KONSAM HIMALAY SINGH ********************************* image.png Making of a General by Lt.Gen.Konsam Himalay Singh: Published by Konark Publishers ; Pages 230; Price Rs 800/- ************************************************************** The Occident teems with books on military affairs, including autobiographies and biographies of Generals. We all grew up reading the memoirs of Eisenhower,Patton, Montgomery, De Gaulle, Rommel,General Slim and Wavell. However there has been only a handful of books of this genre in Asia. In India we have books of Brigadier Dalvi ,Gens.J.J.Singh,J.N.Chaudhuri. In view of this absence of authoritative books, we welcome the book “The Making of a General” by Konsam Himalay Singh. Konsam Singh is the first officer from northeast India to become Lieutenant General in the Indian Army and the first military officer from Manipur to reach the ranks of Brigadier and Major General. He was the Chairman of Manipur Public Service Commission and is presently a member of the Consultative Committee of Manipur Government on Naga Peace Talks. He is also a visiting faculty member of Manipur University. Singh was born in Charangpat village in Manipur. He joined the National Defence Academy in Poona. He holds a Post Graduate degree in Defence Studies, and an M Phil in Strategic Studies. He has completed a postgraduate degree in management studies and earned his PhD from the Jammu University. Singh was commissioned into the 2nd battalion, Rajput Regiment in 1978. He commanded the 27th battalion, Rajput Regiment between 1998 and 2000 on the Siachen Glacier and commanded his battalion during the battle of Point 5770 in the Kargil War in 1999, for which he was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal . Singh has been awarded the Chief of Army Staff's commendation card three times during his career. Singh is also a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He was awarded the Param Vishist Seva Medal, Uttam Seva Medal and Ati Vishist Seva Medal. He has vast operational experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir , where he served five tenures within 35 years. His experience included counter-insurgency operations along the Line of Control and HAA (High Altitude Area) environments. He was the commandant of the Infantry School, Mhow after becoming the General Officer Commanding . Singh is married to a physician working with the Central Government Health Service, Delhi, as a Chief Medical Officer. The couple have two daughters. Singh hailing from Manipur has crucial and critical comments on his State based on his experience. He writes, “Looking back now, I regret to remark that our leaders failed the future generations by their omission to address the ethnic tensions that were building up over a period of time soon after the merger of Manipur with the Indian Union. The 20 year transition period from the time of grant of statehood in 1972 to the 1990s has been a rather tragic period. The management of change in the society had not only failed, but a regressive culture in many spheres was noticeable.” Bitter words but true.More on similar lines. “ I found that our world in Manipur and in the region was in constant struggle between modernity and antiquity, between the haves and have-nots, between newly evolving democratic values and the values of the past. Not to mention between Pride and Prejudice !.The way forward appeared to me was to stress on more and more education, cater to spiritual and emotional needs of the people and of course the governance of the day.” What Singh writes on Kargil assumes great importance in view the significant part he played in the Kargil conflict. He explains ‘Operation Meghdoot’--the race to occupy the Saltero Ridge.The attack on Point 5770 is analysed at considerable length. It was a major victory for 27 Rajput.This was one attack in the entire Kargil war where no artillery guns were used and no casualties to own troops occurred inspite of the most unfavourable terrain and challenges of nature besides the vantage position of the enemy. In the words of Maj.Gen Ahok Verma,the capture of the Point 5770 by 27 Rajput under Singh’s command was “perhaps the most incredible action of the Kargil War”. Singh was an intrepid mountaineer and Kanchenjunga called him. We have a thrilling narration of the expedition led by Maj.Gen P.L.Kukrety. What inspired him?. “For me I climb mountains because it makes me feel the nothingness of life. I also wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”. Singh was in the jaws of death, when he slipped inside a yawning crevasse on Zemu Glacier. The height was 16,000 feet .He was dangling about 20 feet inside the crevasse with the possibility of the ice pitons giving way due to melting ice. Three mountaineer colleagues rescued him from the mouth of the bottomless yawning crevasse .A second birth, indeed. Writes the author “The half hour struggle for life inside the crevasse taught me of the ‘Nothingness of Life’. An item of significance is the unseemly controversy that erupted over the age of the then Indian Army chief, General V.K. Singh, with the Supreme Court having to finally settle the matter by refusing to let him reduce this by a year so that his tenure could continue till May 2013 instead of ending in May 2012. The author declared that he had held back information as this "might have further complicated the relationship" between the then army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, and Lt. Gen. Singh, who at that time headed the Kolkata-based Eastern Command. I felt it right to withhold some documents which might have further complicated the relationship between the two." Lt-Gen. Konsam Singh writes : But it is painful that many in the country still harbour a wrong impression that Gen.V.K. Singh tried to manipulate his age to extend his tenure as the COAS. The only document with the Army Headquarters held against him was where he had possibly entered his date of dirth (sic) wrongly at the time of filling up the documents for his entry into the National Defence Academy in 1966. That this semi-legal document which he had signed over 40 years ago as a school boy had primacy over all other legal documents appears unjust," When the was author was asked what exactly was the information withheld and did this not amount to insubordination, he said-- "The concept of insubordination is about whether one disobeyed a 'Lawful Command'. There are, in every officer's journey, many a situation where one has to judge for himself about his own actions and be prepared to face the consequences." This is an extremely interesting book on the journey of a village boy who served his country in a distinguished manner especially during the Kargil War. Compulsory reading for all students of Indian politics, history and members of the military force. P.P.Ramachandran. 13/12/2020.