General Krishnaswamy Sundarji's tenure as the Army Chief from February 1986 to May 1988 was packed with momentous events. Among the important milestones in this 820-day period were Exercise Brass Tacks, India’s intervention in Sri Lanka as part of Operation Pawan, and Operation Falcon in Arunachal Pradesh, which followed the face-off at Sumdrong Chu. As the Western Army Commander, General Sundarji was involved in Operation BlueStar, while on his seventeenth day in office he gave his consent for the procurement of the Bofors guns.
A charismatic leader possessed with rare dynamism, Sundarji was an integral part of the metamorphosis of the Army and also charted the nation's nuclear doctrine. Highly intelligent, flamboyant in demeanor and eloquent in speech, he led the Army during a period of remarkable transition and through tumultuous events.
Probal Dasgupta’s book covers all these events using his narrative style while giving an insight into Sundarji's personality, his values and the manner in which the events of his formative years and the appointments held by him shaped his outlook and thinking. In fact, Shashi Tharoor calls the book 'Fast-paced as a thriller and rigorous as a serious academic work', that 'offers an exhilarating portrait of indomitable courage, unrivalled ambition, and fierce love for a nation in the making'.
Those who worked closely with him include Lieutenant General Harwant Bawa, Lieutenant General Shammi Mehta and Lieutenant General Rustom Nanavatty have enriched the book with anecdotes regarding their professional interactions. His son Vikram, niece Aruna Roy and daughter Jayanti have also shared wonderful personal insights.
In this well-researched and readable book, Probal has provided a lens to understand his journey and the impact on the 'nation’s choices and outcomes'. In General Brasstacks, the author places the military within the political spectrum in a democracy, highlighting their close connection and overlap that manifests itself in political decisions and the drama of outcomes.
The Formative Years
Joining the British Indian Army in 1945, a young Sundarji was a close witness to events during partition when he was part of his Battalion 2 MAHAR in Fort Sandeman in Baluchistan and thereafter in Hissar and Delhi. He saw the 'bloodiest of killings in Indian history' and 'he witnessed the mass of madness on both sides of the border'. As per him 'there was very little to choose between the two - it was equally bad on both sides'. The 'horrific scenes of partition cast a shadow in his understanding of human behaviour'.
In 1961, he was posted as a Brigade Major (BM) of the Indian Brigade commanded by Brigadier Noronha in Congo. He had a dual role; as besides being the BM he was also the Chief of Staff of the UN Katanga Command and this is where he dealt with ‘the grey zones of conflict'. Noronha 'fondly referred to him as a maverick for his unusual approaches'. His two years there were marked by considerable achievements where his out-of-the-box ideas, initiative and constantly 'pushing the envelope enabled Indian forces to overcome a tough guerilla force in a faraway land'.
1965 saw him commanding 1 MAHAR during Operation Desert Hawk in the Rann of Kutch. When he recced the forward area in a police uniform post Pakistani forays in Kanjarkot, he recommended ‘immediate capture of the area and holding ground to prevent further ingress.’ Though his recommendations went abegging due to the prevailing ‘defensive mindset’ it demonstrated his offensive spirit.
For Sundarji, the actions in 1965 'laid bare the deficiencies of defensive positional warfare' and this probably was the first call to mechanise the infantry. He 'understood the need to break free of predictable military thinking that resulted in stalemates and draws'. He also observed how Pakistani commanders had 'seized the initiative while the Indian leadership had been slow to respond'. These learnings shaped his understanding of warfare.
1971 saw him posted as the Brigadier General Staff of 33 Corps which executed operations in East Pakistan from the North and fought 'bloody battles at Hilli and Bogra' under Lieutenant General ML Thapan and contributed to India's comprehensive victory. He also closely observed Lieutenant General Sagat Singh’s brilliance, moral courage and clarity in thinking while crossing the Meghna River with emphasis on speed and surprise. However, lessons in the Western front's 'slow progress and the inability to penetrate defences' exposed the 'lack of alternatives and the focus on technology became paramount'.
Earlier, while undergoing a course at Fort Leavenworth in the US, Sundarji had learnt how technology, 'mobility and speed of warfare needed to be studied in one spectrum'. The exposure to global ideas 'made an impression on his thinking about conventional conflict'. 'This along with lessons imbibed from India's two wars' shaped his thinking.
Post the 1971 war, he was part of the study ordered by General Raina which was headed by Lieutenant General Krishna Rao on the transformation of the Indian Army. The committee evaluated the national security threats and future scenarios and revised the organisational architecture. The Mechanised Infantry was raised based on the recommendations of this report. He had succeeded in bringing his ideas to form and became its first Colonel.
After commanding 33 Corps he went on to head the College of Combat and was the Deputy Chief under General Krishna Rao when Exercise Digvijay was conducted to validate and test the new doctrine of war. Large armoured columns moved at speed over distances no one had moved before. It was 'the brief opening glimpse of what was to arrive in the Sundarji era'. General Rao's support ensured 'Sundarji was able to push for this offensive Strike Corps orientated vision'.
The Major Milestones
It was as the Army Commander Western Command when he oversaw Operation BlueStar in 1984 where his conduct came under intense scrutiny. Unlike General Vaidya, General Sundarji 'favoured swift military action over a softer approach' at the Golden Temple and is reported to have told Mrs Gandhi that 'he would clear the complex in a few hours if ordered'. The author highlights the challenges of executing this delicate task in a domestic religious setting and says that though the Indian Army overcame the militants they faced much greater resistance than anticipated and the fight was intense. The trauma of Operation Bluestar remained with General Sundarji even though he stated that ‘we went in with folded hands.’
The centrepiece of the book and indeed General Sundarji's legacy is Exercise BrassTacks from December 1986 to March 1987 -- a mechanised manoeuvre in the deserts of Rajasthan. Its magnitude had grown to a level not seen since World War II. Pakistan responded by aggressive posturing of their Army Reserves North and South in their exercise areas and India then responded with Operation Trident, which escalated the situation and the two sides were locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.
The book briefly reveals the lesser-known plan to wrest territories from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The exercise though toned down subsequently demonstrated India’s ability to make deep inroads into Pakistan. Probal gives a detailed account of how this exercise nearly brought India and Pakistan to war and the paradigm shift in the manner in which India viewed its Western neighbour. The author believes that there was a link between Sundarji’s Brasstacks and the assassination of General Zia, and further dwells into the conversation later between Sundarji and the US Ambassador John Gunther Dean that hints at state involvement in the killing.
The Sumdorong Chu incident in July 1986 led to a mobilisation of troops during Operation Falcon in October 1986. Sundarji demonstrated his proactive defence strategy by airlifting a Brigade that forced the Chinese to blink. His strategy of ‘dissuasive deterrence' against China was then implemented during Exercise Chequerboard along the LAC which involved the operational deployment of ten Divisions. The Chinese encountered unexpected resistance as Indian troops dominated the heights and seized the initiative. The book goes into the manner in which Major General JM Singh stood up to General Sundarji but with the backing of the Corps Commander Lieutenant General NSI Narahari, as also the consent of Sundarji whom he convinced,confronted the Chinese. Operation Falcon witnessed the differences in approach between Sundarji, the Army Chief and the political bureaucracy regarding China. The author narrates the thrilling arguments between the two sides and mentions that Sundarji eventually prevailed upon the political leadership which highlights the influence of his persuasive personality.
Sundarji’s blistering tenure witnessed nonstop action, but not all events produced desired outcomes. IPKF in Sri Lanka was a classic example. The author is critical of India’s plan to intervene in Sri Lanka and critiques Sundarji’s role in the decision to send the military to the island. IPKF in 1987 has been analysed as a classic case of military objectives being decoupled from political reality. It was a war fought with hands tied behind ones back, where wavering objectives caused confusion and disorder. While General Sundarji’s belief in the mission was unwavering but the frustration in dealing with the other organs of the state and the Sri Lankan government and military came to the fore. The author points out how the assessment by Lieutenant Colonel Madan Gopal who had accompanied Prabhakaran back to Sri Lanka after talks in Delhi that the LTTE 'don't want peace' was 'laughed off' as Sundarji 'believed the LTTE could be smote in weeks' . The parts played by Major General Harkirat Singh, Lieutenant General Deepinder Singh, Lieutenant General AS Kalkat and JN Dixit have been well documented. Ultimately there was a sense of frustration and lack of clarity in the task assigned and the way it was executed
Conclusion
The book, extremely well written and backed by exhaustive research, is an objective biography of an Army Chief who was charismatic, cerebral and controversial and left a lasting impression on India’s security and political environment. General Sundarji, a brilliant exponent of modern warfare, was ahead of his times. He possessed great vision, was focused on technology, was intelligent and impactful and influenced both military and political thought in the eighties.
A sharp, well-read man, he was blessed with a phenomenal memory and presented his opinions confidently which impressed those in positions of power in the government. His relationship with both Arun Singh, the Minister of State for Defence, and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi have been well articulated.
In this definitive and well researched biography that combines historical rigour with narrative finesse, Probal has captured General Sundarji’s personality and given an insight into how his thoughts and decisions shaped the modern Indian Army. The book ensures a balanced perspective, revealing the controversies alongside the successes, the blunders alongside the highpoints, the vulnerabilities within the decisiveness – which leave the reader with an unbiased, credible imprint. It gives an insight of the role played by the Indian Army in the eighties both in India and the region which has left a lasting impression on our collective memory and on the course of the country’s destiny and is a must read not only for the scholars and practitioners of warfare, but also for general readers interested in history and current affairs.