ANURAG THAKUR, PRESIDENT, BJYM DEMANDS…
ANURAG THAKUR, PRESIDENT, BJYM DEMANDS DECLASSIFICATION OF THE HENDERSON BROOKS REPORT IN OCTOBER 2012
HENDERSON BROOKS REPORT – 1962 INDO-CHINA WAR
HAMIRPUR MP AND BJYM NATIONAL PRESIDENT ANURAG THAKUR HAD DEMANDED DECLASSIFICATION OF THE HENDERSON BROOKS REPORT IN OCTOBER 2012
Anurag Thakur has actively raised 36 questions in Indian Parliament relating to the Defence Ministry for national security and welfare of ex-servicemen
New Delhi / Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, 18 March 2014: Hamirpur MP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) National President Anurag Thakur had demanded for the declassification of the Henderson Brooks Report during his Shaheed Shradhaanjali Yatra from Guwahati (Assam) to Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh) via Tezpur, Bomdila and Dirang, on 18-21 October 2012, which was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the month-long Indo-China war of 1962. MP Anurag Thakur had flagged off the 2012 BJYM rally in the presence of the 1962 war veterans and their families to honour India’s 1962 war heroes, express solidarity with their family members, awaken the patriotic spirit amongst Indians, and help create awareness about the situation prevalent at our borders.
India had suffered a catastrophic military defeat in the ill-fated war, which experts believe could have been averted.
Today, 126 pages of this still-classified report were reported to be leaked and made available in public domain by Australian journalist and author Neville Maxwell, who had earlier published a gist of the report way back in 1970 in his book titled India’s China War. Media reports cited Maxwell as saying that the report revealed that the Army “could have put its foot down and prevented the execution of a militarily unsound policy”. He also said he did not believe the report in any way had “operational value” or endangered national security.
Says BJYM President and Member of Parliament Anurag Thakur, “Even after more than 50 years of the Indo-China war, the government has been mysteriously withholding from the country the truth of what happened during the 1962 war during Jawahar Lal Nehru’s Prime Ministership. The army’s version differs from the so-called-truth that the government has been trying to portray. The public demands to know the truth, and this leak will help shed some light to what actually happened way back in 1962, and if India could have avoided that humiliating defeat. At least now, I demand that the government will make public the rest of the pages of this important piece of history as well, so India can learn from its shortcomings and be better prepared for any contingency in future.”
On 18 October 2012, Anurag Thakur had tweeted, “BJYM demands that the Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report on 1962 Sino-India War be made public”. It may be noted here that since 2009, Anurag Thakur has actively raised 36 questions in Indian Parliament concerning security issues and the Defence Ministry, including issues of Indo-China Border Defence Cooperation Agreement, Intrusion into Indian Territory, one rank one pension, shelling on LoC, utilization of defence land, military training for youth, delays in defence procurements, Funds for Welfare of Ex-servicemen, Re-Employment to Ex-Servicemen, Military Infrastructure on Border, Purchase of Transport Aircraft, Army Formation for Line of Defence, establishing a National War Memorial, among others.
Brigadier JP Dalvi, who was the Commander of the 7th Infantry Brigade in the North-East Frontier Agency which was annihilated by the Chinese Army and who was imprisoned by the Chinese for six months, wrote a book titled, “Himalayan Blunder: The angry truth about India’s most crushing military disaster” where he states that despite others being more capable, B. M. Kaul was made the General, citing his close friendship with Nehru.