War booty went against Manekshaw's principles
Jayanta Gupta,
Nov 18, 2010
War booty went against Manekshaw's principles
KOLKATA: A section of retired officers believe former East Pakistan
army commander Lt Gen AAK Niazi's Mercedes, which was brought to Fort
William after the war, was simply taken off records' to avoid any
controversy. After all, bringing it to India clashed with late Field
Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw's principle that Indian troops were not to
behave as if they were part of an invading army.
"This was not the only Mercedes that was brought back to India. Some
cars found their way
to other command headquarters. Questions were even raised in Delhi on
why the vehicles were brought back. In response, officers had said
that they were brought to India for repairs that couldn't be
undertaken in Bangladesh," a retired officer said.
Eminent historians like Amalendu De, sounded extremely unhappy when
told about the development. "If the Army admits that the car was
brought to Kolkata after the creation of Bangladesh, it should
certainly have been preserved. Some anti-Indian elements in Bangladesh
had earlier made allegations that the Indian Army had taken away some
jeeps after the surrender. I had investigated the matter and found the
allegations to be baseless. This is the first time that I am hearing
of the Mercedes," De said.
When Niazi surrendered before Aurora 39 years ago, as per protocol he
also handed over his revolver to Aurora. Jacob, then chief of staff,
Eastern Command, wrote in his memoirs later that the revolver handed
over by Niazi was not his.
"....Niazi then undid his epaulette and removed his .38 revolver with
attached lanyard and handed it over to Aurora. There were tears in his
eyes ........Some time later, when I examined the revolver surrendered
by Niazi, I realised that the weapon wasn't his. It was a normal Army
issue .38 revolver. The barrel was choked with muck.....The lanyard
was dirty and frayed in parts. This wasn't the personal weapon of a
commanding general. More likely, Niazi had taken it from one of his
military policemen and surrendered it as his personal weapon. I could
not help feeling that in his own way, Niazi had got a little of his
own back," Jacob wrote.
In 2003, a pistol presumed to be that of Niazi was stolen from the
National Museum in Delhi. The Army later revealed that Niazi's
revolver (it was not a pistol) was preserved safely at the Indian
Military Academy in Dehra Dun. What was stolen from the museum could
have been a pistol surrendered by another Pakistani officer.
Historians can only pray that the Mercedes is also tucked away
somewhere and will be shown the respect it deserves.
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