Prologue continues.......

Lal Bahadur Shastri, though physically short, rose to Himalayan heights

during the Indo–Pak war of 1965. He ordered the Indian Army to cross

the international border and enter Lahore in Pakistan in retaliation to the

fierce attack launched by Pakistan in certain areas in the western sector.

This created ripples in the world capitals. Shastri coined the famous slogan

‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ (hail the Indian soldier, hail the farmer), which almost

acquired the status of a mantra and appealed to the people to defend the

motherland whatever be the cost. The whole nation rose as one man and

stood behind Shastri.

At the end of the war, India had gained a decisive strategic advantage in terms of territory. However, India had to give up all the captured territories when a settlement was arrived at between India and Pakistan under the mediation of the Soviet Union in Tashkent. Military historians term it as a great strategic blunder committed by Shastri under pressure from Aleksey Kosygin, the Prime Minister of the former Soviet Union. Shastri died of a heart attack within hours of signing the peace agreement in Tashkent. Lal Bahadur Shastri was one of the cleanest political leaders in India. Personal integrity was his greatest asset. A man of unblemished character, Shastri had an iron will that he displayed at the time of the war with

Pakistan.

During the war when J.N. Chowdhary, the Chief of the ArmyStaff, reported some movement by the Chinese army on the northern border, a gesture in favour of Pakistan and to put pressure on India, Shastri told him, “Oh, then you can wear two feathers in your cap.”

Tashkent remains an enigma. No one knows what exactly happened

at the negotiating table. The unfortunate death of Shastri and the strong bond between India and the former Soviet Union effectively put a lid on the whole issue of India’s great loss on the peace table.

To be continued.....