Remembering Sam Bahadur: A fellow soldier thinks back on India’s first Field Marshal

The showman in him would have been thrilled but the soldier in him would not have been too happy. He had both sides to his personality. I think he would have been pleased with it if the movie resulted in showing the Army and its environment in a good light.

What particular traits of his do you remember?

He was very humane. He could not hold a grudge. If he could see that I was unhappy with him for some reason he would drop into my office, put his arm around my shoulder and say, “Sweetie, I have a new tape (music tape), do you want me to cut a copy for you?” and that would break the ice. He had no airs of being a superior officer with him.

Did he ever mention his connection with Amritsar?

Oh yes. When he became the Chief of Army Staff we went on a visit to Amritsar. He took me with him to show me the house where he grew up. He pointed out a tree which he had planted. I jokingly told him that the tree was taller than him now.

Sam commanded a company of Sikh soldiers of the 4/12 Frontier Force Regiment in Burma. He could speak Punjabi fluently. When he was the Army Chief there, many former soldiers of his regiment would come to him for help.

It is said Sam never took revenge on those who plotted against him in the inquiry he faced. Is that true?

Absolutely. There was one officer who had deposed against him in the Court of Inquiry held against him on false charges while he was posted as Commandant of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. Later, when Sam was Western Army Commander this officer was commanding a brigade under him in the Jammu area. Sam visited Jammu in due course and there was a party in the evening where everyone was whispering how Sam would ‘sort out’ this Brigadier.

Eventually, he got tired of hearing this chatter and gathered everyone around. He told everyone that this officer was heads and shoulders above everyone here professionally. “However, he lacks character and neither you nor me can do anything about it,” he told the gathering. That’s how he was.

Sam visited Lahore twice after the 1971 war. What was that about?

I accompanied the Chief on those two visits after the 1971 war. These were to negotiate the return of a village south of Jammu called ‘Thakochak’, which Pakistan was unwilling to return despite the Shimla agreement on returning the territories captured in western theatre by either side.

The first visit was inconclusive, so Sam was sent again by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. On this second visit, he managed to convince General Tikka Khan to return the village, in exchange for a village in the Poonch sector that was surrounded by Pakistan on three sides.

The Pakistani Army officers behaved very well towards us on these visits. Sam was received by Gen Tikka Khan in Lahore in a Rolls Royce car, which the Pakistani Army Chief had at his service.

Please recount the incident at Governor’s House Lahore.

In an interesting event at the Governor’s House in Lahore, where Sam had been invited for lunch, the Pakistan Punjab Governor told Sam that his staff wanted to meet him. Sam agreed to the meeting and the entire staff was lined up to greet Sam.

One man, dressed in the livery of the Governor House, stepped forward and laid his turban on the ground. He told Sam that the Indian Army was taking care of Pakistani soldiers held as Prisoners of War. They were being treated well and even given the accommodation of Indian soldiers, who, in turn, were living in temporary arrangements. Pakistani PoWs were given prayer mats and the Quran. This was a very moving sight.