Page 99 - Leadership in the Indian Army

seven miles away. By then the authorities in Lucknow had heard about the
crashlanding, and when the party reached the road, they found a neat row of
ambulances parked and ready to receive casualties. Waving his hand at

them, Thimayya said: ‘Sorry chaps, no luck today. Sorry to disappoint you.’
In January 1953, Thimayya was promoted Lieutenant General and posted
as GOC-in-C Western Command. At his suggestion, the headquarters was
shifted from Delhi to Simla. But he had hardly settled down when he
received orders, in May 1953, appointing him Chairman of the Neutral
Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC) in Korea. After the departure of
American troops from South Korea, North Korean troops crossed the 38th

parallel, which had been agreed as the border between the two countries
after the Korean War. The United Nations sent a large force, drawn from 16
countries, which drove back the North Koreans and crossed the border into
North Korea. At this stage, Communist China intervened, and cut off the
supply lines of the UN forces in South Korea. Finally, a ceasefire was
declared and negotiations began for an armistice. The UN forces had

captured 170,000 Chinese and North Korean prisoners, while the North
Koreans held about 100,000 prisoners from the UN forces. A large number
of the communist prisoners held by UN forces refused to be repatriated,
while the Chinese and North Koreans insisted on their return. It was to
resolve this issue that the five-member NNRC was created. India, being a
neutral country, was invited to chair the committee. The communist
members were to come from Poland and Czechoslovakia, and the non-

communist members from Sweden and Switzerland.
Before he left for Korea, Thimayya was briefed by Prime Minister Nehru
and told that he must be strictly neutral in all his official as well as personal
dealings. Thimayya soon discovered the soundness of this advice, as every
decision of his was branded either communist or non-communist,
depending on the side which stood to lose. It was a very difficult

assignment due to the hostility between the North Koreans and the UN
forces and the differences in perception regarding the rights of the
prisoners. The UN officials felt that the wishes of prisoners who did not
want to return should be respected, and they should not be forcibly
repatriated. The Communists argued that every soldier had certain
obligations to his motherland and his family, and these took precedence
over his personal inclinations. They also accused the UN forces of

brainwashing the communist prisoners and not allowing them to exercise