Page 186 - Leadership in the Indian Army

Indian name—‘ maan jao na ’ (please agree).
Sam said, ‘I have given my professional assessment. It is now for the
Government to take a decision.’

The Prime Minister did not say anything. She appeared to be visibly
angry. She closed the meeting, asking everyone to come back at 4 o’clock.
As everybody rose and started leaving, the Prime Minister asked Sam to
stay back. When they were alone, he offered to resign, either on physical or
mental grounds.
‘Sit down, Sam,’ she said. ‘I don’t want your resignation. Just tell me, is
every thing you said earlier true?’

Sam replied, ‘Yes, it is. Look, it is my job to fight, and fight to win.
Today, if you go to war, you will lose. Give me another six months and I
guarantee you a hundred per cent success. But I want to make one thing
quite clear. There must be one commander. I don’t mind working under the
BSF, the CRPF, or anybody you like. But I will not have a soviet telling me
what to do. I must have one political master giving me directions. I don’t

want the refugee ministry, home ministry, defence ministry, all telling me
what to do. Now, you make up your mind.’
‘All right, Sam, nobody will interfere,’ said the Prime Minister. ‘You will
be in command.’
‘Thank you,’ said Sam. ‘I guarantee you a victory.’ And so it was. Later,
Sam was to recall that there is a very thin line between becoming a Field
Marshal and being dismissed.

Once the decision to undertake operations was taken by the government,
and Sam was given the go-ahead, he set about it in earnest. The government
also decided to extend support to the freedom movement in East Pakistan,
led by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. The task of training and equipping the
Mukti Bahini , as the freedom fighters were known, was entrusted to the
Indian Army. Sam decided to train and equip three brigade groups of

regular Bangladesh troops. They would be based mainly on the personnel of
the East Bengal Regiment, the shortfall being made up from the East
Pakistan Rifles. In addition, about 75,000 guerrillas were to be trained and
equipped with weapons and ammunition. From the middle of 1971 till the
end of the war, they operated in small bands, harassing the regular troops of
the Pakistan Army. The Government of Bangladesh, as the new nation was
intended to be named once it became independent, had started functioning

in Calcutta and Colonel M.A.G. Osmani was appointed the Military