China and the Gen Naravane book controversary
I decided to write on the book controversary after actually reading the manuscript of the book, which is yet to be published and because I thought the row in Parliament and on social media lacked an understanding of the facts, or the background in which a sentence in a 400 page book was taken out of context. While I believe there was nothing wrong in how this particular incident was handled (and the outcome was in our favour) it was to me, as someone exposed to corporate decision making, and as an amateur enthusiast in military history, a case study on the interaction between the political and military leadership in a conflict. The controversary. A paragraph in the book suggested that when Chinese tanks approached an Indian position on 31st August 2020, Gen. Naravane repeatedly asked the political leadership for instructions, to be told a couple of hours later - `Jo uchit samjo vo karo’ (do what you think is right). General Naravane stated that he had been handed a hot potato and t...