Valley of Words and NDLI present "1971: Stories of Grit and Glory from the Indo-Pak War"
Lt. General PJS Pannu (Retd) in conversation with Major General Ian Cardozo (Retd).
This edition of VoW’s Afternoons with an Author is special for many reasons. For one, it is organized in collaboration with the United Services Institution, India’s oldest military strategy think tank on the one hand, and the National Digital Library of India, a recent initiative of the IIT Kharagpur which links books with readers and scholars of all ages. It brings together two iconic generals – one (Gen Ian Cardozo) who led from the front in 1971, and showed that real strength and fortitude is mental, rather than physical, and the second (Gen PJS Pannu) who is convinced that India must rides the crest of new technologies and AI to remain ahead of its potential adversaries.
The best description of the book is by the author himself. He says that while an official history of the war has been written and published by the Government of India, history makes heavy reading, and perhaps the time has arrived for every citizen of India to have access to what happened during those turbulent days in the form of stories. Everyone loves a good story, and I hope these true stories from the battlefield will reach a wider audience and open a window to the man in the street as to what happens during a war in the life of a nation, and in the lives of the officers and the men they lead into battle.
The book also talks about the constellation at the top during this crucial period. The political leadership and all the three chiefs were in sync – both about strategic objectives and the operational aspects of the war. The three chiefs: Gen Sam Manekshaw, Admiral S N Nanda and Air Chief Marshal PC Lal were exemplary professionals and worked in tandem to create the new nation: Bangladesh. It is in the fitness of things that we have this quote on the book from a highly decorated veteran of the Mukti Bahini Lt Col (retd) Qazi Sajjad Ali Zahir, Bir Protik, Swadhinata Padak, Padma Shri. According to him: ‘1971: Stories of Grit and Glory from the India Pakistan War’ authored by the hero of heroes, General Ian Cardozo—is afirst-hand account of a war hero for whom it was always “do or die”.in the line of duty for his country. ‘Many men can make history, but only great men can write it. General Cardozo is one of those who can do both. His book is about the Liberation War of Bangladesh of 1971, the sacrifices and birth of a nation through a tidal wave of blood. His book reflects the tremendous cooperation between the Indian forces, Mukti Bahini and the common people of Bangladesh. It reflects. The brotherhood of men at arms who chose to fight on their feet rather than die on their knees. Let history say that they together brought to Bangladesh the winds of freedom and justice… These stories appear to me more of a ballad of blood and sacrifice than a record of history. His blood has mingled with the muddy soil of Bangladesh, and victory was achieved by sacrifices such as his.
Engaging Gen Cardozo in conversation will be the equally distinguished Lt Gen PJS Pannu. Gen Pannu is credited with raising the Defence Cyber and Space agencies along with the Special Forces Division in his last appointment as the Deputy Chief Integrated Defence. An alumnus of Indian Military Academy, he was commissioned into The Maratha Light Infantry (in December 1980 and commanded the battalion from May 1999 to February 2001 in Uri Sector (Jammu and Kashmir) during Operation VIJAY. He has commanded an Infantry Brigade in Kashmir Valley, has been Commandant of MLI Regimental Centre, commanded an infantry division in the Northeast and served in UN Mission in Mozambique from May 1993 to May 1994 and Sudan from Aug 2005 to Aug 2006 as Chiefs of Operations in both Missions.
Post his superannuation, he is a Distinguished Fellow at the USI as well as a member of the Board of Governors of VoW, besides writing in established papers and commenting on security issues on the electronic media.
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