Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 15
Listing out changes in the way future battles would be fought, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said the armed forces should be able to f
Vohra, a former Punjab cadre IAS officer who was the Defence Secretary from March 1990 to April 1993, was speaking at the inaugural session of the 4th Military Literature Festival. The annual event was conducted virtually from Chandigarh this year.
Narrating an anecdote, Vohra said in the late 1980s when Lt General Harbaksh Singh, the former Western Army Commander, wrote a book on the 1965 war, the first instinct was how to stop his pension. “The opinion was how dare he write on the war without prior permission!” said Vohra. Certain maps of the western border were used in the book, which meant he should have sought permission.
New Delhi, Dec 18
Former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir NN Vohra on Friday made a strong pitch to make public the histories of war fought by the Indian armed forces, saying reading these would help the younger generation of soldiers.
Vohra, a former Punjab cadre IAS officer who was Defence Secretary (March 1990 to April 1993) of the country, was speaking at the inaugural session of the fourth Military Literature Festival. The annual event was conducted virtually from Chandigarh this year.
Vohra said we had unfortunately not allowed access to documents, and had been secretive and confidential. He gave the example of his three-year tenure as Defence Secretary, saying, “We finalised the military histories of wars in 1948, 1962, and 1971; when we tried to get them published, there was enormous opposition and could not be published.”