Major General Ian Cardozo, Who Amputated His Leg On Battlefield, Writes About 1965 War

1965: Courage Unleashed by the first disabled officer of the Indian Army, Ian Cardozo, is an insightful voyage into the complex and uncharted history of the Indo-Pak war of 1965. Major General Cardozo, the first war-disabled officer of the Indian Army to command a battalion and a brigade, offers his readers a comprehensive and deeply personal account of the events of 1965.  

Major General Cardozo tells compelling intimate accounts covering all the essential events of 1965 including Operation Desert Hawk, Operation Gibraltar, Chhamb battlefield and more. 

Here's an excerpt from 1965: Courage Unleashed by Ian Cardozo

Whereas on the eastern front, East Pakistan was liberated and Bangladesh was born, on the western front there was no change and everything reverted to square one. An agreement was concluded between the two countries at Shimla known as the Shimla Agreement and the Line of Control was delineated on 11 December 1972 in Jammu and Kashmir. India returned 13,309 sq. km to Pakistan and received 916 sq. km in return. Over 93,000 Pakistani prisoners were repatriated and the heads of state decided to reopen diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arvind and Ahmed were among those who sacrificed their lives for their respective countries but with the return of the captured territories and the Pakistani prisoners of war, nothing had materially changed on the ground and life went back to what it was earlier. 

A flag meeting and memorial service was held on the Line of Control in the Poonch Sector after the war sometime in April 1972, to honour the war dead of both countries and the families of those who had died were invited to attend. Arvind was honoured with the award of the Maha Vir Chakra and Ahmed with the Hilal-i-Jurat. 

Unknown to each other, Miriam and Nalini had both chosen to attend the memorial service in order to see the place where their husbands had died. Neither of them knew that the closeness of Arvind and Ahmed in peace had terminated in closeness in death as well.

It was better that they did not know, as the knowledge of how they died would be too traumatic for them to understand and accept. Many other families of both sides were present at the memorial service—all grieving for their dead.  

A temporary structure was made to honour the war dead from both countries with flags of India and Pakistan on poles and a pandit and maulvi present to offer prayers for the dead. The Brigade Commanders of both sides were there as well as officers and men who had taken part in the war. Buglers of both countries played the ‘Last Post’7 followed by the ‘Rouse’8 with honour guards from both countries doing the honours. It was a solemn moment for all who were present and many of the families broke down in grief at the loss of their loved ones. It was a moment of loss and also a moment of truth, and the truth was that war did not solve any problems. On the contrary, it only created new ones. 

Miriam did not know that Nalini was there and Nalini was also oblivious of Miriam’s presence.  

On conclusion of the service, it was the children who first noticed one another and could not restrain themselves from running across. The mothers followed. Miriam and Nalini clasped each other, sobbing out their shared grief. There was a hush all round and all conversation stopped as this new drama unfolded, which no one could understand. It was inexplicable how two families of countries who were at war with each other could be so close to each other at the same time! Time stopped still and there was no sound except the shush of the breeze that wafted through the pine trees while a dog barked somewhere in the valley below. 

The two widows in white clung tightly to each other. Those who had assembled watched in awe and silence at the scene. ‘Why did this happen to us?’ they asked. ‘Has our God failed us or have we failed ourselves? Why did we have to go to war? Why was our happiness stolen from us? What have we done to deserve this? What will happen to our children?’ There was no answer to their questions and they kept clinging to each other—two women who had come so close to each other in faraway Australia, only to be widowed after they returned home! The children put aside their own grief and tried to comfort their mothers but to no avail. This sudden meeting was too much for Miriam and Nalini, who were finding it hard to understand what had happened.  

Finally, the two Brigade Commanders signalled each other, came forward and gently separated the two women. They were unaware of the background to their relationship, but they understood the tragic loss. There was scarcely a dry eye in the crowd. Even the stoic soldiers were affected by the deep sense of loss that had engulfed the assembly. 

Miriam and Nalini embraced in a last hug, knowing that this was the last time they would meet. The children too understood the finality of the situation. It was an emotional moment. They wiped the tears from their eyes and said goodbye—a farewell not only to the present but also to the past. The future was unknown but they trusted in God to take care of them and their children. "

Extracted with permission from Ian Cardozo's 1965: Courage Unleashed; published by Penguin Random House India