Ashok Ogra
” A victorious army first wins and then seeks a battle; a defeated army first battles and then seeks victory.” Sun Tzu.
Every year on September 6, huge celebrations are held across Pakistan to mark the victory of its defense forces during 1965 war against India! What an irony to celebrate this day as a Victory Day (Youm e-Difa) knowing fully well that Pakistan military establishment had to make a hasty retreat from continuing with the war.
But, then Pakistan is known for projecting wrong facts about its history. The claim to victory against India in the 1965 war is one such blatant lie that Pakistani citizens are told through history books and ‘victory parades’ being held on this day. There can be no bigger lie than this.
The origin to the1965 war adventure launched by Pakistan in Jammu & Kashmir can be traced to some of the following factors:
* Pakistan’s continued insistence on holding plebiscite in J&K according to the UN resolution.
* Pakistan saw India as a ‘weak nation’ in the wake of 1962 Indo-China war, and Field Marshal Ayub Khan did not think very highly of our Prime Minister Lal Bhadur Shastri. (‘Bhadur’ in Shastri Ji was to surprise not just Pakistan Army but the entire Indian nation during the1965 war!).
* The morale of the Indian army post 1962 Indo-China war was at its lowest. The ‘weak’ India and the widely held belief in Pakistan Army that as a general rule ‘Hindu would not stand more than a couple of hard blows at the right time and right place.’
* Beginning 1960, the US aid to India – both military and economic – showed a sharp increase. This perturbed Pakistan administration as it perceived it posing a direct threat to Pakistan.
Ayub Khan wrote a letter to President Kennedy in November,1961 voicing his concern to the growing Indo-American military tie-up:”I understand that Mr. Nehru proposes to ask for military aid from the United States during his forthcoming talks with you. You will undoubtedly recall our earlier discussions on this subject. You were good enough to assure me that at no time had your Government any intention of giving military aid to India….”
Pakistan military establishment was determined to stunt India’s growing military prowess.
* The disappearance the holy relic from Hazratbal shrine in 1963 (recovered later) that led to massive protests in the valley. This denuded Pakistan policy makers to believe that Kashmir was ready for a mass uprising.
* Ayub Khan was to face Ms.Fathima Jinnah in the ensuing election in 1965. Her rallies drew large crowds, unnerving Ayub who made personal attacks on her referring to the ‘unnatural’ state of her relationship with Jinnah (Shuja Nawaz in ‘Crossed Swords’).
(Miss Jinnah was a spinster who lived in her brother’s home most of her life)
Thus, sometime in early 1965, Ayub Khan ordered General Headquarters to prepare a plan for two stage offensive. General Akhtar Hussain Malik was designated to prepare the plans and to train the personnel that will infiltrate into Kashmir.
Surprisingly, or perhaps typical of the Pakistan army, the Chiefs of both the Air Force and the Navy were kept out of the loop for fear of a leak. The green signal to launch the offensive was given by end July, and in the first week of August covert groups began to infiltrate across the ceasefire line.
Pakistan started the war by pushing its army personnel as guerrillas in J&K state under the Operation Gibraltar and then a full-fledged attack, Grand Slam, was launched later in Chhamb sector.
During the war, Ayub Khan managed to generate unprecedented nationalistic fervor. He roped in Noor Jehan to sing a paean to Pakistani soldiers:
Ai Watan Ke Sajeelay Jawano Mere Naghme Tumhare Liye Hain
(O splendid soldiers of my land, My Songs are for you).
Ayub’s media advisors knew that the power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense
Much to Pakistan’s surprise, Kashmiri Muslim herdsmen gave the first information about infiltration to the Indian Army. The plot had been lost even before it began to achieve any strategic gains for the enemy forces.
One Muslim soldier did not prove to be the equivalent of ten Hindu soldiers, as Pakistani officers had been feeding their men since 1947.
A couple of days before the eventual end of the war, Ayub and Bhutto made a secret dash to Beijing to seek their support. The Prime Minister Chou En Lai assured the Pakistani delegation that they would keep the pressure on India but ”you must keep fighting even if you have to withdraw to the hills”. Prolonging war – as suggested by Chou En Lai – was a foreign concept to Ayub, and he realized that Chinese PM was being non-committal. However, to keep the Pakistanis in good humour the Chinese army did make some moves along India’s North East border but of no great significance.
Bowing to international pressure, the war ended on 19 September.
According to M.J.Akbar in ‘Tinderbox: The Past & Future of Pakistan’: “India had occupied 740 square miles against 210 square miles gained by Pakistan.”The Pakistan army, however, contests these claims. Be that as it may, the point is that Pakistan started the war without achieving anything in the end.
When I ask my esteemed friend Air Marshal (retd.) Denzil Keeler of ‘Sabre Killer’ fame, how he views the 1965 war, he says that the task for Indian armed forces was to defend our country and we did that commendably well. Pakistan started the war and they failed to score victory and had to settle for a forced ‘cease fire.’
Adarsh Azad, noted broadcaster, who was present during the lunch I had organised last year to honour Air Marshal (Retd) Denzil Keeler, beautifully summed up our interaction with the ‘hero’ of 1965 war on his FB post :”Retired Air Marshal of the IAF Denzil Keeler is no ordinary man. He is the elder of the famous Keeler brothers of the Indian Air Force who were called “Sabre Killers”. Both Denzil and Trevor were fighter pilots, both were air aces, both downed a Sabre each and both earned the Vir Chakra…..He was the pilot who opened the score of the IAF not only in the war, but since 1947 itself. The Sabre he brought down was the first ever kill of the IAF. Pictures of the hit taken from the camera fixed in his Gnat were the headline in every newspaper.”
Yet the untruth being perpetrated by Pakistan is that the Pak army exhibited rare acts of valour and defeated the Indian Forces on all fronts to attain victory in this war. Pakistan was (and is still) able to perpetuate this falsity amongst its people through its media and through biased writing of its history. In a country where a mere hint of criticism of the military performance is a taboo, such a story is easy to sell.
If indeed it was the case that Pakistan scored a victory against Indian forces, then why did the all-powerful Field Marshal Ayub Khan receive such a terrible reception in Pakistan on his return from Tashkent. He came back tired and depressed and was totally ‘disenchanted’ with Bhutto’s reckless adventurism, and grieved at Pakistan losses. He was now open to an honourable exit.
It is worth quoting late C.P. Srivastava, biographer of Lal Bhadur Shastri & his Secretary, who was present during the parleys that took place between Shahtri and Ayub Tashkent in Jan.1966 to end the deadlock:
Ayub said to Shastri: “Kashmir ke mamle men kuch aisa kar deejiye ki main bhi apne mulk men muh dekhane ke qabil rahoon (On the matter of Kashmir, please do something that would allow me to save face in my country).
Shastri responded: “Sardar Sahib, main bahut muafi chata hoon ki is mamle mein apke khidmat nehin kar sakta” (Mr. President, I beg forgiveness that on this issue I cannot be of any service to you).
What an irony, it was the same Ayub Khan who thought poorly of Shastri Ji and described him as a ‘weak’ Prime Minister.
It is interesting to note that the Pakistani delegation to Tashkent fought amongst themselves. Bhutto was driven by passion and anger, whereas President Ayub wanted an honourable settlement. Shastri seemed to have
discerned the internal feuds within the Pakistan establishment and preferred dealing with Ayub one to one to keep the recalcitrant Bhutto out of the parleys.
It is interesting that Ayub’s speech to the Pakistani nation accepting the ceasefire produced a new coinage in Urdu for the term ceasefire.
“Rather than the normal ‘Jang Bandi’ or cessation of war, a new phrase was invented for him and inserted into his speech by Altaf Gauhar (who credits this coinage to the legendary broadcaster Zulfiqar Ali Bokhari of Radio Pakistan). This was ‘Fire Bandi’, a pidgin Urdu term which meant to convey that only the firing has stopped but the ‘war’ continued” (‘Crossed Swords’ By Shuja Nawaz ).
Ayub Khan downfall began soon after. Massive demonstrations took place across Pakistan against his Government with wily Z.A. Bhutto (who as Foreign Minister was one of the key actors that prompted Ayub Khan to launch the Operation Gibraltar), exploiting the growing resentment to project himself as a leader of the masses and a true nationalist. He accused Ayub of having arrived at a ‘secret deal’ with the Indian Prime Minister, and of total sell out.
Meanwhile, the military establishment decided to act and removed its own head Ayub Khan under ‘Guardian Coup’, and replaced him with General Yahya, the Army Chief, sometime in March 1969. Yahya Khan thought it more prudent to return to Islam to protect the Army’s shattered credibility: ‘the armed forces would henceforth also be guardians of Pakistan’s ideological frontiers, as defender of faith and geography.” Like a true general who engage in foolish ‘adventurism’, Gen Yahya (now Chief Marshal Law Administrator) launched ‘Operation Blitz’ that started the 1971 war, resulting in the creation of Bangladesh, and a permanent humiliation for President Yahya and leaving Pakistan army bruised.
It is this defeat at the hands of Indian troops that Pakistan army wants to avenge in Kashmir. Pakistan may have lost the will to wage another conventional war against India, but it has not lost the will for Kashmir.
“The ‘liberation’ of Kashmiri Muslims from “Hindu tyranny’ is a religious duty as much as a national cause” (‘Tinderbox…’ by M.J.Akbar).This duty is also reflected in the motto of the Pakistan Army :”Iman,Taqwa, Jihadl fi Sabilillah (“Faith, Piety & Fight in the path of God”). To ‘fight in the path of God’ takes precedence over everything else. Not surprisingly, being an Islamic Republic, the motto is not couched in political or civilizational framework but in ‘religious terminology’ transcending national boundaries.
What we are witnessing in Kashmir is in a sense the continuation of this DUTY – to ‘fight in the path of God’ – directed by Mullahs and dictated by fundamentalist groups with ISI support. Therefore, the question we need to ask is whether the resolution to Kashmir dispute is feasible without taking into cognizance the larger issue of Islamic fundamentalism that is sweeping the entire region.
(The author is a noted management & media professional, having served as Regional Director, Discovery Channel (South Asia) & is currently Director, Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi.)
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