Chennai:
Whoever goes through the military history of India, will never forget Field Marshal K M Cariappa.
Only two officers of the Indian Army have got the rank of a Field Marshal: one of them being Cariappa and the other being Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.
But that isn’t the only thing that won him recognition – his achievements are no less worthy. While the alumni of Officers Training Academy unveil the statue of the noted Army officer who held five-star rank, News Today journeyed through his life and achievements.
His distinguished military career spanned almost three decades. He was the first Indian military officer to attend the Staff College, Quetta, the first Indian to command a battalion, and was also one of the first two Indians selected to undergo training at the Imperial Defence College, Camberley, UK.
Field Marshal Cariappa made his voice clear when Skeen Committee was set up in 1939 to examine the options of Indianisation of Indian Army’s ranks.
As Cariappa was one of the senior most Indian officers with about 19 years of service, the committee held several discussions with him. He expressed his displeasure at the treatment of Indian officers in the Army.
He decried the discrimination shown towards Indian officers in terms of appointments, promotions, benefits and allowances British officers were entitled to.
He is known for ‘Operation Kipper’, ‘Operation Easy’ and ‘Operation Bision’ done to capture Naushera, Jhangar, Poonch, Zoji la, Dras and Kargil areas in Kashmir during 1947 and 1948.
The operations aimed to drive out Pakistanis from Kashmir, but they were stopped by the intervention of the United States. While Army headquarters asked not to launch any operations, Cariappa protested against it and launched several strikes in the Ladakh region allowing India to assert control over the region.
Cariappa took over the reins of the Indian Army 15 January 1949, that was marked as official Army Day and celebrated annually.
As chief of the Army, Cariappa was instrumental in the formation of the Territorial Army in 1949. He extended support to the National Cadet Corps (NCC) during its formative years. These two complimentary branches of the Army later proved to be very helpful in the wars India fought in later years.
He also adopted the Indian National Army slogan ‘Jai Hind’: it became a phrase for the personnel to greet each other in the Army.
He turned down the proposal to reserve vacancies in the Army for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as had been done in other government services. He stated that the proposal would degrade the Army’s standards and increase the risk of it being defeated if right talent was not recognised.
Cariappa took part in the reorganisation of the armed forces in many foreign countries. He was awarded the Legion of Merit in the degree of Chief Commander by American President Harry S. Truman.
As a mark of recognition for the commendable service rendered by him to the nation, the Government of India conferred the rank of Field Marshal on Cariappa 28 April 1986, at a special investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
source: http://www.newstoday.net / News Today / Home> Chennai / by S. Vishnu Sharmaa / June 23rd, 2018
