It was an Indian aggression in 1971 war: Ex-IAF chief

PUNE, May 19: Twenty-five years after the December 1971 war with Pakistan, the former chief of Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal H Moolga...

PUNE, May 19: Twenty-five years after the December 1971 war with Pakistan, the former chief of Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal H Moolgavkar, has disclosed that unlike the belief that it was a Pak aggression, the offensive actually was taken by India.

The unambigious statement came when the former Air Chief released on Sunday a book `Nuclear Menace and the Satyagraha Approach’ jointly authored by Lt Gen (retd) Eric Vas, Major General (retd) K S Pendse and Col(retd) Anil Athalye which advocates that India should not surrender its option for making a nuclear weapon as a deterrent in the larger interest of her defence.What is required, it is asserted by the authors, is not only the capability, which India undoubtedly has, but also the the political will.

The former Air Chief while stressing on the sensitive `political will’ recalled that it was the political will that prompted India to take the offensive and liberate Bangladesh. Situation had reached a flash point as 10 million Hindu refugees had been pushed into India by the Pak occupation forces in Bangladesh. Indian troops had already trained lakhs of `Mukti Bahini’ volunteers who were active in liberating their country. In the last week of November 1971, Indian Gnats flew over the eastern sector and shot down Pakistani Sabre jets which came up to intercept. Debris of the Pakistani jets were projected as proof for Pakistani aggression, and the full scale hostilities began by December 3.

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The book has been brought out by a new voluntary organisation, Pune Initiative for Peace and Disarmament (PIPD), founded by the co-authors. Its release on Sunday coincided with the anniversary of the Indian first, and perhaps the last, nuclear test at Pokhran 23 years ago.

Former scientific advisor to the Prime Minister and former Director of the National Physical Laboratory, Dr V G Bhide, was in chair.

Moolgavkar lauded the authors for their satyagraha approach, saying it denoted the need to press for our nuclear option till the superpowers agree to dismantle their own nuclear stockpile.

This is the second research book brought out by the PIPD.