Neville maxwell,an australian reporter who published one of the two volumes of this report on his website stated and i quote reasons for long term withholding of the report must be political,indeed probably partisan,perhaps even familial. Henderson brooks report made public indian defence forum. Mp a bjd member today sought declassification of the henderson brooks report on 1962 indochina war, saying it would enable people to know about the defeat and learn from it. Lnehrus prestige suffer a huge blow, especially his stature as a statesman and diplomat. Henderson brooks and brigadier premindra singh bhagat in parliament.
An introduction neville maxwell april1420, 2001a defence ministry committee is reported to have recommended releasing intothe public domain, the official reports on indias wars against pakistan 1947,1965 and 1971. Even if the founder of the postindependence dynasty, jawaharlal nehru may have emerged in bad light in the henderson brooks report, why put a blanket on the entire archives. Mar 18, 2020 the report by lieutenant general henderson brooks and brigadier general premindra singh bhagat on the 1962 india china war remains a classified document. The only two copies of the 1963 report that clinically analysed independent indias worst military defeat, at the hands of the pla in 1962, lay buried in the vaults of the defence ministry and army headquarters. An introduction neville maxwell april1420, 2001 a defence ministry committee is reported to have recommended releasing into the public domain, the official reports on indias wars against pakistan 1947, 1965 and 1971. There was a grave mismatch between the government and army headquarters in the days leading to the bruising 1962 sinoindian war that saw a crushing defeat of the indian forces, a topsecret document on the conflict that has been posted. It was unexpected that the chinese would attack in. Mar 10, 2017 new delhi, mar 10 pti a bjd member today sought declassification of the henderson brooks report on 1962 indochina war, saying it would enable people to know about the defeat and learn from it.
Navy and coast guard deck logs so that they can be made available online. Political scandal is routine in india during election season. Click to download henderson brooks report as put out by neville maxwell in his blog it is 17 mb lowresolution file and will take time to download completely. A veteran australian journalist has put online the still classified sections of a report on the henderson brooks report on 1962 indochina war.
Commissioned in the wake of the debacle, the report has never been officially declassified. Also the 1962 border war against china, indias intervention in sri lanka and others. In 1962, india and us were that close to becoming allies. New delhi, mar 18 pti bjp mp tapir gao on wednesday demanded that the henderson brooks bhagat report should be tabled in parliament and made public. Last week, defence minister arun jaitleysaid that the declassification of the hendersonbrooks inquiry report into indias military debacle in 1962 will compromise national interest.
Maxwell, the new delhi correspondent for the times, published his controversial 1970 book indias china war based on this report. Too much control there is no reason to hold back the. Last week, defence minister arun jaitleysaid that the declassification of the henderson brooks inquiry report into indias military debacle in 1962 will compromise national interest. Few documents in the contemporary history of india are swathed in as much mystique as the henderson brooks report. A tangled web of inability to understand security issues, prevarication, bureaucratic intrigue, political indecision, allpervasive corruption.
Congress leader amarinder singh demands disclosure of. Recommendations emerging from this war game were forwarded to. The war that wasnt by shiv kunal verma is a courageous book thatwill become a benchmark for the genre of military writing in india. Why didnt modi, as pm, release henderson brooks report on. The report was written by two officers in the indian army. Henderson brooks report on 1962 sinoindian war not being declassified to save political skin. There was a grave mismatch between the government and army headquarters in the days leading to the bruising. Capt amarinder he said the report should have been made public long back. Lieutenant general henderson brooks and brigadier general premindra singh bhagat.
Why didnt modi, as pm, release henderson brooks report on 62. The report was authored by lieutenant general henderson brooks and brigadier p s bhagat, then commandant of the indian military academy, soon after the war. Chinese version of the 1962 war, based on the writings of neville maxwell. My henderson brooks albatross published 7th february, 2014. The hendersonbrooksbhagat report of the 1962 is out. Indias long delay pushed aussie scribe to release report on war. The hendersonbrooks bhagat report parts of the hendersonbrooksbhagat report about the 1962 sinoindian war have been posted by neville maxwell, the author of indias china war on his website. Arunachal pradesh mp tapir gao on march 18 demanded the government to place the 1962 war report of lieutenantgeneral t. Its authors are officers of the indian armed forces. There is nothing new about the henderson brooks p s bhagat report, the only fact that is established by neville maxwell by uploading it on his website is that he indeed possessed a copy as was widely believed, for he has vastly quoted from the report in his book indias china war published eight years after the 1962 blunder. Henderson brooks report on india china 1962 war may be declassified by defence minister. Neville maxwell, the author of indias china war has posted the famous report on his website. There is nothing new about the henderson brooks p s bhagat report, the only fact that is established by neville maxwell by uploading it on his website is that he indeed possessed a copy as was widely believed, for he has vastly quoted from the report in his book indias china war published eight years after the 1962. Mar 18, 2014 the report is critical of the then nehru led governments handling of the situation with china and this report was uploaded by the journalist to his website.
Vermas book is one of the few comprehensive accounts pieced together to give the total picturenot only of the battlescape, but also the political space. Henderson brooks report on 1962 sinoindian war not being. As a result of the war, the indian government commissioned an investigation, resulting in the classified henderson brooksbhagat report on the causes of the war and the reasons for failure. Annexures to the classified henderson brooks report on 1962 indiachina war could contain much more embarrassing details of slipups at the highest levels and unprofessional approach of some key players during the humiliating war. Henderson brooks report lists the guilty men of 1962. Enlarge aircraft carrier uss saratoga cv60 view in national archives catalog please note. Indias top secret 1962 china war report leaked the diplomat.
The henderson brooks morality play the indian express. In his first interview after a snowdenstyle disclosure of the contentious secret report on the 1962 chinaindia war, neville maxwell tells debasish roy chowdhury of the south china morning post. New delhi, mar 10 pti a bjd member today sought declassification of the henderson brooks report on 1962 indochina war, saying it would enable people to know about the defeat and learn from it. The henderson brooks bhagat report of the 1962 is out. Mar 31, 2014 implicit in the leaked henderson brooks report on indias military debacle in 1962 are indian political leadership failures which cry aloud for attention. Table henderson brooks and bhagat report in parliament. Arunachal mp demands govt to declassify henderson brooks and.
Government rules out release of henderson report on 1962. If you want to know about 1962 war, this book is a must. Neville maxwells decision to make public parts of the henderson brooks report on the 1962 war is welcome and long overdue. The report by lieutenant general henderson brooks and brigadier general premindra singh bhagat on the 1962 india china war remains a. Henderson brooks bhagat report on the failure in war. Some sections on the battle of walong as well as annexures and maps are still missinginaction. Live encounters claude arpiherderson brooksbhagat report. Part of the henderson brooksbhagat report on the india. Still considered to be a classified report, more than a 100 pages of a section of the henderson brooks report has been made public. Mar 20, 2014 indias top secret 1962 china war report leaked. The only two copies of the 1963 report that clinically analysed independent indias worst military defeat, at the hands of the pla in 1962, lay buried in the. Classified 1962 war report posted online, blocked later. A section of the confidential henderson brooks bhagat report, which has been lying with the defence ministry for over 50 years now, has now been put online by australian journalist neville maxwell. The operational aspects of the 1962 war have also been discussed threadbare in a host of memoirs and historical studies.
I marked the new century by publishing as an introduction to the henderson brooks report a detailed description, and account of the circumstances in which it was written, explaining its political and military context and summarising its findings epw,april 14, 2001. A classified report released by australian journalist neville maxwell blames jawaharlal nehru and other top officials for the 1962 war. It was commissioned by lt general j n chaudhuri who had just taken over as chief of army staff in 1962. The hbr blogpost says that, in august 1962, xxxiii corps admitted to eastern command that its post was wrongly sited, but not that it was on chinese. Subramanian swamy parrikar told swamy that the henderson brooks report on the 1962 indochina conflict will, with a little editing, be declassified soon, it said. Successive indian political leaderships and pointedly the present one from 20042014 have failed to learn the 1962 lessons. The war of 1962 herderson brooks bhagat report claude arpi claude arpi writes regularly on tibet, china, india and indofrench relations. The report is said to be openly critical of the indian political and mil. The report authored by the then lt general henderson brooks and brigadier ps bhagat was commissioned by the indian army following its humiliating defeat at the hands of the chinese. Hendersonbrooks report holds bureaucracy for defeat in.
For over a halfcentury, the henderson brooks bhagat report has remained a state secret. Make henderson brooks report on 1962 indochina war public. The report is critical of the then nehru led governments handling of the situation with china and this report was uploaded by the journalist to his website. The war of 1962 herderson brooksbhagat report claude arpi reprinted by special permission of claude arpi. This remark in the henderson brooks bhagat report is any way a far cry from the claim by neville maxwell and others that the establishment of the dhola outpost triggered the 1962 war and that. An introduction to the henderson brooks report on indochina war 1962 1. My article the red cross and the 1962 sinoindian conflict appeared in the usi journal here is the link.
Indias performance in highaltitude combat in 1962 led to an overhaul of the indian army in terms of doctrine, training, organisation and equipment. Most importantly, the official history of the war commissioned by the ministry of defence draws on the henderson brooks report and has been available on the internet for some years now. Some documents on the 1962 sinoindian conflict claude arpi. Classified hendersonbrooks report on 1962 war released youtube. Classified 1962 war report posted online, blocked later india news.
Bjp mp the report by lieutenant general henderson brooks and brigadier general premindra singh bhagat on the 1962 india china war remains a classified document. Henderson brooks and brigadier premindra singh bhagat, victoria cross recipient and then the. Mar 20, 2014 neville maxwells decision to make public parts of the hendersonbrooks report on the 1962 war is welcome and long overdue. So in late march, the incumbent government and the opposition began playing tugof war over a dead horse the henderson brooks bhagat report, a classified report examining indias defeat in.
Arunachal mp demands govt to declassify henderson brooks. Embarrassing details of slipups during 1962 war in. Notwithstanding the fact that it apparently indicts late prime minister jawaharlal nehru for indias military defeat in. Why has the henderson brooksbhagat report on the sino. Abstract for the indian nation, the 1962 conflict with china has been one of the most traumatic postindependence events. Embarrassing details of slipups during 1962 war in henderson brooks report new delhi.
Classified hendersonbrooks report on 1962 war released. A large section of the still classified henderson brooks report which indicts former indian prime minister jawaharlal nehru and top government officials for indias failure in the 1962 sino indian war has been made public. Navy deck logs available in the national archives catalog. Revealing indias failures in 1962 war with china can help.
Henderson brooks report on india china 1962 war may be. An introduction to the henderson brooks report on indo. The hendersonbrooks report is out by neville maxwell. Congress leader amarinder singh has demanded disclosure of the henderson brooks report into indias military debacle against china in the 1962 war saying there is no reason for the document to be kept under wraps. Click to download hendersonbrooks report as put out by neville maxwell in his blog it is 17 mb lowresolution file and will take time to download completely. Henderson brooks report lists the guilty men of 1962 india news. Jaitley said that the government is also aware of reports purporting to disclose part of the report on the 1962 war. After the debacle in 1962, the government instituted an enquiry to be conducted by two generals, t. Dhola post, which triggered 1962 war, was on chinas side of mcmahon line. It is still classified india strengthened its army and weapons system wary of china pakistan not the only theat in future.
The report was a result of the government inquiry into the humiliating defeat at the hands of china in the 1962 border war. Pradesh mp tapir gao on march 18 demanded the government to place the 1962 war report of lieutenantgeneral t. Regarding the border being a live issue, if some portions of the report do not tally with the present position of the government of india, it could very well be sanitized or explained that the. Senior congress leader captain amarinder singh on saturday said that the henderson brooks report on the 1962 indiachina war should be made public and that if any politician or general had messed up, it should be admitted. Mar 31, 2014 in his first interview after a snowdenstyle disclosure of the contentious secret report on the 1962 chinaindia war, neville maxwell tells debasish roy chowdhury of the south china morning post. The report spoke of meddlesome politicians, a weak military leadership and emphasized the fact that the strategy of the war was out of touch with reality. For more than 3,000 prisoners of war pows, the experience was particularly harrowing. Annexures to the classified henderson brooks report on 1962 indiachina war could contain much more embarrassing details of slipups at the highest levels and unprofessional approach of. The report by lieutenant general henderson brooks and brigadier general premindra singh bhagat on the 1962 india china war remains a classified. Speaking during the zero hour, gao said it has been 58 years since the 1962 indiachina war but it has not been made public so far. Hendersonbrooks report holds bureaucracy for defeat in 1962 china war ians march 19, 2014 new delhi.