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As I was saying the other day, five months after I joined IIT KGP on May 1st 1965, war broke out between India and Pakistan. And we were all thrilled, sorry to say. All of us in the hostel missed the fabled World War II and folks said that World War III wouldn't be hot...it would be cold. Anyway we had our quota of night blackouts which meant we were asked to paste with glue black papers on our windows. And we had our quota of bombings and dogfights of jet planes.
Oh well, it lasted but 22 days much before we were bored or killed. Everyone said it was a stalemate like in chess. Truth was that India and Pakistan lost all their tanks and ammunition and dollars. So both were looking badly for a face-saving end to brag about.
And the Russians were willing to broker peace. And their PM, Comrade Kosygin, eventually arranged a meet between our democratically elected PM, LBS, and Pak's military head honcho, Ayub Khan, at a place called Tashkent...never heard of it, like our Baba's cute sister asked:
"Smriti,who?"
We looked up our maps and it wasn't there...either our maps were no Google's or Tashkent was too tiny.
And we were told that a peace formula was evolved called Tashkent Declaration and Cease Fire (for the moment):
And suddenly we were told that our fond PM died at Tashkent of a heart failure. No one believed it, least of all the family members of LBS who still think he was poisoned:
...Lalita, the wife of Shastri, pointing to strange bluish marks on his body and claiming that he never had any heart problems in the past, said that her husband was indeed poisoned. The tense political situation in which Shastri had worked and the suddenness of his death seemed to speak in favour of this. At the same time, the Indian authorities found no reason for an autopsy. Subsequently, the lack of any documentary evidence, other than the results of the one medical examination, only added fuel to the fire, and increased the number of people that believed in a conspiracy theory...
http://in.rbth.com/arts/2013/10/02/lal_bahadur_shastris_death_in_tashkent_still_raises_questions_29837.html
Neither do people believe Netajee died in a plane crash...
Anyway, we were very sorry, for, LBS was a much-loved person in the whole of India. He had neither enemies nor even critics, which would never again be the case.
Next day we saw photos of the light coffin of LBS being carried on the strong shoulders of Ayub Khan and Comrade Kosygin...the first an enemy and the second a much-feared Russian PM:
We were all over-awed. Hitler's body was never carried by Churchill and Stalin and Roosevelt (or for that matter, Truman). Nor was Napoleon's by his enemy kings.
I don't think such a solemn end would ever happen again to anyone.
Well, there was a chance during the Indo-Pak War, Version 4, called Kargill...it was a near thing. Mush-Khush now boasts of it as his greatest victory:
http://gpsastry.blogspot.in/2015/05/mush-khush.html
But history says that Pak was beaten so badly then that their civilian PM, behind whose back (which he stabbed later) Mush brought shame to his country, was bleating and ran to Clinton (in his spare moments) to evolve a face-saving formula. And Clinton obliged and called our own fond PM, Vajpayee, to come to the White House at once.
But Vajpayee declined and said sorry (he was then beating the hell of Mush and his Khush):
...Riedel said Sharif's intention also became clearer. He was bringing his wife and children with him to Washington, a possible indication he was afraid he might not be able to go home if the summit failed or that the military was telling him to leave... "The room was tense and Sharif visibly worried," Riedel wrote. Sharif also warned that fundamentalists in Pakistan would move against him and this meeting would be the last with him. Clinton was clear and firm. Sharif had a choice -- withdraw behind the LoC and the moral compass would tilt back towards Pakistan or stay and fight a dangerous war with India without American sympathy...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/Vajpayee-stood-firm-during-Kargil-conflict-Clinton-aide/articleshow/10341644.cms
Who knows what would have happened if Vajpayee had indeed traveled to the White House? Maybe Clinton would have had to carry a coffin on his own shoulders. But its contents wouldn't have been of dear dear Vajpayee for sure ;)
...Posted by Ishani
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- Tweedledum and Tweedledee
- Agreed to have a battle;
- For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
- Had spoiled his nice new rattle.
- Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
- As black as a tar-barrel;
- Which frightened both the heroes so,
- They quite forgot their quarrel.
As I was saying the other day, five months after I joined IIT KGP on May 1st 1965, war broke out between India and Pakistan. And we were all thrilled, sorry to say. All of us in the hostel missed the fabled World War II and folks said that World War III wouldn't be hot...it would be cold. Anyway we had our quota of night blackouts which meant we were asked to paste with glue black papers on our windows. And we had our quota of bombings and dogfights of jet planes.
Oh well, it lasted but 22 days much before we were bored or killed. Everyone said it was a stalemate like in chess. Truth was that India and Pakistan lost all their tanks and ammunition and dollars. So both were looking badly for a face-saving end to brag about.
And the Russians were willing to broker peace. And their PM, Comrade Kosygin, eventually arranged a meet between our democratically elected PM, LBS, and Pak's military head honcho, Ayub Khan, at a place called Tashkent...never heard of it, like our Baba's cute sister asked:
"Smriti,who?"
We looked up our maps and it wasn't there...either our maps were no Google's or Tashkent was too tiny.
And we were told that a peace formula was evolved called Tashkent Declaration and Cease Fire (for the moment):
And suddenly we were told that our fond PM died at Tashkent of a heart failure. No one believed it, least of all the family members of LBS who still think he was poisoned:
...Lalita, the wife of Shastri, pointing to strange bluish marks on his body and claiming that he never had any heart problems in the past, said that her husband was indeed poisoned. The tense political situation in which Shastri had worked and the suddenness of his death seemed to speak in favour of this. At the same time, the Indian authorities found no reason for an autopsy. Subsequently, the lack of any documentary evidence, other than the results of the one medical examination, only added fuel to the fire, and increased the number of people that believed in a conspiracy theory...
http://in.rbth.com/arts/2013/10/02/lal_bahadur_shastris_death_in_tashkent_still_raises_questions_29837.html
Neither do people believe Netajee died in a plane crash...
Anyway, we were very sorry, for, LBS was a much-loved person in the whole of India. He had neither enemies nor even critics, which would never again be the case.
Next day we saw photos of the light coffin of LBS being carried on the strong shoulders of Ayub Khan and Comrade Kosygin...the first an enemy and the second a much-feared Russian PM:
I don't think such a solemn end would ever happen again to anyone.
Well, there was a chance during the Indo-Pak War, Version 4, called Kargill...it was a near thing. Mush-Khush now boasts of it as his greatest victory:
http://gpsastry.blogspot.in/2015/05/mush-khush.html
But history says that Pak was beaten so badly then that their civilian PM, behind whose back (which he stabbed later) Mush brought shame to his country, was bleating and ran to Clinton (in his spare moments) to evolve a face-saving formula. And Clinton obliged and called our own fond PM, Vajpayee, to come to the White House at once.
But Vajpayee declined and said sorry (he was then beating the hell of Mush and his Khush):
...Riedel said Sharif's intention also became clearer. He was bringing his wife and children with him to Washington, a possible indication he was afraid he might not be able to go home if the summit failed or that the military was telling him to leave... "The room was tense and Sharif visibly worried," Riedel wrote. Sharif also warned that fundamentalists in Pakistan would move against him and this meeting would be the last with him. Clinton was clear and firm. Sharif had a choice -- withdraw behind the LoC and the moral compass would tilt back towards Pakistan or stay and fight a dangerous war with India without American sympathy...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/Vajpayee-stood-firm-during-Kargil-conflict-Clinton-aide/articleshow/10341644.cms
Who knows what would have happened if Vajpayee had indeed traveled to the White House? Maybe Clinton would have had to carry a coffin on his own shoulders. But its contents wouldn't have been of dear dear Vajpayee for sure ;)
...Posted by Ishani
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