Unsung heroes
Jyoti Singh

What Happened In 1971: The Sinking of INS Khukri
Survivors’ Stories
by Maj-Gen Ian Cardozo.
Roli Books. Pages 197. Rs 350.

The man in the street knows very little about the armed forces and their contribution to the national security. When questioned some vaguely remember that a warship was lost in 1971; few remember that the name of the warship was INS Khukhri and its captain was Captain Mahendranath Mulla. People in great number are unaware about the contribution of the Indian Navy to the overall victory in this war and the attack on Karachi. The 1947-48,1962,1965 and 1971 wars have long since passed into oblivion. The people remember the Kargil War as it was beamed by TV channels into every Indian home.

This book by Maj-Gen Ian Cardozo, also the author of Param Vir: Our Heroes in Battle, is indeed a tribute to the heroes of the Indian Navy and its victory at sea during the Indo-Pak war in 1971. He focuses on the heroics at sea from the graphic accounts of the survivors and their relations, which in a manner is a substitute for media coverage that was not available in 1971 as later in Kargil.

All services need an icon. That Mahendra Nath Mulla ideally filled this requirement, is highlighted. The reader shares the sense of deprivation with the author that it would have been appropriate if a well-deserved Param Vir Chakra was conferred on ‘Viru’ Mulla, who gave his life jacket to a young sailor and himself went down into the watery grave with his beloved ship—an archaic naval tradition—"sitting on the Captain’s chair and lighting a cigarette". The touching story by his wife and daughter lends a halo around this brave soul.

The book is not simply a tale of the heroes who lost their lives or of the loss of Khukri but it highlights the story beyond these stories—the importance of technology in underwater warfare. Cordozo emphasises the need to have the best equipment if our navy is to continue establish primacy over, on and under the waves of the Indian Ocean and help India become a true maritime power.

Pointing towards how Pakistan is forging ahead with the manufacture of the most modern conventional submarines in the world whereas our country has allowed our expertise in this field to wither away, he urges the authorities to set right this imbalance. He comes heavily on the "the powers that be" who take this serious matter casually, unable to take a quick decision to redeem this situation and rectify the imbalance.

Questioning the policy makers as to why the ‘Scorpene’ deal has been doing somersaults inside and outside of Parliament, his anger can be felt literally: "Do the persons concerned not understand that in sorting out each other on such issues they do so at the cost of our national interest?" Indeed a discerning reader easily senses this big dent in the national security matrix, where we just have 16 ageing diesel-electric submarines. Quoting Commander Paul Raj, who was once a part of the DRDO and now a professor at Stanford University, he highlights the need to reform it. Replying on the capability of DRDO, Paul says, "DRDO `85 does not deliver. The reasons are well known, if not to us, then at least to our adversaries."

The book on the whole brings the armed forces closer to the public. The lucid prose, inclusion of quotes from books published in India and Pakistan, photographs, lend authenticity to the story and makes it an interesting and insightful read.

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