Page 197 - Leadership in the Indian Army

mentioned that during Partition he had been asked to opt for Pakistan, but
he had chosen to remain in India. When the reporter asked Sam what would
have happened if he had opted for Pakistan, and been commanding the

Pakistani Army, instead of the Indian, he replied, ‘They would have won.’
Sam undoubtedly made the witty remark without considering the
consequences, which were immense. Soon afterwards, he had to go to the
UK and while he was away, there was a question in Parliament based on the
story which the reporter had written giving prominence to his remark. The
Prime Minister was in the House but chose to remain silent. Sam was
branded an egotist, and soon became persona non grata. Though the

government could not take away his rank, it did take away every thing else
and treated him shabbily. He was given a salary which was much lower
than what he was entitled to, after handing over as Army Chief. None of the
other facilities that a Field Marshal gets, such as secretarial staff, a house or
a car, were given to him.
A few years later, the author had a chance to witness the tremendous

popularity which Sam still enjoyed. It was in 1975, and he had come to
Indore, where the citizens had organised a civic reception in a large
auditorium. When Sam arrived he was almost mobbed and reached the
stage with great difficulty. The crowds kept on shouting ‘ Manekshaw Ki
Jai ’, till they were hoarse and no amount of entreaties by the organisers
could silence them. After sometime, when they were quiet, someone started
the welcome speech in Hindi. What he said went something like this: ‘We

have in our midst today, a soldier whose very name is synonymous with
valour. He makes us remember Rana Pratap, Jhansi ki Rani and the gallant
Shivaji, whose deeds form our national heritage. When we hear him talk,
the blood courses through our veins with greater speed.’
And so it went on for a good half hour. After this, Sam was asked to
speak. He too spoke in Hindi: ‘I only want to make one request. Can I have

an English translation of the speech I just heard? I want to give it to my
wife. Whenever I tell her that I am a great man, she doesn’t even listen.
Now she will believe me.’ Needless to say, this brought the house down and
the ovation went on and on.
Sam’s ability to communicate with people of any age group, especially
the younger generation, is one of the reasons for his immense popularity.
The author was doing the staff course at Wellington in 1977 along with

Behram Panthaki, who had been Sam’s ADC when he was COAS. It was a