The ICON
Jasjit Singh
KW Publishers, Rs 880
A new biography of Arjan Singh sheds light on the 1962 and 1965 wars

Military history makes fascinating reading, especially as told by the warriors themselves. There has been little of this in India and even anodyne official histories have come out years after the event on grounds of official secrecy, thus allowing the other side, if it so desired, to embroider the facts to its advantage.

The Icon not only tells the story of a great air warrior and gentleman, but also helps put the record straight in respect of certain matters pertaining to the 1962 and ’65 wars. With his proud and daring record of service, Arjan Singh rose rapidly and was Air Officer Administration at AHQ from 1961 to 1963. The military had seen war coming after the Dalai Lama’s flight to India in 1959 and the commencement in earnest of Chinese assertions to its territorial claims on

India. V.K. Krishna Menon, as defence minister, ruled out war thus fostering unpreparedness for the challenge to come even as Pakistan was rearming and modernising weapons with US assistance. Whatever little attention was given went to the army and there was no joint planning for the looming Himalayan war. Yet, the IAF played a notable role in logistical support and air supply in the most forbidding terrain. There was, however, no intelligence assessment and analysis of the possible use of air power on either side and the Defence Committee of the Cabinet had not met since 1959!

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