Pakistan’s military victory over India in the war of 1965 was acknowledged from all pertinent quarters including independent international observers.
Indian government has ordered its armed forces to organise a
"carnival" to mark 50 years of a war with Pakistan
in 1965 and is also set to re-ignite a debate on whether India
lost on the negotiating table what it won on the battlefield.
It is a bizarre tactic of Indian government, trying to hide
the humiliating facts of defeats in the 1965 war. It is a fact that both
countries claim to come out as the winners of the war, but here are few excerpts
from some leading newspapers which would give a true picture of the war.
The entire world was stunned over the success attained by Pakistan
as a nation. Pakistan’s
military victory over India
in the war of 1965 was acknowledged from all pertinent quarters including
independent international observers. London Daily Times, “India is being
soundly beaten by a nation which is outnumbered by four and a half to one in
population and three to one in size of armed forces”. Louis Karrar wrote in
Times,” Who can defeat a nation which knows how to play hide and seek with death”?
R.D Pradhan who was an insider in the war writes in his book
‘1965 War: The inside Story’ described the cowardice of Maj Gen Niranjan
Prasad, the Indian General who attacked Lahore.
‘When Pakistan
defence forces counter attacked the intruding Indian military and the General
fired upon on 6 September, he ran away. He was found by Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh
hiding in a sugar cane field.’ Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh, Commander Western Command notes in his book War Despatches that Indian COAS Gen Chowdhri was so nervous as
to be on the verge of losing half of Punjab to Pakistan,
including the city of Amritsar.The London Daily Mirror reported in 1965: “There is smell of death in the burning Pakistan sun. For it was here that India’s attacking forces came to a dead stop. During the night they threw in every reinforcement they could find. But wave after wave of attacks were repulsed by the Pakistanis.” USA Aviation Week December 1968 Issue commented: “For the PAF, the 1965 war was as climatic as the Israeli victory over the Arabs in 1967. A further similarity was that India air power had 5:1 numerical superiority at the start of the conflict.In spite of hiding the facts of losing 1965 war, India should behave sensibly and should come on table for talks to resolve bilateral issues.
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| Jubilant Pakistani troops after capturing the Rajput Fort of Kishengarh Rajestan. |
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| Army C-in-C General Mohammad Musa Khan at Khem Karan Railway Station after capturing of the town by Pakistani troops |
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| Pakistani soldiers, proudly carrying aloft Pakistan’s flag, pass the custom house when they captured Munabao. |
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| Munabao Railway Station in Rajhistan captured by Pakistan. |
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| Khem Karan, the Indian market town, was the place from where Indians were to launch their thrust on Kasur and then on to Lahore. The milestone in the picture with Pakistani soldiers in the background in an eloquent footnote to India’s defeated ambitions. (1965 War) |
