hi all
On this day 50 years back (20th October 1962), Chinese launched simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line. At that time, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister and Mr V K Krishna Menon was the Defense Minister. The war ended when the Chinese declared a ceasefire on 21st November 1962. The border dispute continues till now.
India has not fared well in this war. While China was fighting with 80,000 soldiers, India was fighting only with around 12,000 soldiers. At the end of the war, China occupied around 50,000 Sq.KM of Indian territory and the dispute is still not resolved. Kailash and Mansarovar which were once part of India after Independence are now in the possession of China.
India lost around 1600 soldiers. Nearly 1400 soldiers were wounded. Around 1700 soldiers were missing. 4000 soldiers were captured by China as ;Prisoners of War' and later released.
Many reasons are attributed to the failure of India in the war. Though Pandit Nehru was the PM, the political leadership and planning for Defence preparedness were reported to be lacking. Many army officers, who were part of Indian army then allege that Indian Army was not equipped with enough weapons and jawans. Though Indian army had enough war experience during the world war, they were made to fail, due to poor planning and leadership by the political system. In fact, during that time, the Government reported to have reduced the strength from 2.80 lakhs to 1.50 lakhs.
1962 war has taught us many lessons. Some of the Commission reports on the failure of India are not made public even after 50 years, for the reason that it may embarrass many of the leaders who were in the Government then.
In the October 2012 issue of our ezine PreSense, we will be featuring this 1962 war with more details and rare pictures. The ezine will be released on 1st November 2012.
Let us pay respect and homage to the Jawans who lost their lives in the 1962 war to secure the Indian borders.
Srinivasan
Prime Point
9176650273
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