An Odyssey In War And Peace

Lt. Gen J.F.R. Jacob

Description

Jews who have made India their home have flourished without adverse discrimination. Of this, the Baghdadi Sephardic community is very small in number but has produced one of India's greatest contemporary soldiers, Lt Gen. Jack Jacob. This is his fascinating story. As a small boy, Jacob, who was from a business family, was sent to a residential public school in Darjeeling along with his two brothers. When the Second World War broke out, Jacob without informing his family joined the army in 1941 to fight against the Nazis! After Independence, Gen. Jacob became a gunnery instructor for some time and subsequently was trained in an advanced Artillery and Missile course at Fort Sill in the US. A quick learner, he commanded infantry and artillery brigades, headed the artillery school, and finally the Eastern Army. Rubbing shoulders with some of the stalwarts who strode the Indian political and military arena in those times, Gen. Jacob sometimes fell foul of his bosses and twice came close to resigning. But he stuck on and the pinnacle of his career came in 1971, when he planned and oversaw operations leading to the fall of Dacca and obtained an unconditional public surrender, the only one in history, of Gen. Niazi and his army of 93,000. Written lucidly, this autobiography comes to life as a historical document recapitulating some of the most important events of the 1960s to the 90s - from the defeat of the Naxalites in West Bengal, to the problems of Nagaland and Sikkim and the politics of Goa and Punjab. This is not only the story of the life of one great soldier, but provides glimpses of some of the most influential and colourful personalities who wrote the history of those tumultuous times.

Sujets

• Dacca
• Nazismo
• Jews
• Regiment of Artillery
• DeFence
• Biography
• Punjab
• Indian Defence
• Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi
• Naxalite
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
• Indian Army
• Military
• West Bengal
• World War II
• Defense
• Army
• Bengale-Occidental
• Soldier
• Autobiography
• Armée des Indes britanniques
• War
• India
• Dhaka
• Penjab
• Sikkim
• Nagaland
• Goa

Informations

• Publié par: Roli Books
• Date de parution: 31 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9788174369338
• Langue: English

Extrait

An Odyssey in War and Peace
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Heroes and Villains of 1857
An Odyssey in War and Peace
An Autobiography
Lt Gen. J.F.R. Jacob
© J.F.R. Jacob, 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the publisher
First impression May 2011 Second impression August 2011
First published in India in 2011 The Lotus Collection An imprint of Roli Books Pvt. Ltd M-75, Greater Kailash II Market New Delhi 110 048 Phone: ++91 (011) 4068 2000 Fax: ++91 (011) 2921 7185 E-mail: [e-mail] ; Website: www.rolibooks.com
Also at Bangalore, Chennai & Mumbai
Cover: Bonita Vaz-shimray Production: Shaji Sahadevan
ISBN: 978-81-7436-840-9
CONTENTS
Preface
1. The Early Years
2. Off to the Second World War
3. Back to Deolali and Matters Relating to Partition
4. At Staff College and the Years that Followed
5. Training in the US and Back
6. Stints in Ladakh and Deolali
7. 1971: War Clouds Loom
8. Strategy: What Eventually Worked
9. The Conduct of Operations
10. Surrender: The True Story
11. My Days as Army Commander
12. Retirement: Goa and Punjab
13. Some Abiding Impressions
Appendices
Dedicated to
Gen. P.P. Kumaramangalam DSO MBE A great soldier, human being, and friend. Had it not been for him, I would have resigned from the Army.
Preface
It has been a tempestuous journey that is drawing to a close. There were the years of the sword from 1941 when I joined the army to August 1978 when I retired as Army Commander Eastern Command. I learnt my soldiering during the second World War, both in the deserts of the Middle East and the dense jungle-clad ridges and mangrove swamps of the Arakan in Burma. immediately after the Japanese surrender we were engaged in highly unpopular counter-insurgency operations in Sumatra, aimed at restoring Dutch rule there.
After independence, I returned to India from a gunnery staff course of instruction in England to the Artillery school in Deolali. The British were leaving and as the only other senior Indian officer there I had to take over the school from the British and also to divide the assets of the school between India and Pakistan.
This was followed by a period of peace-time soldiering.
In 1969, I was ordered to conduct operations to drive the Naxalites out of West Bengal. This was followed by counter-insurgency operations in the North-East (NE) leading to the signing of the Shillong Accord in 1975. The operations conducted in Mizoram influenced their leaders to come to Calcutta for the Calcutta Conference to discuss the modalities of peace.
The campaign in December 1971, in East Pakistan, led to the unconditional public surrender of 93,000 troops of the Pakistan Eastern Command, the only public surrender in history. To quote the Pakistan National Defence College study of the war:
The Indians planned and executed their offensive in a textbook manner. It was a classic example of through planning, minute coordination and bold execution. The credit clearly goes to General Jacob's meticulous preparations in the Indian Eastern command and to the implementation by his corps commanders.
Niazi had proposed a ceasefire and a hand-over of the government to the United Nations (UN) with guarantees of no reprisals etc. There was no mention of India. The ceasefire proposed by Niazi was rejected outright by Bhutto who vowed to fight on. The end result was an unconditional public surrender, the only one in history. The Hamood ur Rehman Commission of Enquiry asked Gen. Niazi: 'Gen. Niazi, when you had 26,400 troops in Dacca and the Indians a few thousand outside and you could have fought on for at least two more weeks. The UN was in session [Polish resolution] and had you fought on for even one more day the Indians would have had to go back: why did you accept a shameful unconditional public surrender and provide a guard of honour commanded by your ADC?' Niazi replied that he was compelled to do so by Gen. Jacob who blackmailed him into surrendering. This he has repeated in his book Betrayal of East Pakistan. After the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani troops, India emerged as a regional superpower. I have often wondered, what would have happened had I failed to convert the proposed ceasefire under the auspices of the UN into an unconditional surrender? We would have had to return the very next day.
In my book Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation (1997), I had given an objective account of the operations in East Pakistan in 1971. The book has been translated into Chinese, Thai, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Bengali. I had given copies both to Field Marshal Manekshaw and Lt Gen. Jagjit Aurora in 1997.There were no rejoinders from them. The book is studied in many military institutions abroad and also some universities.
The waging of war is a complex business involving almost all sections of the population. The conduct and progress of military operations is far from smooth and never wholly predictable. The successful conduct of operations depends upon imaginative planning, flexibility, and the ability to react rapidly. It is imperative that one is not overtaken by events. Mobility and manoeuvre are essential ingredients.
Military operations require proper infrastructural and logistical backing. The establishment of the infrastructure and building up the logistics were factors crucial to our successful operations in 1971. Once operations commenced, our troops did not have to look back. Everything was in place.
Politics, like war, is a complex business. My tenure as governor in Goa was very eventful. Politics in Goa is something like musical chairs. Legislators frequently switch loyalties. In the period of around six months when I was there I saw four governments. This was followed by a spell of four months of President's rule and the installation of an elected government.
My tour of duty in Punjab was less tempestuous. Most of my energies were devoted to administering the city of Chandigarh.
Today, the Naxalite insurgency is escalating. The police and paramilitary are unable to handle it. A pragmatic Mrs Indira Gandhi knew what to do. She ordered the army in 1969 to drive them out of West Bengal. Unfortunately the government, due to pressures from the states concerned, is hesitant to use the armed forces. However, some recent acts of violence which have claimed many lives, including those of civilians, has forced the government to think afresh, and in all likelihood the armed forces are likely to be involved in anti-naxal operations in some manner in the near future.
The Naxals are said to be getting money and weapons from China and are linking up with the Marxists in Nepal. The Naxal insurgency is escalating and may soon get out of control.
Pakistan is continuing its efforts to destabilize our country. Their terrorist activities in India are on the increase. 26/11 will almost certainly be followed by other terrorist acts. infiltration and terrorist acts in Jammu & Kashmir are also vehicles used by Pakistan to destabilize India and to drain our resources. Pakistan views India to be its paramount threat. Both Pakistan and China are colluding to destabilize India.
China too is stepping up its propaganda and increasing its activities in the border regions. The infrastructure in Tibet is being built up with the construction of roads, railway lines and airfields. China can, within weeks, deploy up to 30 divisions in Tibet.
We do not have sufficient divisions in the NE and Ladakh. Our divisions there lack adequate firepower and mobility. Our air force needs to deploy many more squadrons. The infrastructure in the NE needs to be upgraded. We are also committed to defending Bhutan. The government had agreed to raise two more mountain divisions. At least four more divisions are required for the defence of Ladakh, the NE and Bhutan. The building up of the infrastructure and the raising of divisions should be accelerated. In addition, our military also needs an induction of modern weapon systems.
Meanwhile, the Chinese dragon continues to breathe fire, reminding us of what happened in 1962. Government must not blink: they must stand firm and not buckle under their threats.
In sum, we are surrounded by