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India’s win in ’65 war Profile |
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Let farmers look beyond rice and wheat On Record
Forest project transforms villagers
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India’s win in ’65 war
Autobiographies
are rarely completely objective and therefore, seldom reflect the true record of the author’s actions and deeds, more so those that are less edifying, whereas personal diaries are less likely to suffer from such infirmities. Even so, some attempt at justification of one’s actions are inevitable; sometimes for self assurance and where there is the possibility of the diary being reduced in a book form, then it falls in the same genre as autobiography. Where reliance is placed on hearsay, the contents may not be accurate and thus tend to misrepresent events and actions. R. D. Pradhan as private secretary to Y.B. Chavan has relied heavily on Chavan’s diary for his book. (I. Ramamohan Rao’s article, “How India won the 1965 war: Y.B. Chavan’s diary reveals the inside story”, Perspective, June 17). Certain important developments relating to the 1965 war with Pakistan, gleaned from the diary do not bear close scrutiny and on others. Chavan projects himself as if he took time sensitive decisions all on his own, without clearance from the Cabinet. Chavan took over as Defence Minister soon after Indian army had a drubbing from the Chinese. It is during Chavan’s watch that on one side Pakistan was being armed to the teeth by the Americans and on the other, Indian army was being starved of contemporary equipment and drawn into fruitless arguments by his ministry to have 17 instead of 21 divisions as projected by the army. Thus, when the war started on September 1, 1965, Indian army, according to Gen Harbaksh, was in no position to engage Pakistan in an all out war. India had 608 tanks of World War II vintage (180 Centurions and 90 AMXs were of mid forties period), 625 artillery pieces of all calibers and 35 infantry brigades. As against these, Pakistan had 765 tanks, which included 352 Patton tanks (state of the art tank of that period), 552 artillery pieces of all types, but of higher calibre and better range, 26 infantry brigades and 9000 Razakars. Pakistan had two armoured divisions against one of India. How did this disparity in force equation come about? Chavan’s diary and Pradhan as his then private secretary skip this intriguing poser. Pakistan launched a full-scale offensive in the early hours of September 1, 1965, and yet the Indian Air Force, according to Chavan, went into action at 4.45 p.m. and, that too, when Gen Chaudhuri and Air Chief Arjun Singh came to his office and sought his approval. Why this delay of more than 12 hours? Who was in charge of the war during that critical period of over 12 hours? Why was Chavan’s permission required for deploying air power when the enemy had already launched a full scale offensive? Obviously, there continued to be serious flaws in the overall direction of war, for which Chavan must bear responsibility. Yet Pradhan holds out Chavan’s clearance for deploying IAF as very prompt. Chavan does not appear to be adequately informed about the progress of operations. Pradhan tells us (obviously gleaned from Chavan’s diary) that the IAF’s going into action late in the afternoon of September 1 saved the nation from a major catastrophe. Where as Gen Harbaksh in his book, War dispatches, records that the IAF on that day did little damage to the enemy and instead took heavy toll of own troops. It destroyed all the artillery ammunition, one vehicle carrying tank ammunition, damaged three AMXs tanks and one armoured recovery vehicle. Coming to the more contentious issue of Gen Chaudhuri’s proposal to pull back Indian troops behind the river Beas, Chavan’s recordings in his diary are based on hearsay or mere gossip or perhaps it is Pradhan’s own addition. There are many versions to this story. Now Pradhan tells us that this proposal was dropped after heated discussions between Chaudhuri and Harbaksh. Reference to this story first appeared in print in Gen Harbaksh’s second book, In the line of duty, while there is no mention of it in his first book, War dispatches, written soon after the war. Harbaksh’s Chief of Staff, Maj-Gen Joginder Singh in his book Behind the scene makes no mention of it. Order to fall back on Beas gained currency after Gen Chaudhuri and Joginder had died. There are any number of versions to this canard. Capt Amrinder Singh says that he heard a late evening telephone conversation between Chaudhuri and Harbaksh on the subject. K. Subramanyam writes that General Chaudhuri had sought Prime Minister Shastri’s permission to pull back troops behind Beas and that the PM refused the permission. Inder Malhotra has his own twist to the story. Harbaksh himself refers to the meeting with Gen Chaudhuri on September 10 at Ambala. Now any one even casually acquainted with military operations will know that in the absence of any request from the field commander for a pull back, no higher commander will contemplate nor rush to the PM seeking permission for an act of such far reaching implications. For a moment if we are to assume that the situation on the front was so desperate (of which Harbaksh was unaware!) that withdrawal to a position in the rear was the only course left to continue the fight, the PM by refusing permission would merely court a bigger disaster. Even if the army chief were to contemplate such a drastic step, he would surely discuss it with his Director Military Operations. The then DMO totally denied any such development. Gen Chaudhuri’s personal Staff Officer, Gen Sandhu, who always remained with him and took copious notes at all meetings and instructions of the army chief and immediately passed these to those who were to take action, emphatically denies contemplation of any such move by the chief. Information flows from the front to higher headquarters in the rear, while orders flow in the opposite direction. So it is completely illogical for any one to argue that when the commander at the front is confident of holding the enemy in check, those in command in the rear would ask him to pull back and give such a dangerous turn to the conduct of battle. Look at the issue from another angle. Troops at the front were fully embroiled with the enemy and under such conditions disengagement and taking positions in the rear could result in chaos if not a rout. So some fresh troops would have been required to take up positions in the rear and cover the withdrawal of troops engaged with the enemy. In this case at least one fresh infantry brigade was required to take up positions on the Beas. But there was no brigade available for such a task. There were no reserves. Chaudhuri was a very capable general with a lifetime of study of the art of war. For Chavan or others to give credence to such fibs merely strains their own credulity. One would have expected the wartime Defence Minister’s diary to contain more informed and authentic record of events of that eventful period. He seems to contribute to the fog that continues to persist over this important period of Indian history. Like many before him, his diary disappoints. The writer is a former Deputy Chief of Army Staff |
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Profile
One
wonders if a Nandigram is in the making in Himachal Pradesh. The Chipko movement veteran, 80-year-old Sunderlal Bahuguna, has once again swung in action. This time, his target is the proposed International Himalayan Ski Village, near Manali, overlooking the picturesque Kullu. According to him, the project would cause ecological disturbance in the region, besides adversely affecting the lives of 40,000 people in 70-odd villages. His fear is that foreigners visiting Manali “for luxury” may pollute and poison the rich culture of the region and, at the same time, harm the rights and interest of the locals. His message to the people is to initiate “a long-term battle to stop global economic giants from squeezing Himalayan natural resources”. The $250-million Ski resort is being constructed by Alfred Brush Ford, the great-grandson of the legendary American automobile tycoon, Henry Ford. Besides slopes for heli-sking and skating, the three-phase project envisages installation of gondola lifts, a 600-bed five-star hotel, 200 holiday homes and a convention centre. The first phase was completed in 2006 and the entire complex is expected to be ready by 2009. Bahuguna is deeply concerned about the terms of MoU signed between the Ford company and the Himachal Pradesh government; it granted blanket rights to the US firm on forests for 99 years. So provoked is the veteran environmentalist at the MoU that he proposes to send a memorandum to the US Government urging President Bush to stop Alfred Ford from going ahead with the project. He is also exploring the possibility of taking up the issue with various environmental groups in the US. Bahuguna is no ordinary person. He hit international headlines in 1970s and 1980s and environmentalists the world over drew inspiration from his “Save the Himalaya” campaign which came to be known as the Chipko (embrace) movement. As forests were being increasingly felled for commerce and industry, villagers sought to protect their livelihood through the Gandhian method of satyagraha. The first Chipko action took place in 1973. In the next five years, it spread over to many districts of the Himalayan region of Uttar Pradesh. To save the trees from the axe of contractors, the villagers, many of them women, would embrace the plants and challenge the axe-wielding tough men to chop them first. The crusade spread like fire in the hills of Uttar Pradesh, which has now been carved out as the state of Uttarakhand. Led by Bahuguna, the first victory came in 1980 when a 15-year ban on felling of green trees was imposed following the intervention of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. During the years of campaign, Bahuguna undertook the 5,000-km-long trans-Himalayan march. His contention was the Himalayan glaciers were receding at an alarming rate and if denudation of forest was not stopped, the glacier feeding the Ganga would disappear in course of time. Bahuguna is now greatly concerned about the degradation of flora and fauna in the developmental process. Committed to serve the people and save the environment, Bahuguna struggled for a decade against the construction of the Tehri dam, undertaking long fasts on the banks of the Bhagirathi, demanding a full and independent review of the project. In 1995, he called off a 45-day-long fast following an assurance from the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao that the work on the dam would stop and the government would appoint an independent committee to review the social, environmental and economic aspect of the project. The promise was not kept and Bahuguna remained firm on his resolve and undertook another fast which lasted for 74 days. H.D. Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister at that time. He gave a personal undertaking that the government would conduct a thorough review of the dam on Bahuguna’s terms. Started in 1972, the Tehri dam began to fill in 2004. Bahuguna and his wife, Vimla, were forcibly moved to a government allotted house upstream. He has vowed that this is not the end; he will continue to fight for ecological protection. Few know that Bahuguna would have remained unknown but for a challenge thrown to him by Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1960. The Acharya summoned him to Wardha during one of his padayatras and told him, “you are resting in your village. There is a great danger to India from China. Take Mahatma Gandhi’s message of Gram Swarajya to the remote border villages of Himlayas”. Jayaprakash Narayan, then a Sarvodaya leader, also gave the same advice to young Bahuguna. Since then, he has been working as the “sentry of the Himalayas”, he
says.
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— Designer Manish Malhotra on the clothes he designed for Rajnikanth in the Tamil film, Sivaji — The Boss Relations are sweet if you know how to maintain them; you can’t live without these relations. I give love to people and get love
from them. — Dharmendra — UP Chief Minister Mayawati Sunita Williams and Kalpana Chawla still manage to impress me at this age of 60 years. Had I been younger and given another chance and appropriate training, I would have loved to become an astronaut. — Dr Ramadevi, Senior Scientist, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Short stories lend themselves well to cinema. Kunal Basu’s short story, A Japanese Wife, is like a fairytale. — Aparna Sen, filmmaker I thought Koirala was trying to find artful ways to abolish the monarchy, but now I feel he was trying to save the monarchy artfully. — Prachanda, chief of Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist — Naseeruddin Shah at a function at Nehru Centre, London — Bishen Singh Bedi on Dilip Sardesai, former cricketer, who passed away |
Let farmers look beyond rice and wheat
At
the time of Partition, Punjab was a food deficit state. It had lost its food bowl to Pakistan which produced surplus wheat and commercial crops where it had a dominant share of cotton. Thus, Punjab that India inherited was a deficit state where several of its areas, particularly in the south west region, faced frequent famine. It was the combined efforts of Punjab’s hard working farmers, the aggressive government building a good infrastructure of rural roads, irrigation facilities, markets and other facilities and contribution of farm scientists and researchers who developed new varieties of high yielding seeds and attended to farmers’ problems that revolutionised the farm sector. On top of these, the government also provided the maximum support price for the sale of wheat crop against the low price of imported wheat mainly American under the PL 480
programme. This gave a boost to farm production and quickened the pace of modernisation of agriculture with the introduction of latest farm technology. For a couple of decades, prior to 1980, the Punjab farmer’s average income was the country’s highest. Even during the 1980s, when there was militancy in Punjab, it did not let the spirit of green revolution suffer, unlike industry, which was badly affected. Many industrial units had either closed down or shifted to neighbouring states. It was during this period that Punjab picked up fast the spirit of rice revolution. Soon, it occupied a significant share of Punjab’s farm economy. With access to underground water supply, thanks to tube well irrigation, it became possible to get over this major hurdle. Punjab’s farmers took full advantage of extra income that summer cultivation of rice provided. Now onwards, Punjab had begun to exploit full potential of both winter and summer crops which added high income to the farmers’ kitty. Small wonder, by the time Punjab had entered the globalisation phase, it was well prepared for a high surplus of food crop which was also supported by favourable monsoon year after year in the 1990s. Punjab’s economy was also free from militancy. While there could not have been a better period to earn handsome gains through such bumper crop, that was not the case. Both the government and the farmers had failed to take adequate steps against possible onslaught on agriculture. Punjab’s long green revolution had also given an opportunity to other states to reduce their dependency on Punjab for food help. From a high deficit food position in 1947, the country had by the end of last century risen to unexpectedly high stockiest of wheat, when the management of such surplus grain had become the major problem with the administration. The creation of huge storage facility was a tough job. As a result, there was wastage of the accumulated stocks. There was hardly any export market. What little we sold in the global market was a part of distress sale, often resulting in losses. There was a heavy pressure on creating additional storage facility and also to employ people to manage the rising stocks. With such awkward situation at the national level, the government also lost revenue, which, with proper
utilisation, would have benefited the rural areas enormously. Farmers also turned out to be losers. They were in no position to earn sufficient income from their rising output. Thus, overall losses rose heavily. This sad development raises certain pertinent issues. First, why couldn’t we consolidate the gains during the prolonged period of green revolution, which helped Punjab top the country in per capita income? Why did we confine to the two-crop model as the only strategy for long-term growth? The government has failed to develop a more diversified crop strategy. We know that rice was highly risk-prone and unsuitable for sustained development. We have already suffered the ill-effects of rice cultivation like disturbed underground water table and rising pollution, causing health and environment problems. Why, then, year after year, we continue to give primacy to rice cultivation in our overall farm strategy? Surprisingly, scientists and researches at
PAU, Ludhiana, and other centres have failed to provide a more acceptable alternative to this problem. Farmers themselves have been the worst sufferers of this, as reflected in their rising debt position, culminating in suicides. Given a viable alternative, they will, certainly, respond because they have access to the latest farm machinery, equipment and other inputs. Where lies the snag? Let there be a debate and then the Punjab Farmers’ Commission would be able to spell out a viable strategy in the interest of the farmers and the government. Moreover, what efforts have been made by the government, NGOs and financial institutions to encourage thrift among farmers? Punjab’s farmers are liberal in expenditure when it comes to social prestige. They enjoy all family ceremonies on a grand scale even by raising heavy loan. There has been some missing link here. During the prolonged period of farm prosperity, they appear to have thought little of savings. And as their prosperity rose, they indulged in wasteful expenditure. Undoubtedly, it was not only green revolution that brought high income to farmers. It was also the income from remittances that their children and relatives had sent during the prolonged period of Gulf prosperity. Punjab was the top recipient of these remittances which added to their prosperity. But then, much of this income was misspent and farmers failed to deposit it with banks. All this is responsible for their lack of interest in thrift. This is confirmed by their overdependence on arhtiyas (middlemen) for frequent borrowing even when they have to pay high rate of interest. Many of them are permanently tied to them with heavy debt. It is a vicious circle where the average Punjab farmer is
lost. The writer is Director, Centre for Indian Development Studies, Chandigarh |
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On Record
The
Punjab government should take immediate steps to boost investor confidence, Union Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar has said. In a freewheeling interview to The Sunday Tribune, Mr Kumar, who represents Punjab in the Rajya Sabha, highlighted the possibility of the state getting one manufacturing investment region which would spur industrial activity in the state. Excerpts: Q: Mittal Investments in the Guru Gobind Singh Refinery Ltd in Bathinda has boosted the investment climate in Punjab. Will the Dera issue threaten the investment climate? A: The episode has come as a dampner for the investment climate. Major investors who were looking forward to invest in Punjab have stalled the initiatives. We have intervened in the matter and discussed the entire situation with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and have told that maintaining peace and harmony in the state and creating an environment where everyone feels protected is the government’s foremost responsibility. We have assured the Chief Minister of our full support in economic growth. Q: What measures are being taken to improve the investment climate? A: As for mega projects, Punjab could qualify as a major manufacturing hub in North India. The productivity of labour here is better than in most states. We should scale up the physical and social infrastructure to national and global standards. We will promote major industrialisation so that blue-collar jobs could be created in the manufacturing sector. Punjab’s agricultural economy has peaked and is unable to sustain the rising aspirations of the unemployed youth. Therefore, the Punjab government should take such policy initiatives to encourage private investment in both infrastructure and manufacturing sector. It must correct the popular perception about law and order in the state. Q: Can you give us the quantum of investment planned? A: The Rs 19,000-crore Bathinda refinery will generate direct and indirect employment for 1.5 lakh people in Punjab. This would involve transfusion of major capital inflows into the state’s economy and lead to consumption driven enlargement of economic activity. As for the projects in the pipeline, hundreds of crore of new investment in green field projects and expansion of existing ones can be absorbed. Power shortages continue to be a major challenge and the quality of governance including transparency in administrative decision-making will ensure the flow of investment to the state. On all these counts, the initiative rests with the state government. Q: What is the status of Capt Amarinder Singh’s proposal for setting up a manufacturing investment region? A: Currently, it is under discussion in various departments of the government. I feel, the policy is likely to be cleared soon and Punjab could legitimately ask for one region with connectivity and existing industrial infrastructure to be declared as a manufacturing investment region. I have had preliminary discussions with the Punjab Chief Secretary and once the policy parameters are finalised we will examine the possibility of Punjab getting one such region. Q: Tatas had evinced keen interest to invest in Punjab. Do they continue to hold the same view? A: They continue to look to Punjab as a possible investment destination. I understand that Tatas are seriously considering one such project in the automobile sector. Not a car project but something else. Q: How will the rail freight corridor benefit Punjab? A: The rail freight corridor will connect Ludhiana with Kolkata in the east and over time with the western parts of India. This will remove the logistical disadvantage that Punjab suffered due to inventory and freight costs, which made the products manufactured in Punjab non-competitive. Once this project is completed, Punjab’s industrial competitiveness would raise significantly. The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, with Japanese participation, would generate employment for three million people, 67 per cent of which will be in the manufacturing and processing sectors. Though this corridor will not touch Punjab, it will boost Punjab’s economy because of the creation of a large consumer market in North India. Very large areas are being developed under various initiatives as manufacturing and petrochemical hubs leading to an exponential economic growth in India’s
hinterlands.
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Forest project transforms villagers
A unique example of participatory project for growing more trees has transformed the life of many villagers living on the fringes of forest areas in Haryana. The Haryana Community Forestry Project (HCFP), supported by the European Union, is hailed as a successful example of community involvement in forestry activities. Its focus is on initiating self-directed development through the socially disadvantaged groups, including women. It has so far been implemented in 338 villages of 11 districts. Foresters across the globe see it as a successful model for initiating sustainable participatory community forestry activities, and removing the backwardness of villages. Pascale de Slama, a French expert deputed by the European Union, observed that “The project has built a solid ground on which community and forest department can grow together”. The project can be credited with successfully organising village women so that they can become economically independent. These self-help groups (SHGs) of women as well as Village Resource Management Committees (VRMC) have also taken up various social causes like female foeticide, women literacy and eliminating the dowry system. Haryana has one of the lowest per capita forest area of 0.01 hectares as compared to the national average of 0.11 hectares. It depends heavily on firewood as fuel, implying that its domestic energy requirement met through trees comes to 12 million tonnes of firewood. There is a need to increase the tree cover by over 10 times to meet the state’s firewood requirement. Under the HCFP, the natural resource management activities included establishing village woodlots on community land, tree groves for improving environment, helping farmers take up farm forestry, besides water resources harvesting and conservation projects. HCFP Director S.K. Dhar says that the tree ownership index has increased by five times in the project’s lifecycle. Increase in green cover by including tree farming in the socio-economic environment of the village communities has helped immensely. He says, disadvantaged sections too are involved in the tasks of community building like income generation activities, spreading awareness against social evils or creating 19 water harvesting structures for soil and water conservation in lower Shivaliks (Panchkula and Yamunanagar) and rehabilitation of johads (village ponds) in 30 villages of Hisar, Bhiwani, Sirsa and Fatehabad. According to a recent study, of the 327 VRMCs, 20 per cent have done exceptionally well and 60 per cent moderately well. All the 180 SHGs in 101 villages are now involved in micro activities like vermin composting, pickle making, dairying, organic farming and sweet box making. They have earned Rs 2.35 crore together. The project has helped reduce many problems — fodder (55 per cent), encroachments (39 per cent), grazing (33 per cent), water (30 per cent) and village disputes (21 per
cent).
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This was not just a Tamilian star. This was Rajnikanth. For the first half, when Rajnikanth is a successful software engineer, I gave him suits and trendy beige jackets with blue jeans. When he is bankrupt, I dressed him in corduroy, denim, checked shirts. I felt I needed to tone down the styling in the scenes but decided to have fun in the songs.
The BSP workers began contributing small funds to me after they came to know that I had no funds. My party workers asked me to use the money as I wanted.
The use of the term, ‘Bollywood’, is derogatory and humiliating. The film community should take note of the issue. This term is used to mock us by the western press. And it is just an indication of our own idiocy that we still use it.
Tailpiece: Dilip Sardesai had a cheeky presence of mind on the cricket field. Once at the Adelaide Oval, he was chasing a ball in the straight and longish side of the boundary when the Aussie batsmen, Paul Sheehan and Ian Redpath were going for the sixth run. Dilip promptly dived and, in one action, pushed the ball outside the boundary before the sixth run could be completed. The umpire had to declare four only. We had a great laugh in the dressing room much to the chagrin of the
Aussies.