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Chandigarh: It is instructive to recall the enduring legacy of Field Marshal S.H.F.J. Manekshaw on his 111th birth anniversary on April 3 – precisely because it throws into sharp relief how far the Indian Army he once headed has drifted from the standards of institutional honour, apolitical-ness and the uncompromising secularism that once defined it.

Better known as Sam Bahadur – or Sam the Brave, an honorific bestowed on him by his beloved Gurkhas – the highly decorated Manekshaw was the quintessential soldier: magnificently moustachioed, charming, dapper, decisive and above all, impervious to political pressure.

In today’s Indian Army, widely critiqued by veterans and serving personnel alike for growing politicisation and creeping religiosity, Manekshaw’s example shines all the brighter. Cool, bold and decisive, he was deeply considerate of those under his command and, above all, untouched by sectarian influence across a military career spanning four decades.

Sam, as he was affectionately referred to by all, was also refreshingly droll and irreverent – traits now all but extinct in the Indian military, replaced by obsequiousness and unquestioning deference to political authority. As army chief, he listened to his juniors, valued their perspectives and led by example – a stark contrast to the servility of senior servicemen toward officials and politicians that has become commonplace in the country’s armed forces today.

Manekshaw rarely stood on ceremony. With his plain-speaking and earthy style, he inspired an army that achieved what no other force in the world has since World War II: the creation of a new nation, Bangladesh. His leadership fostered genuine jointness among the three services, exemplified by his well-coordinated operations that decisively routed Pakistan in 1971. As Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Manekshaw used his influence to ensure the armed forces’ operational readiness, whilst ably insulating the military from political interference.

Such inter-service integration stands in stark contrast to two successive Chiefs of Defence Staff –General Bipin Rawat and his re-commissioned successor, General Anil Chauhan – who, despite the creation of elaborate defence planning and monitoring structures in late 2019, including the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), have struggled to achieve true jointness.

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Coordination among the three armed forces remains a work in progress, even as General Chauhan prepares to demit office in May, reflecting not only structural and administrative constraints, but also the absence of the firm, unifying leadership that Manekshaw exercised. Without a commanding figure capable of decisively aligning the services, even the most sophisticated frameworks risk underperformance, leaving joint operational effectiveness incomplete.

However, even when confronted with intense political pressure, most notably from prime minister Indira Gandhi, who pressed for immediate action against East Pakistan to stem the influx of Bengali refugees in early 1971, Manekshaw refused to be hurried. One oft-retold account has Gandhi, after visiting the overcrowded refugee camps, asking Manekshaw what the Army could do to address the crisis. “Nothing,” Manekshaw is said to have replied, an answer that stunned her entourage of senior officials and ministers.

Few, if any, had ever spoken so bluntly to a leader accustomed to unquestioned deference, making the episode emblematic of his composure, candour, and professional resolve, a........

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