Army ad errs on 1965 war history, makes amends

In the focus on celebrating the 50th anniversary of 1965 war, historical accuracy has been a casualty

The Indian government has planned a month long celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of “victory” in the 1965 war with Pakistan. Experts contest  this declaration of “victory” as it goes against the official government history of the 1965 war which termed it as having ended in a stalemate. 

Nevertheless, it remains an important occasion for us as a nation, to look back and draw lessons from that war. The government has planned a large celebration complete with a mini-Republic Day like parade at Rajpath in New Delhi. There have been full-page advertisements issued by the DAVP on behalf of the Indian armed forces in newspapers in the build-up to these celebrations that begin on 28 August. The advertisements themselves (in both Hindi & English) have attracted attention with their poor drafting. The Hindi advertisement came in for some sarcastic treatment on the Pakistani social media and were written about in Indian newspapers when they suggested that Pakistan had actually won in one of the battles near Lahore on 6 September, 1965.

What escaped attention however are the English advertisements which appeared on 20 August this year. They mentioned the battle on 6 September 1965 involving the 15th Infantry Division near the west bank of the Ichhogil canal and credits the Indian army’s division with victory. This was an embarrassing mistake that has escaped attention so far. The 15th Infantry Division was led by Major General Niranjan Prasad and suffered reversals in the battle mentioned in the advertisement. Major General Prasad’s abandoned Willys Jeep was captured by the Pakistan Army and is now on display at the Quarter guard of 18th Baluch regiment (now 3 Sind). The jeep also contained his personal file which contained representations against his removal from command in the 1962 war with China. As per official war history, details from this file were later broadcast from Pakistan Radio to the embarrassment of the Indian armed forces. Major General Prasad was later sacked for his failure. The incident finds mention in both the Diary of the then Defence Minister, YB Chavan (RD Pradhan) and the official history of the 1965 war.

Not surprisingly the Indian Army realised its error later and the amended English advertisement that appeared on 23 August 2015 did not contain any references to the 15th Infantry Division. It still demands attention to how such a basic mistake could be made by the Army. Perhaps it is a reflection on how little attention is paid by our institutions to their own history and major events.

 

According to noted historian, Srinath Raghavan, “this seems to reflect the fact that while the services are keen to celebrate the war, their own understanding of it is deficient. Instead of making a serious attempt to come to terms with the war as history, they seem to be tripping themselves up on trivialities.”

This begs the question about our learning and understanding of the 1965 war. Perhaps it would have been prudent to ensure that on the 50th anniversary of this war, at least our armed forces would internalize those important lessons rather than trying to manufacture publicity events around newly discovered “victories”. Twitter: @bhayankur