Files reveal how Nehru jettisoned Non-Alignment in 1962

"Let him not commit the error that they had fallen into the past by thinking that they could ask for the aid of any power outside."

With these rhetorical words at Calcutta's Shraddhanand Park on February 21, 1942, Jawaharlal Lal Nehru had lambasted Subhas Chandra Bose. He was displeased that Bose had sought help from foreign countries in the hour of India's peril.

He added: "Therein lay dangers; therein lay peril; and if any of them thought in those terms, it was not any kind of courage, it was a sign of cowardice."

Twenty years fast forward, Nehru - the father of Non-Alignment and an apostle of peace second to only Mahatma Gandhi - was at the helm of affairs as India faced the most devastating crisis since Independence.

The Chinese had invaded India and impoverished Indian defences were collapsing like - I hate to use the phrase - a pack of cards.

High on Gandhian ideal that "violence can only be overcome through non-violence" even in the realm of national security, the political leadership had brought this misfortune upon India.

Immediately after 1947, Sir Rob Lockhart, first commander-in-chief of free India's armed forces, went to India's first prime minister to discuss the defence policy.

"We don't need a defence policy," Nehru is said to have told him. "Our policy is ahimsa. We foresee no military threats. As far as I am concerned you can scrap the Army - the police are good enough to meet our security needs."

"Gandhism will land free India in a ditch - if free India is sought to be rebuilt on Gandhian, non-violent principles. India will then be offering a standing invitation to all predatory powers," Subhas Bose had warned in 1940.

It unfortunately came to pass in 1962.

Also read - How Kennedy supported India against China in 1962 war

And what did the father of Non-Alignment and world's foremost votary of disarmament do in the hour of India's peril?

Well, he beseeched the president of the United States for military support - which would have involved the stationing of thousands of American defence personnel in India to save us from the Chinese.

No one in India got a whiff of Nehru's secret approach to the US till 1963 when Sudhir Ghose, an eminent Gandhian, heard it from the horse's mouth. Pro-India John F Kennedy revealed to Ghose, an ambassador-at-large for Indian interests since pre-Independence days, that the Chinese attack of the previous year had made Prime Minister Nehru beseech for US military support.

With a view to highlighting Nehru's pragmatism, Ghose broke the news during a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on March 15, 1965:

"One great power knows how to give a signal to another great power, and it is not widely known that a signal was given by one side to the other that, if they advanced any further, they would be forcing the hands of the president of the United States. The American aircraft carrier with all its means of destruction was there, not on the initiative of the American president; it was there at the request of Prime Minister Nehru of India, who had asked for American air protection, which was provided by President Kennedy. In the hour of our danger, so proud a man as our former prime minister, realised that, in the last analysis, it was not a practical proposition to defend India from the military might of Communist China without using the military might of the United States. That was the background of the prime minister's famous remark that there was going to be no Non-Alignment where China was concerned."

Rattled by Ghosh's comment, Communist and Congress MPs mauled him in the House on March 19. Communist leader Bupesh Gupta led the charge against Ghosh.

"Our party led a delegation to the late prime minister [Nehru] and we met him. I was there. It is said that the matter was discussed in November 1962. He had said no such thing. He absolutely denied it to us. The delegation was led by our party chairman, Comrade Dange. I was there. He said no such thing. He had not made any such request. I do not know of any such thing.

"Therefore, today I remember. I am in a position to say that the prime minister has not said any such thing. I find the Congress member making a serious statement. It has serious international repercussions. I ask whether he has been put up, advised by some American friends and so on, to say such a thing. I do not know that. But I think the government should come out and immediately make a statement."

On March 22, Prime Minister Shastri made a statement in the House:

"[Ghosh] had said that at the time of the Chinese attack on India in 1962, a US aircraft carrier equipped with supersonic planes was present off Calcutta just outside the territorial waters of India and that the aircraft carrier was there at the request of the late Prime Minister Nehru. Neither of these statements is correct. There was no US aircraft carrier in the Bay of Bengal in November or December, 1962 nor was an aircraft carrier asked for. As the House is well aware, it was repeatedly stated by the Prime Minister in his broadcast and in his statement in Parliament at that time that it was for us Indians to resist the Chinese aggression with the assistance of friendly countries. In that hour of crisis, there was a generous response to our appeal for sympathy and support from many friendly countries. The United States gave us valuable help then and has since helped us in building up our defensive strength."

Also read - How China is building warships as India sleeps

Having lost face, Ghose shot off a personal letter to Shastri, telling him that his clarification made no difference to the substance of his statement that India had sought military support from the US. But he was further humiliated when the US State Department backed Prime Minister Shastri's statement that Nehru did not ask for an American aircraft carrier.

Ghose died in 1967 at a comparatively young age of 51. The Top Secret letter Nehru wrote to Kennedy proving Ghosh's contention about seeking armed assistance is in public domain without any cuts - thanks to the John F Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum.

In his letter, delivered to US president by ambassador BK Nehru, the PM painted a grim picture of India's rout.

"The entire Brahmaputra Valley is seriously threatened and unless something is done immediately to stem the tide the whole of Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Nagaland would also pass into Chinese hands."

The PM feared that the Chinese had "poised massive forces in the Chumbi Valley between Sikkim and Bhutan and another invasion from that direction appears imminent".

"Our areas further north west on the border with Tibet in the states of UP, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are also threatened. In Ladakh, as I have said in my earlier communication, Chushul is under heavy attack and shelling of the airfield at Chushul has already commenced. We have also noticed increasing air activity by the Chinese air force in Tibet."

Nehru underlined the gravity of situation in these words:

"The situation that has developed is, however, really desperate. We have to have more comprehensive assistance if the Chinese are to be prevented from taking over the whole of eastern India. Any delay in this assistance reaching us will result in nothing short of a catastrophe for our country."

Also read - Why China is desperate to make friends with the world

Then he went on to outline what land of ahimsa needed to save her the dragon's onslaught.

"… a minimum of 12 squadrons of supersonic all-weather fighters are essential. We have no modern radar cover in the country. For this also we seek your assistance. Our needs are most immediate. The United States air force personnel will have to man these fighters and radar installations while our personnel are being trained.

"Determined as we are to liberate all parts of our territory which may pass into the hands of the Chinese aggressors it is clear that sooner or later we would have to neutralise their bases and airfields by striking from the air. For this purpose I request you to consider assisting us with two squadrons of bombers of B-47 type. To man this indispensible arm we would like to send immediately our pilots in and technicians for training/the United States."

As he read the text of the letter transmitted telegraphically, Ambassador Nehru, a cousin of the prime minister, felt his heart sinking. Understanding very well the devastating implications on the image of India and the prime minister, he locked the letter in the ambassador's personal safe.

PS: One of the issues on which the JNU student movement has been berating the Narendra Modi government is that of playing second fiddle to the US. If they are made aware of this instance, one wonders if they would still want their dear university to remain named after him.