Indian government has ordered its armed forces to organise a “carnival” to mark 50 years of a war with Pakistan of 1965 and also set to re-ignite a debate on whether India lost on the negotiating table what it won on the battlefield.
It is a bizarre tactic of the Indian govt, trying to hide the humiliating facts of defeats in the 1965 war. It is a fact that both countries claim to come out as the victorious of the war, but here are few excerpts from some leading newspapers and books which would give a true picture of the war.
The entire world was stunned over the success attained by Pakistan as a nation. London Daily Times wrote “India is being soundly beaten by a nation which is outnumbered by four and a half to one in population and three to one in size of armed forces”.
R.D Pradhan who was an insider in the war writes in his book ‘1965 War: The inside Story’ described the cowardice of Maj Gen Niranjan Prasad, the Indian General who attacked Lahore. ‘When Pakistan defence forces counter attacked the intruding Indian military and the General fired upon on 6 September, he ran away. He was found by Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh hiding in a sugar cane field.’ Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh, Commander Western Command notes in his book War Despatches that Indian COAS Gen Chowdhri was so nervous as to be on the verge of losing half of Punjab to Pakistan, including the city of Amritsar. USA Aviation Week December 1968 Issue commented: “For the PAF, the 1965 war was as climatic as the Israeli victory over the Arabs in 1967. A further similarity was that India air power had 5:1 numerical superiority at the start of the conflict. In spite of hiding the facts of losing 1965 war, India should behave sensibly and should come on table for talks to resolve bilateral issues.
Pakistan’s military victory over India in the war of 1965 was acknowledged from all pertinent quarters including independent international observers.
