vicky sen
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India's reaction to the web publication of the Henderson Brooks report, the official study of its debacle in the 1962 Sino-Indian war, has been predictable. It has moved to block online access to the report, a curiously anachronistic response in the era of WikiLeaks when copies can be proliferated endlessly across the internet. Instead it should make the report public, to enable a debate on how the greatest military debacle in the history of independent India could have taken place.
Most democracies declassify secret documents after a reasonable period of 25-30 years. It's time India too adopted such a policy, which would enable the building of an institutional memory as well as a review of mistakes that may have been committed in the past. By refusing to examine past mistakes, we are condemned to repeating them. It's arguable that release of the report when it was compiled in 1963 may have had a demoralising effect on the nation fresh from its defeat. But half a century later, the government's plea that it contains "sensitive information" and knowledge of its contents could still jeopardise national security is weak.
Making the report public will allow both the military and political leadership to learn from miscalculations and correct deficiencies which frequently get exposed now whenever the army is caught unprepared on the Chinese flank. The government's anxiety to keep the report under wraps reflects its often passive-aggressive approach towards China, which shares common features with Jawaharlal Nehru's catastrophic 'forward policy'. While there is little urgency in strengthening defences along the Line of Actual Control, the establishment goes on a hyper-aggressive mode with every instance of so-called Chinese incursion.
Declassifying the report, following recommendations of the 2006 Veerappa Moily commission, will be an opportunity to revisit past China policy which should now hinge on a more flexible approach to the border dispute. Instead of displaying unbending cartographic nationalism, New Delhi must take up the old Chinese proposal on a territorial swap involving eastern and western sectors. A pragmatic negotiating position, built by political consensus, should settle the dispute once and for all. What must also end is the culture of suspicion between military and civilian leaderships that Henderson Brooks reportedly laid bare, with the political class and bureaucracy integrating the armed forces into decision-making on defence matters.
Declassifying 1962 war report will help the establishment learn from mistakes - The Times of India
Most democracies declassify secret documents after a reasonable period of 25-30 years. It's time India too adopted such a policy, which would enable the building of an institutional memory as well as a review of mistakes that may have been committed in the past. By refusing to examine past mistakes, we are condemned to repeating them. It's arguable that release of the report when it was compiled in 1963 may have had a demoralising effect on the nation fresh from its defeat. But half a century later, the government's plea that it contains "sensitive information" and knowledge of its contents could still jeopardise national security is weak.
Making the report public will allow both the military and political leadership to learn from miscalculations and correct deficiencies which frequently get exposed now whenever the army is caught unprepared on the Chinese flank. The government's anxiety to keep the report under wraps reflects its often passive-aggressive approach towards China, which shares common features with Jawaharlal Nehru's catastrophic 'forward policy'. While there is little urgency in strengthening defences along the Line of Actual Control, the establishment goes on a hyper-aggressive mode with every instance of so-called Chinese incursion.
Declassifying the report, following recommendations of the 2006 Veerappa Moily commission, will be an opportunity to revisit past China policy which should now hinge on a more flexible approach to the border dispute. Instead of displaying unbending cartographic nationalism, New Delhi must take up the old Chinese proposal on a territorial swap involving eastern and western sectors. A pragmatic negotiating position, built by political consensus, should settle the dispute once and for all. What must also end is the culture of suspicion between military and civilian leaderships that Henderson Brooks reportedly laid bare, with the political class and bureaucracy integrating the armed forces into decision-making on defence matters.
Declassifying 1962 war report will help the establishment learn from mistakes - The Times of India
