed others that he would win the war in one and half month.
After nearly eight months, General Manekshaw was ready for the operation. The date and time he decided. Though he did not believe in superstition, the General always felt number 4 was lucky for him. He came into action on 4 December 1971, reporting the Prime Minister daily in the morning at 8.30 over a cup of coffee at PM house. “On the fifth day, I told her that today I have some bad news to share.” said Sam and her response was: “You can’t win every day.” Of course, The war was over in just 13 days and Pakistan Army of 93,000 personnel under the command of Gen. Amir Abdullah Khan Niyazi signed the surrender document with General Jagjit Singh Arora !
General Manekshaw was the hero of the 1971 war against Pakistan which gave birth to Bangladesh. When he was to retire in June 1972, his term was extended by a period of six months and on 3 January 1973, he was conferred with the rank of Field Marshal. Prime Minister offered him to be sent as an Ambassador to any country or as the Governor of Maharashtra, but he declined any such offer reminding her of his oath to serve the Army only. Manekshaw was the first five-star rank of Field Marshal in India. The first Indian Army Chief, General K.M. Cariappa, who retired from Army in 1953, was the High Commissioner to Australia and New Zealand till 1956 and was awarded the five-star rank of Field Marshal in 1986 by PM Rajiv Gandhi. Incidentally, India so far has only two great personalities who were awarded the five-star rank of Field Marshal: Cariappa and Manekshaw. The Field Marshal never retires. Both fought the World War II and became the Chief of Indian Army.
In an interview to Karan Thapar, one of the eminent journalists of India and the son of the third Army Chief of the Indian Army, General Thapar, Field Marshal Manekshaw describes one incident which made the daredevil Prime Minister Indira Gandhi scared of losing the political power to Sam Bahadur. It was one year before the Bangladesh liberation war. General received a phone-call from the Prime Minister one day in the afternoon asking him how busy he was. He said: “The Army Chief is always busy but never too busy to see the PM. I am having my tea, Prime Minister.” She told him: “I can give you better tea. Come over.” When General Manekshaw reached the Parliament House, he found her little worried. “Hello, Prime Minister, you seem worried?” “I have problems.” Sam told her: “Cry on my shoulders. What are the problems?” Mrs. Gandhi told him: “You are my problem.” Sam was shaken for a moment and inquired further. She opened up and told: “Everybody is saying you are taking over. Do you think I am so incompetent PM?” Sam opined she was the best Prime Minister. He told her not to worry and added: “I don’t interfere in your politics as long as you don’t interfere in my Army.” She was relaxed as both trusted each other.
Manekshaw, who aspired to be a gynecologist, joined the Army and rose to be the head of the Indian Army. He was almost dead while fighting during the World War II receiving six bullets in his body. Col. Dharmendra Singh (Retd.) recollects one of Field Marshal Manekshaw’s visits to Gujarat where he addressed the meeting in Hindi. Normally, Sam used to speak in Punjabi in Punjab, in Tamil in Tamil Nadu and in Gorkhali in Darjeeling. He knew so many languages, Since he being a Zoroastrian (Parsi) born in Amritsar having his mother, Hilla, from Valsad, he knew Gujarati as well. Col. Singh says, “late Field Marshal spoke in Hindi as he wanted to convey a message to Gujarati community that not many from Gujarat join the Indian Armed forces!”
