‘Operation LEGHORN’ and the

Battle of the Namka Chu continues....

On the same day, in the words of the Defence Ministry’s ‘History of the Conflict with China, 1962’ :

To sort the matter out, a conference was held at Corps Headquarters in Tezpur on the morning on 17th October. V. K. Krishna Menon, B. N. Mullik, H. C. Sarin, Gen. P. N. Thapar, Maj. Gen. A.S. Guraya, I.G.A.R., Lt. Gen. Sen, and Lt. Gen. Kaul attended it. Maj. Gen. Guraya expressed his views in favour of withdrawal. Kaul also forcefully argued in favour of immediate withdrawal. Then, at the suggestion of Mullik, the three civilians withdrew from the meeting to allow the generals themselves to take a military decision without civilian interference. After two hours’ closed-door discussions, Gen. Thapar informed the Defence Minister that it was decided to hold the Namka Chu front and the Tsangle sector.

It seems fantastic that the Army Commander and the Army Chief,

after having heard at length the chief military proponent of the ‘Forward Policy’, Lt. Gen. Kaul himself, having changed his mind after having seen the realities on the ground, and being well aware that Lt.

Gen. Umrao Singh, Maj. Gen. Niranjan Prasad and Brigadier Dalvi had

all been against the ‘forward push’ from the start, should now continue to stick to it. What went on behind the closed doors is not known, but it is possible that one of two factors were behind that fateful decision:

. The two senior Generals did not have the moral courage to tell the Defence Minister, well-known for his unpleasant overbearing behaviour and his scorn for the intellectual capabilities of senior army officers, that they had changed their minds since the last meeting of 11th October.

To be continued...