The Man who said to Pakistani General to treat his son like any
other POW (Prisoner of War).
If the Indian Army is not involved politically in any matter, and
Govt. of India is not worried about the coup (Army takeover) it is because of
one man. The man who sat the Ethical Standards so high for the soldiers of
Indian Army that a soldier made up himself to sacrifice his life for saving the
life of his countrymen. The
Swordsmanship of Field Marshal Cariappa can not be defined in just few articles
still i will try to light. Ladies
& Gentlemen please feel the Proud within you are getting introduced to
Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa
After gaining Independence a meeting was organized to select the
first General of the Indian Army. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru chaired that
meeting. Leaders and Army officers were discussing to whom this
responsibility should be given.
In between the discussion Nehru said, “I think we should appoint a
British officer as a General of Indian Army as we don’t have enough
experience to lead the same.”
Everybody supported Nehru because if the PM was suggesting
something, how can they not agree?
But one of the army officers abruptly said, “I have a point,
sir.”
Nehru said, “Yes, gentleman. You are free to speak.”
He said, “You see, sir, we don’t have enough experience to lead a
nation too, so shouldn’t we appoint a British person as first PM of
India?”
The meeting hall suddenly went quiet.
Then, Nehru said, “Are you ready to be the first General of Indian
Army?”
He got a golden chance to accept the offer but he refused the same
and said, “Sir, we have a very talented army officer, my senior, Lt Gen
Cariappa, who is the most deserving among us.”
The army officer who raised his voice against the PM was Lt
General Nathu Singh Rathore, the 1st Lt General of the Indian Army.
On being appointed as the first Commander-in-Chief of an
independent Indian Army on 15 January 1949, Gen. Cariappa was instrumental in
the integration of troops and turning an imperial army into a national
army.
During the 1965 and 1971 wars, he visited the front lines to talk
to the troops and keep their morale up.
Apart from being a military man, Cariappa had insight about the
status of the country. He is quoted as saying, “In modern warfare, a large army
is not sufficient, it needs industrial potential behind it. If the army is the
first line of defense, the industry is the second.” Cariappa had even said that
“soldiers know the facility of wars to solve the internal problems. We ought to
be ashamed that today they had more peace in war than peace in peace.” Such
insight has placed him above many in this field. “Army is there to serve the
Government of the day, and we should make sure that it does not get mixed up
with party politics. A soldier is above politics and should not believe in
caste or creed,” was another insight of this soldier.
He lived and remained, as he said, “an Indian and to the last
breath would remain an Indian. To me there is only two Stans - Hindustan
(India) and Foujistan (the Army).”
During the 1965 war, when his son, an Indian Air Force pilot, flew
an aircraft. The plane was shot down by Pakistan. He was captured and
imprisoned as a Prisoner of War (POW).
When Ayub Khan learned about this, he informed Cariappa he would
not be kept in a POW Camp like other Indian POWs, since they had worked
together before independence. But Cariappa politely declined the offer,
saying every soldier in the Indian Army was his son, so he could not
request special privileges for only one.
Field Marshall K M Cariappa was popularly known as ‘kipper’ among
his colleagues.
As a token of gratitude of the nation for the exemplary service
rendered by him, the Government of India conferred Cariappa with the rank
of Field Marshal in 1983; till date there are only
two appointments that is made by the government of India to the rank of Field
Marshal and Kipper was one among them.
Field marshal(5 stars) is the highest military rank in Army. Field
marshal would be the senior most officer in the army and is permitted to wear
the uniform till death.
On 15th May 1993, Field Marshal K M Cariappa died in Bangalore,
when he was 94. Let us all salute this great Indian Soldier, a national
hero and a warrior.
Abhishek Tiwari
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