| |
BOOKS
The General Dares
The memories of this soldier's soldier are the nation's
as well
By Ashok K. Mehta
This book is vintage
Krishna Rao. It is written in military style, sparing in sparkle and down
to earth. General (retd) K.V. Krishna Rao may lack the flamboyance of
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, but in his lanky frame he packs quiet confidence
and a relentless drive. Somewhat drab and detailed, he came to be regarded
in the army as the ultimate soldier's soldier. One of his close friends
remembers him as a person with one mission: to make India invincible.
That he did not succeed is not surprising, given the absence of strategic
planning at that time.
|
|
|
IN THE
SERVICE OF THE NATION: REMINISCENCES
By K.V. Krishna Rao
Viking Penguin
Price: Rs 595 |
|
Both, while in
the saddle and out of it, he was seen as being close to the Congress government,
especially the Nehru-Gandhi family. He puts a new spin on the supersession
of lt-general S.K. Sinha (currently Governor of Assam) as chief of army
staff (COAS), but the justification is still not convincing. General A.S.
Vaidya succeeded Rao though Sinha was senior to him. It was Vaidya who
authorised Operation Bluestar in Punjab and the late General K. Sundarji,
one of Rao's blue-eyed boys, who executed it. Rao quotes a shattered Indira
Gandhi, the then prime minister, complaining to him that she had not known
that tanks and guns would have to be used to cleanse the shrine. Bluestar
was the most cathartic action ever fought by the Indian Army, and it was
a big mistake.
 Rao
begins his memoirs with the moment he most treasures: being witness to
Pakistan's surrender in Dhaka. In the original photograph that captures
this historic event, you may have difficulty locating Rao. But he is there,
larger than life, in later copies.
Rao's contribution to the nation is marked by
two high points: stewardship of the Military Experts' Committee and his
second term as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The first, a defining moment
for military reforms, came in nine volumes (1,740 pages) and recommended
savings of Rs 200 crore, one lakh soldiers and two lakh vehicles. It was
not surprising that despite government approval, the bulk of the Rao report
went without note.
Rao's elevation to the top was no ordinary event.
He was told that he had been appointed COAS by Indira Gandhi herself.
I recall that the news came when he was presiding over an elaborate demonstration
at Meerut on crossing ditches-cum-bunds. The announcement sparked off
jubilation in his command and led to a confetti of congratulations. One
of these he quotes: "Please accept my wife, and my congratulations."
His admirers were gung-ho. "We are with you all the way to Islamabad
and beyond." Rao was no warmonger but admonished those who prayed
that there be no war in their time. As coas, he is credited with two notable
achievements: crafting a forward policy against China and drafting for
the government a first formal directive for the armed forces. Rao will
go down in the Limca Book of Records as the governor with the longest
term in five states-Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram and Jammu and
Kashmir.
He earned the second feather in his service
cap when he neutralised the proxy war in Kashmir between 1993 and 1997.
He set himself the goal of restoring normalcy and reviving democracy in
Kashmir. For this, militancy had to be clamped down, he decreed. He developed
and implemented a multi-faceted operational, developmental and administrative
plan to create the atmosphere for the resumption of political activity
and removing the feeling of alienation. After seven years of President's
Rule, an elected government was installed in Kashmir. Similarly, he brought
around much of the North-East on a national grid, marginalising insurgency
there. As a successful practitioner of counter-insurgency and anti-militancy,
his experience is a model for the new entrant.
Rao's record of service to India is emphatically
established. But he was a fiend for small things: patiently listening
to a company commander's counter-attack plans and helping visiting Russian
marshals and admirals polish off bottles of whisky. After reading the
576-page book, I wish the prose was more stylish and the chapters better
edited. For example, the author notes the absence of a National Security
Council, India's nuclear capability, defence reforms, a Cabinet Committee
on Security, peace treaties with China and so on. All these deficiencies
have been corrected and appropriate institutions have been in place for
over two years now. For a person as meticulous as Rao, being unaware of
this is surprising.
Even so he has accomplished what no other chief
of army staff has dared to: write his memoirs.
|
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives
