"My job is to fight, fight to win." Sam Manekshaw recalls the days leading up to the 1971 Indo-Pak war and its aftermath...
: Parzor Foundation
: Parzor Foundation
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00:00A number of you will be joining as officers of the Indian Army, a great professional army.
00:14So Sam, tell me about the beginning of the Bangladesh war, the Mukti Bahini.
00:21Oh, Pakistan had really cracked down in a big way.
00:28The poor old Bengalis, what could they do against the Pathans and Punjabi Muslims and the army?
00:38So they started pouring in into India and Mrs Gandhi, in an awful temper,
00:48looked at me and read out messages from the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
00:53The thousands of refugees have poured in from the Chief Minister of Assam, the Chief Minister of Tripura.
01:01And she looked at me and said, what are you doing about it?
01:04Nothing, what's it got to do with me?
01:09She said, I want you to do something. I said, what do you want me to do?
01:14I want you to march into East Pakistan. I said, that means war.
01:21So she said, I don't mind if it's war.
01:25So I said, oh, have you read the Bible? God said, let there be light, and there was light.
01:31And you say, let there be war? Are you ready? I certainly am not.
01:38Then I said, this was about the 23rd of April.
01:44I said, you know, the Himalayan passes are opening.
01:48And if the Chinese give us an ultimatum, then I said,
01:53the monsoon will be breaking in a few days' time.
01:57And when it rains in that part of the world, it pours.
02:01Rivers become like oceans. If you stand on one bank, you can't see the other.
02:06The movement will be confined to roads.
02:10Because of climatic conditions, the Air Force will not be able to support me.
02:15And if I were to go in, I guarantee you a hundred percent defeat.
02:20I said to Mrs. Gandhi, will you now give me your orders?
02:27All right. Cabinet would meet again at four o'clock.
02:34Everybody started walking out, I being the junior one.
02:38A smile on my face as I was going out. She said, Chief, stay behind.
02:42I said, Prime Minister, before you open your mouth,
02:45shall I send in my resignation on grounds of health, mental or physical?
02:51I said, oh, sit down, Sam, tell me. Everything you told me is the truth.
02:56I said, yes, everything I've told you is the truth.
02:59I said, it's my job to fight, fight to win, not to lose.
03:04She smiled at me and said, all right, Sam, you let me know when you're ready.
03:13I went to Pakistan about two months after the conflict.
03:21And they really gave me a first class welcome.
03:26The governor, this was at Lahore, the governor invited me for lunch.
03:32Gave me a martini before lunch, wines at lunch.
03:37And during lunch, he said, General, will you do me a favor?
03:42So I said, if I can, Mr. Governor, I will.
03:45I thought he was going to ask me about some relation of it.
03:48He said, my staff is outside. They want to shake hands with you.
03:54And they were all lined up. About the 11th man took his pagdi off and put it at my feet.
04:00So I picked it up.
04:03They gave it to me.
04:05Why did you do this?
04:07He said, Huzoor, if it was you, we would have been saved.
04:11My five boys are your prisoners.
04:15And he turned around, the governor was with me.
04:40And I got into trouble in my own country.
04:50The bureaucrats and the ministers complained about me.
04:55My sons-in-law.
05:02They complained against me, cabinet meeting.
05:07At the meeting, Mr. Gandhi looked at me. I said, Prime Minister, there were soldiers.
05:12They fought. They fought extremely well.
05:15They lost.
05:18And I'm looking after the soldiers.
05:21I've forgotten all about the war and everything.
05:24Sam, what was your greatest achievement in the army?
05:28Do you know?
05:30From the rank of second lieutenant to field marshal,
05:34I have never punished a man.
05:38My adjutant general, when I was the chief and my judge advocate general used to get all wild.
05:46Court martial proceedings would come to me.
05:49If they said not guilty, I'd sign.
05:52If they said guilty and punished, I'd take the file home.
05:55I'd look at it. I'd say, no, I think witness number three has lied.
06:00And they'd say, how can we maintain discipline with you as army chief if you're not punishing?
06:07You damn chaps sit in Delhi with your wives and your children in lovely homes
06:12and you forget what those chaps are going through.