It's been more than six decades since the Chinese attacked India. The unexpected attack took the country by surprise, and an ill-equipped Army was no match.
Things could have perhaps been different had the warnings of one man been heeded too; that man was the late Lieutenant General SPP Thorat. Three years before the war, he had warned that China would attack India and had even drawn up a plan on how the Indian Army could respond to it.
However, dubbed as a warmonger, his warnings were never heeded to; then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru-led government and defence minister V.K. Krishna Menon focused on the forward policy (strategic initiative to establish advanced military outposts in disputed border areas). Ultimately, India paid the price at the time.
How things unfolded at the time form one of the chapters of General Thorat's autobiography - 'From Reveille to Retreat'. The book first published in 1985 has been reprinted once again and was released on Wednesday with Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command; Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Command; several other senior officers in attendance along with Lt Gen Thorat's son Yashwant (retired as the chairman of NABARD) and daughter-in-law Usha (former RBI deputy governor).
The Chief of Defence Staff, Anil Chauhan, couldn't make it, but sent a video message, praising Lt Gen Thorat as one of India's most remarkable soldiers and leaders. "Lt Gen Thorat's book is a wholesome account of a soldier's career, capturing both the routine and the extraordinary," he noted.
The book's many chapters throw light on Lt Gen Thorat's early years, getting trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in the UK, his various postings under British Generals pre-independence, his heroics thwarting the Japanese attack in the Battle of Kangaw in Burma in 1945, that won him the Distinguished Service Order and the Ashok Chakra (now called Kirti Chakra), in Korea, where he headed the Indian Custodian Force and single-handedly resolved a strike by the Prisoners of War.
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"His journey from Reveille to Retreat is a reminder that the life of a soldier is not measured only in man's thought, but in the wisdom he leaves behind for future generations," noted Chauhan.
Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen Seth noted that Thorat's life teaches us the importance of "foresight and fortitude", not only in moments of crisis, but in the decisions that shape the destiny of the organisation.
"We are not only celebrating the life of one man, but honouring the legacy that continues to speak to us with relevance through his memoirs that articulate a clear philosophy of leadership based on enduring principles," he said.
