Author: N. Chokkan

Publisher: Pustaka Digital Media

Published: 2020-05-15

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13:

India Vs Pakistan. No. This is not a cricket match hyped-up by media. We are talking about war, real war! This war is nothing new. It started even before the new country "Pakistan" existed, and still continuing for more than 60 years. In the mid forties, our freedom struggle movement was reaching its peak. At one point, British authorities decided they can't hold us anymore and decided to leave the country. A grand success to generations of freedom fighters! But, this victory came with an added headache. Our British rulers also decided to split India into two pieces, and create a new country called Pakistan. Means, effectively they were granting freedom to two countries, not one. This is exactly what happened in case of Pakistan too. Even after their new country was officially formed on August 14th 1947, they were still not satisfied. According to them, many states that now belonged to Independent India should be theirs. Mainly, Kashmir! During that time, Jawaharlal Nehru was the Indian Prime Minister. He didn't like wars. Personally, he wanted India to have good relationship with all her neighbors, and believed that will make the whole south Asia a peaceful destination. After all, Pakistan was not attacking India directly. If India also gets into such backdoor tactics, things will get ugly, and Nehru didn't want it. The entire world respected Nehru as a leader. So, if Pakistan makes a wrong move, they will be in huge trouble. So they were waiting for a good opportunity to attack India directly. That happened after Nehru's life time. India now had a new prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Supposed to be a short, calm person, well respected, but not as huge a personality as Nehru. So, Pakistan decided to attack India directly. Its president Ayub Khan ordered their army to make explicit advances in Kashmir, across Indian border. Now, India went into serious dilemma. Should they attack Pakistan? What happens to Nehru's peace projects? Does that mean we give away Kashmir? Everyone looked at Lal Bahadur Shastri for advice. On May 27, 1965, Prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri addressed India in a large meeting organized in Delhi Ramlila Ground. This inspired the whole nation. Millions of citizens were mentally prepared to fight the war, either in the battlefield directly, or by performing their duties religiously, by collecting money, by supporting the soldiers in various other ways. We were able to fight Pakistan and teach them a good lesson too! During this war, Lal Bahadur Shastri also coined a term "Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan". Meaning, "Victory to Soldiers, Victory to Farmers". This simple slogan characterized India's respect, for those who protect its borders, and for those who provide food in our plates. This way, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the face of Indian Public. He was a living proof that a simple citizen of India can grow to its top position and lead the country to great heights. Everyone started looking at him with respect!