Why blame Indian Armed Forces for Chinese victory?

TJS George in his “India & China: Ready for the bad news”? (TNIE-26Nov), does a broad brush of history and states: ‘Generals disagreed among themselves. The Army disagreed with the Air Force. Cabinet colleagues disagreed with the Defence Minister who disagreed with the politicians. India’s backroom battles led to its frontline defeat. China remains conscious of this Indian weakness’.Quite easily done!!

History, however points otherwise! As early as 7th Nov 1950,Saradar Patel had warned Nehru about the danger from China consequent to its annexation of Tibet.Sardar Patel in strong and unequivocal terms advised Nehru to take a strong line against China’s unprovoked aggression in Tibet in October 1950.

He wrote to Nehru that ‘even though we regard ourselves as friends of China, the Chinese do not regard us as friends.‘Unfortunately for the Nation,the Sardar passed away on 15 DEC 1950.

The Indian Army was also in the know of the Chinese building the Aksai-Chin highway as early as 1955, through a British mountaineer, Wignall, who is the author of the book ‘Spy on the Roof of the World’. This was brought to the notice of Nehru and V.K Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister.Nothing happened.

As early as 1958, Gen.Thimayya, Chief of the Army Staff, had informed the Govt. of what would be required in men and material to contain the Chinese. He was dubbed pro-West by VKK Menon.The fact of the matter is that the China policy of the govt.then was that ‘there would be no war with China’.

Thus the duo of Nehru and VKK Menon sent the brave soldiers of the 4th Indian Division of ‘The Battle of Monte Casino’ fame, ill-equipped to the chilly heights of NEFA to do battle against a well equipped Chinese People’s Liberation Army- Whose fault? The GENERALS?

And yet, the very same Indian Army gave the Chinese a bloody nose at Nathu La,in 1972.Since then the guns have remained silent on the Eastern Sector-Why,George?

If only one were to read Dr Mankekar’s “The Guilty Men of 1962”,Claude Arpi’s “Born in Sin” and Brig. Dalvi’s “Himalayan Blunder”,the TRUTH strikes one hard.

Its now 44 years since the Chinese aggression. Why is it that the ‘Henderson Brookes Committee Report’ not been made public? Can George throw some light?