Page 284 - Leadership in the Indian Army

incident that took place when Sagat visited the signal regiment to carry out
his annual inspection. The Quarter Master (QM), Captain Balakrishnayya,
was an old hand and knew what would impress Sagat. The cable held by the

unit was stored in a tin shed with a little notice outside that said. ‘Line
Stores’. Bala, as he was known, had the words ‘OP LHASA’ painted above
it in bold letters. When Sagat reached the shed and read the board, he asked
the CO, Lieutenant Colonel P.K. Roy Chowdhury, what it meant. This was
the first time the CO had seen the board and he looked askance at Bala, who
promptly replied: ‘Sir, this is the cable which will be used when we advance
to Lhasa.’ Sagat slapped Bala on the back, and exclaimed: ‘This is the spirit

I want in every officer of my division. PK, I need not see anything else in
your unit. Let’s go to the mess for a glass of beer.’ And that was the end of
the inspection.
In December 1967, Sagat was posted as GOC 101 Communication Zone
Area in Shillong. He had been serving in a non-family station for almost
two-and-a-half years, and deserved a peace posting. He had requested a

posting to Delhi, and had been told that he would be sent to Army HQ as
Director of Military Training. So he was surprised when he was asked to
move post-haste to 101 Communication Zone Area, which was involved in
counter-insurgency operations against Mizo hostiles. He came to know later
that the Army Commander, Sam Manekshaw, had specifically asked for
him to sort out the Mizo Hills problem. Sagat had no choice but to accept
the assignment like a good soldier.

The Mizo Hills (the area was given statehood and renamed Mizoram in
1971) lay in the north-east of India. The region was bounded by foreign
territory on three sides—Burma (now Myanmar) in the east and south, and
East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in the west. In the north, it touched
Manipur and Tripura, as well as Assam, the state of which all these
territories then formed a part. The Mizos have close racial links with the

Chins of Burma. They are a hardy tribe of hill people who love their
freedom. They were being supplied with arms and ammunition by East
Pakistan, which encouraged them to revolt against India and ask for
freedom. They had formed a parallel government, and the Mizo National
Army (MNA) had invested, or occupied, the southern part of the Mizo
Hills. The Border Security Force and the Assam Rifles, which were
operating in the area, could not control the situation, and in 1966 the army

was inducted.