Ideas
Moral courage
In his 1998 lecture on leadership he placed moral courage at the centre. He gave the example of telling a Prime Minister what she did not want to hear. As a general he told Krishna Menon that removing the Army Chief would only bring another. As Chief he rebuked a Defence Secretary for the way he spoke to a colonel.
Moral courage is essential.
Lecture on leadership, Bombay (November 1998)
ThePrint Great Speeches: Manekshaw’s 1998 lecture (1 December 2024) · Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · The Tribune: review of Soldiering with Dignity (6 April 2003)
Tell the government the truth about readiness
The story he told most often is the April 1971 cabinet meeting. In his account he listed the problems. Divisions were deployed elsewhere. Few tanks were fit. The monsoon was coming and the passes would close. He offered to resign and asked to choose the timing. This is his own retelling. No minutes have been released.
I guarantee you 100% defeat.
Recounting the April 1971 meeting, Bombay (1998)
ThePrint Great Speeches: Manekshaw’s 1998 lecture (1 December 2024) · Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · ThePrint (16 December 2021)
An army that stays out of politics
Talk of a coup followed him as Chief. He told Indira Gandhi she had nothing to fear. When an American diplomat raised it he joked that it would happen when General Westmoreland took over the United States.
Madame Prime Minister, you have nothing to fear; from me or the Army.
To Indira Gandhi, as recounted in Shubhi Sood’s biography
The Tribune: review of Leadership: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw (January 2006) · Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw
Restore morale before anything else
He took over IV Corps weeks after the 1962 defeat. His first order ended the retreats. CLAWS credits him with restoring the morale of a shaken staff.
there shall be no more withdrawals
First order at IV Corps, Tezpur (December 1962)
CLAWS Scholar Warrior: Rohit Singh (Spring 2011) · Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw
Fight on your own terms and at your own time
He asked for the time to prepare and got it. The months after April went into training, logistics and help for the Mukti Bahini. The war began on 3 December after the monsoon. Dhaka fell on 16 December. Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam calls it an all-government approach.
Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · ThePrint (16 December 2021) · ThePrint: Rudra Chaudhuri (30 November 2021)
Soldiers must behave as soldiers
Before the war he told troops to treat Pakistani women with respect. His order became a famous line. He broadcast messages urging Pakistani troops to surrender. He held the prisoners in India until a peace settlement. Some later criticised him for treating them too leniently.
keep your hands in your pockets, and think of Sam
To his troops, 1971 (as recorded by Depinder Singh)
Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · The Tribune: review of Soldiering with Dignity (6 April 2003)
The honour belongs to the commander on the spot
Indira Gandhi asked him to go to Dhaka for the surrender. He declined. He said the honour belonged to Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora who led Eastern Command. His daughter Maja Daruwala has said 1971 was not his personal success. She calls him a key architect of a shared victory.
Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · ThePrint (17 December 2021)
Humour as a tool of command
He used wit to calm officers and disarm politicians. During the 1967 Nathu La crisis he quipped that “they are enacting Hamlet without the Prince”. He joked that Yahya Khan had paid for a motorcycle he bought from him with half his country.
If anyone tells you he is never afraid, he is a liar or a Gurkha!
His best-known line on courage
CLAWS Scholar Warrior: Rohit Singh (Spring 2011) · Wikipedia: Sam Manekshaw · Dawn: Ardeshir Cowasjee (6 July 2008)
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