Sam H.F.J. Manekshaw, 94; led India to victory in '71 war

SAM H.F.J. MANEKSHAW (David Channer/Camera Press/file)

NEW YORK - Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, India's best-known soldier and the architect of the country's victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan that gave birth to Bangladesh, died in Wellington, India, on Friday. He was 94.

The cause was pneumonia, India's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Field Marshal Manekshaw first drew notice as a captain in the British Indian Army during World War II. He was severely wounded on Feb. 22, 1942, in a counteroffensive against the Japanese on the Sittong River in Burma. But he kept exhorting his soldiers, and he continued fighting until he collapsed.

Fearing the worst, the English commander, Major General D.T. Cowan, pinned his Military Cross on Mr. Manekshaw and was quoted as saying, "A dead person can't be awarded a Military Cross."

But the young officer survived, and a storied military career began. He not only recovered from his wounds, but went back to Burma later in the war and was wounded again.

In 1947, as colonel in charge of operations, he oversaw Indian forces in fighting that broke out between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, the territory claimed by both new nations.

With a military mustache guarding a genial face, he was known as a stern disciplinarian with a common touch. He once insisted on doing folk dances with his troops even though he had a sprained ankle. By the end of the night, the sprain had turned into a fracture.

He instilled a sense of duty, efficiency, and professionalism in the Indian Army, and he taught officers to stand up to political masters and bureaucratic interference. His wit, sometimes bordering on sarcasm, did not go over well with many in power.

In 1961, he had a falling-out with the defense minister, V.K. Krishna Menon. But by then a general, he was vindicated late the next year when Indian troops were overrun by Chinese forces that swept down from the Himalayas. Menon resigned, and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who had been close to Menon, rushed Mr. Manekshaw to the front. There he rallied the retreating Indian forces until a cease-fire was declared.

He became the eighth chief of the Indian Army in 1969, and in 1971 led India's forces in the war with Pakistan that ended with the creation of Bangladesh from East Pakistan. According to articles published in Indian newspapers after his death, Field Marshal Manekshaw resisted demands by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the spring of 1971 for an immediate invasion of East Pakistan in support of rebels there. He insisted that a campaign be put off until after the monsoon season ended and the armed forces were better prepared.

Just before the conflict began that December, the prime minister asked him, "General, are you ready for the war?" He replied, "I'm always ready, sweetie." Less than three weeks later, Pakistan was defeated.

Field Marshal Manekshaw became a national hero and a household name after this triumph, and in 1973, two weeks before his retirement, he became India's first field marshal. He had received India's highest civilian awards - Padma Bhushan in 1968 and Padma Vibhushan in 1972.

He was born into a Parsi family, his father a doctor, in Amritsar in Punjab on April 3, 1914.

He briefly pursued a degree in medicine and studied at Sherwood College, in Naini Tal, and Hindu Sabha College, in Amritsar, before joining the first class of the new Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun in 1934. It had been opened to train Indians for commissioned ranks in the British Indian Army. He was first attached to the Royal Scots regiment. He later joined a Ghurka regiment and wore the Ghurka cap even after becoming the army's chief of staff.

He met Siloo Bode at a gathering in Lahore, in what is now Pakistan, in 1937, and they were married in 1939. She died in 2001. He leaves his daughters, Maja Daruwala and Sherry Batliwala, and three grandchildren.

Like many officers of his generation, he had an affection for British military traditions. A 1971 article in The New York Times noted that upon waking at 5:30 every morning, he liked drinking a small glass of whiskey, listening to the BBC news, and puttering in his garden before going to work.