Who’s to blame for India’s 1962: bumbling Nehru, paranoid Krishna Menon or squabbling Generals 

Please support good journalism by paying for it. Subscribe to ThePrint. Links for both domestic & overseas subscribers are provided here: theprint.in/subscribe/

My dad joined Indian Army in 1967, when bitter memories of 1962 were still fresh. He had lots of senior JCOs and soldiers who had fought in 1962. Almost every one had same question to their seniors - Why India lost 1962 Indo-China war? The common response he got was - "Nehru ki mati maarigayi thi" (Nehru had lost his mind). Many JCOs were glad that Indian politicians got the shock they needed. One sardar JCO told that "Chin ne Hindustan pe hamla karke hamaare uper badaa meherbaani kiyaa hai, Yeh log aazaadi ko sastaa le rahe the aur fauj ko majaak banaa diya tha" - (China did a big favor on Indian army by attacking India. These people [politicians] had started taking freedom lightly and had made Indian army a big joke).

This is what happens when darbar culture is used for advancement instead of merit.

Gen K S Thimayya was a very highly regarded combat officer in WW2. He once famously remarked "There are no bad soldiers, only bad officers."

This, hands down has to be the best CTC till now. When you read articles about Field marshal Sam Manekshaw, you can instantly sense the dislike he had for defense minister K Menon and the friction between them. I always thought Menon was the sole bad apple that plagued the army institution, but now, I've learnt that are one too many. There's a video of Manekshaw's lecture on leadership, where he tells the audience that you have to know what battles you should not fight, he cites an example that in 1962 Indian army was ill prepared to fight the Chinese and that the battle would, invariably, end in a disaster( Akin to what Gen.Thimayya believed). In another video, he openly states that K Menon always wanted to oust him . It feels good when all the pieces of the puzzle fall in place, finally revealing the big picture.

Thapar is the father of Karan Thapar. So we can imagine how deep the connections between Nehru-Thappar families go.

Ramchandra guha has rightly said that Indian communists love other communist nations rather than India.nehru with his wolly eyed world view thought he could fool mao but mao was no gandhi.once mao knew that usa would not intervene in a war due to then prevalent geopolitical scenario India's fate was sealed.high falutin big talk of civilisation buddha panchsheel could fool poor India but not mao.finally nehru met his match. Unfortunately poor soldiers paid the price for nehru lackies incompetance

As an army officer's daughter I can tell it has taken me monumental effort not to hate this man -- Krishna Menon.

Shekhar himself nearly ruined the career of a serving General few years back by concocting a Coup story.

Like krishna Menon,jairam Ramesh is also big time leftist

You forgot to mention Jeep scandal and that ordinance factories were made to produce coffee percolaters during VKK regime

V K Krishna Menon as Defence Minister lost India the 1962 War. Nehru placed him there after his UN debacle where the Communist Menon refused to criticize USSR for invading Hungary. This act damaged India's NAM (Non Aligned Movement) policy.

General K.S.Thimayaya was first cousin of General K.M.Cariappa. Both of them were patriotic and competent soldiers. But, the debacle of 1962 was a boon in disguise for India.As this acted as an eye opener for the need of updating the defence forces. General J.N.Chaudhuri was brought to New Delhi by Dr.Radhakrishan ( President) just 5 months before his retirement from the service. China declared unilateral cease fire on the evening of Gen.Chaudhuri's take over of command . Then he resorted to the reorganization and modernization of the Army in a short period. This effort was blessed by the then P.M.Lalbahadur Shastri ji and India was able to give befitting reply to Pakistani aggression in 1965.

Blunders are so many: 1.) Refusing UNSC permanent seat offer from both US in 1950, Soviets in 1955 and instead, Chacha Nehru fought and rallied for China's permanent seat !!! 2.) Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai and 1962 war 3.) Article 370 and overriding Sardar Patel on J&K List goes on & on....

Remove names of politicians from roads, Airport, Awards and institutions.

And what was PM Nehru doing all that time, if a leader is celebrated then one should take the blame. Like today we don't blame FM for economy we blame modi. Double standard of media people. Nehru is to blame whatever was happening in his cabinet that's all.

That's why there is a saying : Gentlemen Never Fight, They Just Agree to Disagree,

1962 , Awakening of India.this is blessing for India to became a powerful military force

In order to know about the 1962 debacle....please research deeper...after WW2, the Indian Army was one of the best in the world...the sustained degradation....policy of non violence...panch sheel... turning ordnance factories to cutlery factories....non interest in upgradation of the Army....not listening to the ground commanders....all factored in....please do not insult the martyrs of Rezangla and other battles....how they fought till last man last bullet will make ur blood curl......if only our politicians were not suspicious of the Army in the early days as they feared a Pak Army type coup.....that's why the sustained degradation....the 1962 debacle was a wake up call that a strong Armed Forces is a necessity for having a strong country. Please also read "The Himalayan Blunder".

Best CTC ever watched, please do these things regularly.

I was a schoolboy in Pune's cantonment and I had escorted a relative to the Military Hospital's Artificial Limb Centre. I cas shocked to see many jawans who had lost their limbs because of frostbite. They had been airlifted to the mountains in winter without warm clothing , gloves or proper footwear. There was a total logistical failure without which an Army cannot fight.

Best part is when coupta talks about coup

Amazing episode!! I really loved this one!

Underlying player was ‘Nehru’, the buck stops with the PM, it’s Indian democracy.

Mr SG your coverage in a simple, concise and clear manner is just outstanding. Thank you a ton sir.

Great information. Thanks for sharing this with us. 😊

Sir can it be the case that Jairam Ramesh has written this book to shift half of the blame of the war from Nehru Menon to Indian army.

Let the road be renamed as "Maj. Shaitan Singh".

Never i can imagine TV news channels doing what u do SG sir

Fantastic SG .. looking forward for getting much more history lessons for you like this.. sadly I came to know of importance of knowing history after passing my school days. Would love to hear about the three mentioned PVC soldiers too in details.

Khruschev repeatedly warned Nehru to not trust Chou En Lai, but he was so full of himself that he was taken in for a ride by the Chinese.

I think one of the very best ( if not the best so far) episodes of CTC.Keep it up

A treat as usual. Keep making more.

Remember kids, it’s all the Generals and VK Menon’s fault. Nehru is blameless even though he was PM.

A well researched book by Jairam Ramesh , well explained by SG.India did learn a lesson from 1962 debacle & fought a well orchestrated war in 1971!

Thank you v much for this cut the clutter episode.

It did take a long time for this revelation to come out

Ohhhh Guptaji, what an irony that you speak of spooked by army chief coup attempts by Thimmaya in such an offhandish manner, when you yourself MADE UP such a story in the Indian Express. When will you make a joke about that story

Neharu is to be blamed His trust on china caused us our territory.

Dear Shekhar, been watching this series for last quarter. I admire your ability to explain convoluted issues in a lucid manner. It is alarming to know some of these facts - though from past.

I never knew so much was going on behind the scenes ! Very Informative presentation.

Fascinating. I grew up in that era having been born in 1937 with my father an ardent follower of Congress and also of Netaji. He woke me up in the middle of the night to hear Netaji addressing the nation from Singapore telling me that I will never forget this in my life. I read all the speeches of Krishna Menon at the UN running several pages in the HINDU to improve my English. I was in Europe in 1962 and sent my sweaters and blankets to the embassy so that the army will have enough warm cloths to fight the Chinese. I was an admirer of Krishna Menon for some time but later changed my mind. I also thought highly of Gen Thimayya and earlier Gen Kariappa. I am astonished how these people behaved in those days. I heard that Krishna Menon worked hard to develop a defense Industry in India and not be dependent on foreign arms suppliers. I am not sure of that even now. I hope we have more disciplined Generals now who do not betray the nation by confiding to foreign powers and politicians who are not narrow minded and insecure.

This loyalty to British by so called Indian army officers was the primary reason why POK was formed and handed over so easily without much fighting as the soldiers had no choice but listen to their commanding officers.. why are these guys not stripped of their ranks.. There are apartments and roads on these army crooks names in Karnataka as well..

i was waiting for this #ctc for ages...... your analysis on 1962 disaster just great !!!!

Thank you Shekarji, the episode was truly enlightening, I'll definitely read the book.

This episode was like sitting in a history class! Very interesting episode

Lol,look how MR cupta is defending the masters.many scapegoat created by blind worshiper

Shekhar wants to change the name of Krishna Menon Marg. There is something else about Menon in Delhi that needs to be changed as well. In the Defense Min. there is a statue of Menon, that is in the backyard facing South ( not the borders up North but facing South towards his home state of Kerala ). It needs to be relocated to the front entrance of the Defense Min. so that every one that goes to work there will see it everyday and work harder and cleaner so as to NOT repeat 1962

Wonderful insight into the past. Awesome video.

I think there is a book called Himalayan blunder .. for the reason of 1962 defeat..

On today's cut the clutter we have shekhar Gupta talking about one of his old classmates .

Wonderful episode!!!

Amazing story..loved the narration

Going to read this book, thank you Sir 🙏

Congress was always good un making scapegoats for thier failures

Loved it. Please make more videos like this

My grandfather fought 1962...

When SG speaks about Indian polity and military, he is at his best. Enjoyed every bit of it.

Menon was not born at the right time - he could have become Lord Menon if he were born later. It is wrong to put all the blame on him. Nehru was trying to be the leader of Asia. China shattered his aim in 1962

Mr VKK Menon was one of the best political leaders of India. I was a young student when he gave his remarkable speech at the UN. The Congress made him a scape goat to protect others for their mistakes.

One was asked to sum up Ramayana in three words. The interpretor said (in my language) - built, demolished & brought back. The bridge across the sea was "built", Ravana's citadel was "demolished" (& Ravana killed) and Sita was "brought back". In 1962, a nearly non-existent Indian Army (much of the Indian Army should've moved there to fight but didn't, because there was no means for them to get there & IAF planes didn't fight !) tried to hold back a huge Chinese Army & got demolished in the act. On the other hand, we gloat over our victories over our sibling, weak Pakistan that is much worse off, a country that was grotesque with its two wings separated by two thousand km, with the big enemy country between. PRC found a rich opportunity seeing the Indian Army isn't at all upto its task. In that it is a stealthy (land) robbery. India learnt a lot after (from) it. Indian government(Defence & Foreign Affairs ministries) when 1962 happened didn't know what is National Strategy. Its predecessor, the ruling British Imperialists who displayed all their strategic Acumen (without which they wouldn't have built an Empire that big, of a third of humanity on a quarter of land). What their heir (whose mettle the British knew) should've done, was, to continue their Defence (& External Affairs) policies, that as a geographic entity India needed and there is no compromise on that point. Like they rejected everything British, they rejected this too and that was foolishness. India by its very (unique) position needs to defend it at the head of Indian Ocean, for which the British positioned an aircraft carrier too. Geography thrust India in that inescapable position. The then statement of the PM, on Ladakh when PRC took possession of it by military means, "Not a blade of grass grows there", implying India doesn't need to protect it- is just short of Idiocy (or stupidity!). It means all useless land, except the Indo-gangetic plain isn't worth it. It betrays a bucolic mindset that "land" is only meant for tilling to produce crops (& grass in this instance). There can be no startegic land as per this mindset. Such a country is strategically doomed & doesn't deserve to be a "country" (ask any commentator from PRC ). When the British left, India still had a good fighting force (& an order for an Aircraft Carrier, that the British found redundant as they got themselves relieved form the onerous duty of defending the country's interest in the northern Indian Ocean). Another point I want to make is the total lack of Maritime sence. It is just an about-face from what the British did (again). India never was a great global maritime power. Though the Chola kings (& a few other dynasties) had a big maritime activity & had their sway far into SE Asia that never belonged to India if you view India other than one with a capital in Delhi. In fact most dynasties who ruled from Delhi (so Vijayanagara Empire wasn't considered an Indian Empire, but within India) were derived from Central Asian stock. Central Asia is the remotest area from sea, on Earth and where generations have died without knowing what is "sea". They can't lead the destiny of India. I heard this story. Emperor Akbar (his name means "great") had the biggest & most prosperous Empire of his time in the world, though the Iberians set out establishing their own overseas Empires. by then Akbar came to throne, (mere sixty years after Columbus found the Americas ). Once his (paternal) aunt, the sister of Humayun, Akbar's father wanted to perform Hajj pilgrimage and Akbar arranged everything for the voyage across Arabian Sea (that he might never have seen in his life time). She was put on a ship in Surat port, that was looted by Portuguese pirates a hundred miles away in the sea. Arabian Sea was dominated by the Portuguese, who by a quirk of a Pope, got Eurasia as their territory, while their fellow-Iberians got Americas as their territory. So she returned to the safety of Delhi. That was the fate of this greatest Emperor on Earth. A truly great India must be sea-faring, sea-knowing & must look far beyond to Antarctica coast, in an Ocean named after her. India should have to fight many more naval battles with the Chinese (& win too), that all PRC naval vessels must think twice before crossing Malacca straits form the south.

The first gapla done in India is named after the both for the Willy jeeps

What's the repair work carried out against the rumours of coup?? Pls give details.

Thank you so much for this nice history lesson

Can't thank you enough dear sir, it's very very informative, thanks again

Prof, these military affairs related videos need to be documented in a book. Come out with a book on the intrigues related to the military history of India.

Mallu wherever he is , would like to project his "high culture" and ego on others. Krishna Menon is a perfect example of him.

Good one. Learned a lot.

Sir you are so good at explaining things....keep going👍👍

Thank you sir, your analysis of the book and also i agree with your view on changing the name of Krishna Menon Marg to any of the three PVC winners. My preference is limited to two either Major Shaitan singh or Subedar Joginder singh because they were martyed.

Despite Gupta ji's channel writing articles & op-eds disconnected from reality these days, his experience and knowledge of the past is unmatched and parallel to none of his time. Probably his long stint at Indian express, India today helped him(not including NDTV, because you know..😜😜)

Enjoyed this one thoroughly

Excellent info...treading on thin ice...brilliamtly executed by Shekharji...

Gen Thorat is remembered as an excellent General

Why take out krishna menon? As if Nehru had no blame in war!

From the book of Jairam Ramesh and as explained by Sekhar, I come to the following conclusions: 1. A very well attempt was made to apportion at least some portion of the blame of 1962 debacle to army there by reducing the burden on Nehru and Menon! 2. The dispensation - both political and military was tightly under colonial grip during that time and 3. Patel’s ascendency instead of Nehru’s as against the wishes of MKGandhi, could have had a different situation, via a vis decolonizing of India!

It has increased my appetite for the book Kudos to you and Jai ram Ramesh for painstakingly bringing the dark side of India's past

Agree with his view to rename VK Menon road in Martyrs name.

Very well explained by you Sir.Nehuru's wrong choices and his leadership. Unfortunately he was projected more than he deserved just because of Motilal Nehuru's contribution to National movement

On your recommendation I bought and read the book. Simply amazing insights into his life and the good he did for India and the one man who single handedly took on the Anglo Saxon might in UN and elsewhere - As per Jairam Ramesh

Brilliant Story...thanks for this insight

So complex. All the characters looked confused about their authority and powers.😂

Sir,do a review of Biju Pattnaik's influence on Nehru.

Wonderful analysis carried out in a way that the current generation would start believing it's the Indian Army who was solely responsible and not Nehru or Mennon for 1962 debacle. Also paying tribute to the writings of Jairam Ramesh's efforts for writing a monumental piece of history. Shekher is talking at many places India was evolving as a republic in those times and even President was not sure of his powers. Shekher very innocently casts aspersions on the integrity of General Thimmayya for sharing certain things with his neighbour then British Ambassador. Well for Shekher's reference Thimmayya was the only senior Indian Army Officer who had actually commanded troops in 2nd World war against Japan as a British Army Officer. General Thimmayya was the one because of whom India could secure the Zo-zila pass and Ladhakh from Pakistan invaders in 1947-48. Shekher also forgot to mention that till 1949 Indian Army was commanded by two British Generals. General Kariyappa took over as Army chief in 1949 after two years of independence. Now to say General Thimmayya was sharing with the British Ambassador is no big deal when the then PM Nehru was taking advice from Mountbatten on how to run the Indian Republic who came from a country which doesn't have a written constitution. This is a style of the geniuses to change the narrative in their favour by speaking and writing in polished way.

Highly informative. Thanks.

You are so loyal to the Vadra-Gandhi family! Amazing - hope the rewards are worth it.

Major Shaitan Singh

Very interesting deliverance. Well done

Just realised, it's two years old.

Shekhar bhai does it really matter now, in today's context

Karan Thapar has same "sulemani keeda" as his father P N Thapar

Very illuminating. Opens the mind to the intrigues of a time before my birth and makes me want to buy and read the book.

Revisiting one of my favorite episode of CTC

@10:00 it says Menon shared. Do correct the error.

Both menon a communist and nehru also a communist in the garb of a socialist are responsible for 62 war with chinese and additional kashmir problem Nehru's contribution to India.

Sir , I appreciate the way you explain things. It is really good.

Sir, i have always been your regular viewer, right from walk the talk ( but shied away from sending a comment...) i recommend your channel to my students. it would be really nice if you would do videos on history of India. i bet those are gonna be the best history classes ever!!! :-)

Today what happening with CBI was been happened earlier same with Indian Army Wow This is something that we have inherited

I did not understand after going through whole interview what made you say that Krishna Menon was most brilliant / intelligent etc etc. Basically he was the man responsible for 1962 defeat. He had no strategy and he did not allow air power to be used too . So why to call him intelligent.

Shekharji, you should write a book on the military history of India based on all your strategy based videos and more 🙂