Page 332 - Leadership in the Indian Army

However, Kaul could bend rules and he not only had Sinha nominated but
also arranged for him to get a month’s attachment to the Naval and Air
Wings of the Staff College in Wellington before he left for the JSSC.

While Sinha was doing his attachment at Wellington, Kaul sent an
emissary to collect evidence against the Commandant, Major General Sam
Manekshaw, for his ‘anti national’ activities. Sinha was asked to give
evidence, but he declined. When Kaul heard of this, he threatened to have
Sinha’s nomination on the JSSC course cancelled. But Sinha insisted that he
had no knowledge of any anti-national act committed by Manekshaw.
Ultimately, he was able to proceed on the course, and sailed from Bombay

with his wife and three children in July 1961.
Sinha spent a pleasant year with his family in Latimer, and as he could
afford to hire a car, they managed to see a lot of the English countryside.
During the course, he was invited to attend the Gorkha Brigade Dinner.
Sinha went in his sherwani , wearing his miniatures, which included the
Burma Star. Field Marshal Slim was then President of the Gorkha Brigade.

Recognising the Burma Star, and seeing Sinha’s dress, he assumed that he
was a JCO who had served in Burma in the ranks. He asked Sinha in
Hindustani: ‘ Sahib, aap Burma mein kis rank mein thei ?’ (Sahib, in which
rank did you serve in Burma?) Slim was taken aback when Sinha told him
that he had served in Burma as a lieutenant and a captain, and was now
doing the JSSC course. Slim apologised for his gaffe, explaining that since
he had heard that officers in the Indian Army were getting very quick

promotions, he had thought that anyone who had been in Burma as an
officer would by now be a general.
While Sinha was in England, Goa was liberated by Indian troops, and
there was a lot of criticism of India’s action in the British press. A junior
minister in the British government, who had been a member of the British
delegation to the United Nations, came to give a talk on the problems being

faced by the UN, including its failure to ensure peace in Goa. Though he
avoided making direct references to Goa, one of the students raised the
issue and termed India’s action as nothing short of international brigandry.
In reply to the question, the minister criticised Nehru and Menon, and
warned that India would have to face the consequences of her action. Sinha
got up and put up a spirited defence of his country, citing the American
Civil War, the Bay of Pigs and the Suez and Hungary crises. He questioned

Portugal’s moral and legal rights to hold on to Goa in violation of the UN