" On the dawn of 20th November 1962, the nation appeared to be on peril. The mighty Himalayas that were considered impenetrable were no longer so. And what looked like China's victorious march into India had begun."
The soldiers, sons of the soil, stood with rifles, ready for what would be their final assault. Lt. Col. R I S Kahlon recalls that by the time he was sent to the borders, the soldiers were living on a prayer. And, in what he calls the rustic language of the battalion, he told a soldier, "Kyun bhai aise ladkiyon ki tarah kyun letta hua hai?" ( Why do you lie down like a woman, soldier?) And the soldier got himself of the ground and picked up his gun and replied saying, " Sahib apne marwana he hai na..." ( Sir, you wish for me to die na?) ...And charged at the Chinese..Slowly, they all got up, saw their mission again, and charged forward.
The ratio of the strength of the armies was something around 800 Indian Jamaica against 20,000 Chinese soldiers.
...The gates had been opened and now India was exposed. The soldiers still charged on with never more than a few grains each, no ammunition and in freezing temperatures. Death seemed inevitable. They had to follow the sun to Bhutan, and so they went up when they had to and down when they had to... They cudn't afford to take diversions.
In a book called the Himalayan Blunder, J.P.Dalvi talks about a soldier on one the pages, who was asked to file a report. The soldier wrote the report on a Chapati... And I quote him when he says, " I regret the unorthodox choice of stationary, but atta (wheat) is the only material I have for feeding, fighting and futile correspondence."
China's major territorial claims involve two widely separated areas. The largest claim totals 32,500 square miles in India's Northeast Frontier Agency. The other disputed area lies 900 miles to the north-west in the Ladakh region of Kashmir. Who'd think that the beautiful mountains for Ladhak, were once covered with blood? At present they are difficult to protect... Back then.. It was impossible..
Issues like: the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile in India; China's non-recognition of Sikkim's merger with India; the nuclear tests in 1998 by India; the Mc Mahon line; and India's allegation that China is arming Pakistan, including the latter's nuclear program... Were and still remain unresolved.
Major Dhan Singh Thapa, A.S. Pathina and Joginder Sigh are some of the few people honored with the Param Veer Chakra and the Mahavir Chakra for their bravery during this war.... Their eyes fill with tears as they recall this as the most brutal of wars of the careers... They dedicate these medals to their fearless jawans... You can feel their pride... And it's overwhelming.. As are the tales they have to tell..
The world and the nation pointed fingers towards Nehru, Krishna Menon and Lt Gen V.M. Kaul. After 4 decades of war... The Chinese decided to treat, claiming that they couldn't stretch their communication channels any more. India lost the 1962 war but the Indian jawans hadn't failed their country.
Lt Kahlon says, until you've sung songs with the jawans around a campfire, fought by their side, hurt with them, and rejoiced victory with them.. You can't love them and know what drives them to give up their lives... And I say... Their names liveth for evermore..
First of all, you can't use "Episode I" on your blog, because that's called plagiarism. I know I took it from Star Wars, but I did it first on my blog and now you're just being a copycat.
Secondly, I don't really get the point of this post. Are you honouring the jawans? Call it great jawans, then, not Great Battles. There is nothing great about Battles or War.
Kaushik
im calling it episode 1... 'cuz im gnna write abt the other wars fought too...
And there's something called transferred epithet, if you've heard of it.. the battles or the wars aren't being called great.. they cann never be, at least not by a human.. the soldiers.. are being called great..!
Sorry PK, but I can't sit through this kind of stuff.
And Kaushik, it was my idea to bug with all the hindi. Don't throw it out on PK da....
sheesh dhruva.. thanx for trying to read it!!
..and it's not even only history ..!
Fine whatever. I didn't enjoy this post too much.
Kaushik
thank you. u didn't enjoy the other posts either.
Eh don't think that I am simply saying something and all. I enjoyed your other posts. They had lost of scope for debate. Just because I probably disagreed with some of your views doesn't mean that I didn't find the posts interesting. If I didn't enjoy any of the posts, I wouldn't be one of the most frequent visitors to this blog.
..i guess. im just in a weird mood... anyway.. thank you.
Hey That's great at least some one is writing about Himalayan Blunder.I liked the book very much.I read it thrice. Two time from kannada version written by Ravi Belgere and english version(original) by Br.J.P.Dalavi.
Keep Posting it.
Thank you preetika....