Field Marshal SAM Manekshaw / Sam Bahadur
SAM BAHADUR
Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, MC (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), widely known as Sam Manekshaw and Sam Bahadur ("Sam the Brave"), was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. His military career spanned four decades and five wars, beginning with service in the British Indian Army in World War II.
Manekshaw joined the first intake of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 1932. He was commissioned into the 4th Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment. In World War II, he was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry. Following the partition of India in 1947, he was reassigned to the 8th Gorkha Rifles. Manekshaw was seconded to a planning role during the 1947 Indo-Pakistani War and the Hyderabad crisis, and as a result, he never commanded an infantry battalion. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier while serving at the Military Operations Directorate. He became commander of 167 Infantry Brigade in 1952 and served in this position until 1954 when he took over as the Director of Military Training at Army Headquarters.
After completing the higher command course at the Imperial Defence College, he was appointed General Officer Commanding the 26th Infantry Division. He also served as the Commandant of the Defence Services Staff College. In 1961, Manekshaw made derogatory comments about the political leadership which allowed his opponents to label him as unpatriotic, and he was charged with sedition. After being exonerated in the subsequent court of inquiry, he took command of IV Corps in November 1962. The next year, Manekshaw was promoted to the position of army commander and took over Western Command, transferring in 1964 to the Eastern Command.
Having already commanded troops at division, corps and regional levels, Manekshaw became the seventh chief of the army staff in 1969. Under his command, Indian forces conducted victorious campaigns against Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh in December 1971. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan, the second and third highest civilian awards of India. In January 1973, Manekshaw was conferred with the rank of Field Marshal, the first army officer of independent India to be so honoured.
In May 2007, Gohar Ayub, the son of Pakistani Field Marshal Ayub Khan, claimed that Manekshaw had sold Indian Army secrets to Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 for 20,000 rupees, but his accusations were dismissed by the Indian defence establishment.
Although Manekshaw was conferred the rank of field marshal in 1973, it was reported that he was not given the complete allowances to which he was entitled. It was not until 2007 that President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam met Manekshaw in Wellington, and presented him with a cheque for ₹1.3 crore (US$230,000 approx.)—his arrears of pay for over 30 years.
Manekshaw died of complications from pneumonia at the Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, at 12:30 a.m. on 27 June 2008 at the age of 94. Reportedly, his last words were "I'm okay!".He was buried in the Parsi cemetery in Ootacamund (Ooty), Tamil Nadu, with military honours, adjacent to his wife's grave.Owing to the controversies in which Manekshaw was involved post-retirement, it was reported that his funeral lacked VIP representation, and no national day of mourning was declared which, while not a breach of protocol, was not customary for a leader of national importance. He was survived by his two daughters and three grandchildren.
Annually, on 16 December, Vijay Diwas is celebrated in memory of the victory achieved under Manekshaw's leadership in 1971.
On 16 December 2008, a postage stamp depicting Manekshaw in his field marshal's uniform was released by then President Pratibha Patil.
A flyover bridge in Ahmedabad's Shivranjeeni area was named after him in 2008 by Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat.
In 2014, a granite statue was erected in his honour at Wellington, in the Nilgiris district, close to the Manekshaw Bridge on the Ooty–Coonoor road, which had been named after him in 2009.
On his life, Meghna Gulzar is directing a movie, Sam, starring Vicky Kaushal, which is expected to release in early 2021.
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