Page 298 - Leadership in the Indian Army

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L IEUTENANT G ENERAL Z.C. B AKSHI ,

PVSM, MVC, V R C, VSM

India’s Most Decorated General

Zorawar Chand Bakshi is one of the most distinguished soldiers of the
Indian Army, having won laurels both in peace and war. He took part in

every war fought by the Indian Army after Independence, except for the
Indo–China War of 1962, when he was in the Congo. He also has the
unique distinction of being the most highly decorated officer of the Indian
Army, having won awards for gallantry at every level, from company to
division. A rare combination of a fighting and thinking soldier, he is as well
known for his achievements as for his reluctance to talk about them. Rules
regarding seniority and age prevented him from reaching the top, and the

army was deprived of a first-rate Army Commander and Chief. Despite this,
Bakshi is more widely known and admired in the army than many other
soldiers who attained higher ranks. A perfect blend of a soldier and a
gentleman, ‘Zoru’ Bakshi—as he is affectionately known throughout the
army—is an icon who was a source of inspiration for an entire generation of
officers.

The son of Sardar Bahadur Bakshi Lal Chand, Bakshi was born on 21
October 1921, in Gulyana village in Rawalpindi district of the Punjab,
which is now in Pakistan. After graduating from Gordon College,
Rawalpindi, he joined the IMA in 1942. He was commissioned on 27 June
1943 into the Infantry. After a short attachment with a British battalion, he
was posted to 16/10 Baluch, which was then in the Arakan in Burma, and
part of 51 Infantry Brigade under 25 Indian Division. The battalion was

being commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Fairlay, who was very fond
of Indian officers, having earlier been an instructor at the IMA in Dehradun.
The second-in-command was Major Mohammed Usman, who later became
Brigadier and was posthumously awarded the MVC in 1948, after the
capture of Jhangar. The battalion had two companies of Pathans, one