Heir of the victory- India or Pakistan?
They say winners write history but in case of 1965 Indo-Pak war, even after 50 years, the fight for the war trophy is still on. Our history textbooks in schools glorified the stories of Indian army’s heroics in the war and it came as a rude shock to me when I heard it for the first time that Pakistan believes that the honors of the war went to them!
To understand the standoff between the two countries regarding this war, one needs to time travel 50 years back and analyze the scenario in the sub-continent. It was a time when India was sandwiched between East and West Pakistan. We had a volatile neighbor, China with whom we had fought a war in 1962 and had lost miserably. Our military equipments were of colonial times.
We had no aids from either of the power blocks because of our non-aligned policy. On ground, our tanks were outdated, our fighter planes were unequipped to fight after dark and on sea, 75% of our navy assets were under maintenance. India’s military setup was going through the process of makeover after its poor performance in Indo-China war.
Pakistan on the other hand saw this as the last and final opportunity to wrest control over Kashmir from India. It was a part of American-led NATO group, had superior American tanks, better air force and also had a navy capable of submarine warfare which was then unknown to India. Also it had an ally in China, which demanded constant Indian attention at its borders even without having to fire a single bullet across the line of control. In short, it was now or never time for Pakistan.
It was up to the Pakistanis to decide the mode of attack, time of attack and the place of attack. The attack eventually came in the Kashmir front. Though a tactical masterpiece in terms of audacity and stealth, what Pakistan gained in the earlier part of the war was lost because of poor judgment and over confidence in the later stages. Assumption that the assault would revoke an immediate upsurge in Kashmir valley in support of Pakistan was the biggest miscalculation from Pakistan’s side. Instead of revolting, the people from valley gave invaluable intelligence at ground level against Pakistan intruders and also in some cases beat up the Pakistani soldiers before handing over them to the authorities.
Indian army coming under severe onslaught in the Kashmir front, opened up another war front further south in Rajasthan and Punjab. This was a masterstroke from India which forced the Pakistani army to dilute the attack on the Kashmir’s front. Lack of war preparations from Indian armed forces were evident as they made many miscalculations but eventually forced their way to the outskirts of Lahore. The famous photo of Lt. Col Hari Singh posing outside a Pakistani police station in Lahore province is the testimony to the fact that Indian army reached deep into Pakistani territory.
India conceded some 540 square Km of its territory(mostly barren deserts in Rajasthan) and captured more than 1,800 square Km of Pakistani territory. Pakistan Airforce proved superior but Indian air force held its own and avoided gifting air dominance in platter to Pakistanis. Navy of both the country didn’t play any major role in the war.
A long-suppressed document reveals about the heights of miscalculations from Indian side. It is believed that amidst international pressure to stop the war, prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri asked the army officials if there was anyway India could win the war if he delayed accepting the ceasefire. He was briefed that most of India’s frontline ammunition were used up and Indians had suffered major casualties. This forced the Prime minister to accept the ceasefire when the fact was that Indians had used up only 14% of the supplies and Pakistan had used up its 80%. It is now believed that if the war had continued, the Pakistani forces would not have held up for long. What followed was Tashkent agreement and the historians terming this war as a stalemate as none was able to establish superiority over the other.
Answer to the question as to who won the war lies in analyzing the motives and objectives during the war. Pakistan being the aggressor, failed in its objective to capture Kashmir. Its literal myth that Hindus will not be able to sustain fight against them and failure of its intelligence to expect India opening up war front further south in Punjab and Rajasthan proved to be its downfall. India on other hand, being tied up with many limitations, had modest objective of repulsing the aggressor. It achieved that with minimum fuzz and in the process also won a larger land area than Pakistan. This proved to be crucial in post-war negotiations.
In my understanding, there can be no doubt about India winning the war of 1965. Celebration of 50th year of victory that culminated 22nd September, on the Rajpath road is after all the celebration of victory against all odds.
They say winners write history but in case of 1965 Indo-Pak war, even after 50 years, the fight for the war trophy is still on. Our history textbooks in schools glorified the stories of Indian army’s heroics in the war and it came as a rude shock to me when I heard it for the first time that...
They say winners write history but in case of 1965 Indo-Pak war, even after 50 years, the fight for the war trophy is still on. Our history textbooks in schools glorified the stories of Indian army’s heroics in the war and it came as a rude shock to me when I heard it for the first time that Pakistan believes that the honors of the war went to them!
To understand the standoff between the two countries regarding this war, one needs to time travel 50 years back and analyze the scenario in the sub-continent. It was a time when India was sandwiched between East and West Pakistan. We had a volatile neighbor, China with whom we had fought a war in 1962 and had lost miserably. Our military equipments were of colonial times.
We had no aids from either of the power blocks because of our non-aligned policy. On ground, our tanks were outdated, our fighter planes were unequipped to fight after dark and on sea, 75% of our navy assets were under maintenance. India’s military setup was going through the process of makeover after its poor performance in Indo-China war.
Pakistan on the other hand saw this as the last and final opportunity to wrest control over Kashmir from India. It was a part of American-led NATO group, had superior American tanks, better air force and also had a navy capable of submarine warfare which was then unknown to India. Also it had an ally in China, which demanded constant Indian attention at its borders even without having to fire a single bullet across the line of control. In short, it was now or never time for Pakistan.
It was up to the Pakistanis to decide the mode of attack, time of attack and the place of attack. The attack eventually came in the Kashmir front. Though a tactical masterpiece in terms of audacity and stealth, what Pakistan gained in the earlier part of the war was lost because of poor judgment and over confidence in the later stages. Assumption that the assault would revoke an immediate upsurge in Kashmir valley in support of Pakistan was the biggest miscalculation from Pakistan’s side. Instead of revolting, the people from valley gave invaluable intelligence at ground level against Pakistan intruders and also in some cases beat up the Pakistani soldiers before handing over them to the authorities.
Indian army coming under severe onslaught in the Kashmir front, opened up another war front further south in Rajasthan and Punjab. This was a masterstroke from India which forced the Pakistani army to dilute the attack on the Kashmir’s front. Lack of war preparations from Indian armed forces were evident as they made many miscalculations but eventually forced their way to the outskirts of Lahore. The famous photo of Lt. Col Hari Singh posing outside a Pakistani police station in Lahore province is the testimony to the fact that Indian army reached deep into Pakistani territory.
India conceded some 540 square Km of its territory(mostly barren deserts in Rajasthan) and captured more than 1,800 square Km of Pakistani territory. Pakistan Airforce proved superior but Indian air force held its own and avoided gifting air dominance in platter to Pakistanis. Navy of both the country didn’t play any major role in the war.
A long-suppressed document reveals about the heights of miscalculations from Indian side. It is believed that amidst international pressure to stop the war, prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri asked the army officials if there was anyway India could win the war if he delayed accepting the ceasefire. He was briefed that most of India’s frontline ammunition were used up and Indians had suffered major casualties. This forced the Prime minister to accept the ceasefire when the fact was that Indians had used up only 14% of the supplies and Pakistan had used up its 80%. It is now believed that if the war had continued, the Pakistani forces would not have held up for long. What followed was Tashkent agreement and the historians terming this war as a stalemate as none was able to establish superiority over the other.
Answer to the question as to who won the war lies in analyzing the motives and objectives during the war. Pakistan being the aggressor, failed in its objective to capture Kashmir. Its literal myth that Hindus will not be able to sustain fight against them and failure of its intelligence to expect India opening up war front further south in Punjab and Rajasthan proved to be its downfall. India on other hand, being tied up with many limitations, had modest objective of repulsing the aggressor. It achieved that with minimum fuzz and in the process also won a larger land area than Pakistan. This proved to be crucial in post-war negotiations.
In my understanding, there can be no doubt about India winning the war of 1965. Celebration of 50th year of victory that culminated 22nd September, on the Rajpath road is after all the celebration of victory against all odds.
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