Remembering Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw on 12th Death Anniversary With His Memorable Quotes

Today, i.e. June 27, 2020, is the 12th death anniversary of Indian Army’s first Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw. Field Marshal Manekshaw was the eighth Indian Army chief. He was the brain behind India’s victory against Pakistan in 1971. Manekshaw was born in a Parsi family on April 3, 1914, to Hormizd Manekshaw and Hilla Mehta, in Amritsar. He did his schooling from Sherwood College, Nainital. Manekshaw was part of the first batch of cadets – called Pioneers, who joined the India Indian Military Academy in 1932.

After completing the training he was commissioned into the British Indian Army in 1934. During the World War II Manekshaw was awarded Military Cross for his gallantry. Field Marshal Manekshaw during his military career spanning four decades fought four wars – World War –II, 1948 Kashmir War Against Pakistan and Afghan tribals, 1962 Indo-Sino war, 1951 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars. After the partition of 1947 Field Marshal Manekshaw was first reassigned to the 16th Punjab Regiment and then moved to 8 Gorkha Rifles. Remembering Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh on His 100th Birth Anniversary; Here Are Highlights of His Decorated Military Career.

Here Are Some Memorable Quotes By Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw:

• Give me a man or a woman with common sense and who is not an an idiot and I assure you can make a leader out of him or her.
• If anyone tell you he is not afraid, he is a liar of or he is a Gurkha.
• You should have to fight and fight to win. There is no roof for the losers. If you ose don’t come back. You will have disgraced the country and the country won’t accept you.
• Professional knowledge and professional competence are the main attributes of leadership.
• Unless you know, and the men you command know that you know your job, you will never be a leader.
• I wonder whether those of our political masters who have been put in charge of the defence of the country can distinguish a mortar from a motor, a gun from a howitzer, guerilla from a gorilla, although great many resemble the latter.
• A ‘yes man’ is a dangerous man. He is a menace. He will go very far. He can become a minister, a secretary or a Field Marshal but he can never become a leader nor, ever be respected.
• Professional knowledge has to be acquired the hard way. It is continuous study and you never acquire it in today’s fast-moving technological world that you are living in.

On January 1, 1973, he became the first General of the Indian Army to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. Manekshaw retired from the Indian Army on January 15, 1973, after serving for 39 years. He was also a recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. After retirement, Field Marshal Manekshaw spent rest of his life in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. At the age of 94 years, Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Manekshaw died on June 27, 2008.

(Picture Courtesy: Twitter)