Gen Sagat Singh, the hero of the 1971 war, was a military genius who never lost against any enemy, including the Chinese. His famous words: “I don’t know what fear is.” Here are memories of the man born in a Churu village of Rajasthan

Lt Gen Sagat Singh stands right behind Gen Niazi (signing the Instrument of Surrender). Photo courtesy: Ministry of Defence

In the life of our young Republic, the cold month of December brings each year — since 1971 — the warm memories of the war for the liberation of Bangladesh. The war that month that year was a principled victory on a foreign soil of which any nation can take genuine and enduring pride. In a larger sense, it was not India’s war — it was an unprecedented unjust human conflict thrust upon us. And, in a way, it was India’s war. It was our armed forces’ and our uniformed services’ war. Among the known men and women who brought us glory are the well-known heroes who were deservingly decorated with medals and commendations. There were able military personnel led by the three eminent service chiefs. All these, combined with the scintillating political leadership of Indira Gandhi, are rightly part of the folk lore of our national life. There is also one not-so-well-known hero of that war. His role became a major factor in the quick and decisive victory. Yet he was neither adequately decorated nor given his due. He was rather made to fade out in humiliation. I’m talking of Lieutenant General Sagat Singh, the then General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Tezpur-based 4 Corps.General Sagat was unknown to me until 1991 when I was fortunate to meet his son, Major (later Colonel) Ranvijay Singh in Baroda (now Vadodara). I was a deputy commissioner of police in Baroda when we (Baroda and Bombay police) had a fierce encounter with militants owing allegiance to the Khalistan Commando Force from January 24-26, 1991. To flush out the militants, who were sheltered in a three-storey house in the heart of the Baroda city, the help of the National Security Guard was requisitioned. During the NSG operation, one experienced commando lost an eye in a splinter injury. Maj Ranvijay came after a couple of days as a part of the case study. I took him around the encounter site and briefed him. Then, over lunch, he told me about his father, General Sagat Singh, the hero of the 1971 war and the military genius who never lost against any enemy, including the Chinese. He told me that when Dacca (now Dhaka) fell, the Indian Army found a dossier on his father prepared by the Pakistani Army which mentioned that Sagat Singh is the Indian general who should be feared most as he had never lost any battle against any enemy anywhere. What a tribute from an enemy! Then he narrated how his father, despite getting injured by the machine-gun fire, successfully conducted the very daring, hitherto unknown night-time heli-borne operations over the rivers and the treacherous terrain, which made the fall of Dacca possible so quickly and decisively, leading to the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani Army personnel. After the Instrument of Surrender was signed on December 16, 1971 — two days and 45 years ago — Indira Gandhi visited Dacca and profusely thanked General Sagat Singh, and saw to it that he stayed in Dacca — a la General Douglas MacArthur in the post-World War II Japan — to assist the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman government.Ranvijay continued as to how his father always led from the front and, no matter how difficult a mission was, carried the under-command with him, how even as a very senior commander, he exposed himself routinely to danger, how he narrowly escaped death many times at many places, how he went beyond the call of duty and achieved the “task plus” by capturing Dacca in a very unique way. Ranvijay also told me how his father differed in tactics and strategy with the higher command, and that how courageously he lived his life.The images linger on. So when towards the end of 1991, I happened to go to Jaipur, I called on the great man. General Sagat and his wife, Kamla Kumari, were very kind to receive us at ‘Meghna’, their appropriately named bungalow after the river in Bangladesh, and showered much warmth and extended great hospitality. Sagat, a strikingly handsome and supremely confident man, now in the autumn of life, at 6′ 3″ — towering over us all — was ramrod straight, and with no bitterness. Among many things that he told me, one thing distinctly stands out in my mind. He said: “Bhay kya hota hai, maine aaj tak nahi jana (I know not what fear is).” I have not known anyone — before or since — who can say it with such conviction.General Sagat Singh passed away in the year 2001. A large number of people in Jaipur attended his prayer meeting. One former Army officer told me that there he had heard many stories of bravery of General Sagat. This further evoked my interest in the life of this man. The Sagat-saga begins in the year 1919 in the sands of western Rajasthan where Sagat was born in a village called Kusumdesar in Churu district. After humble beginnings, he was recruited as a Naik (corporal) in the Bikaner Ganga Risala (Bikaner State Force) at a young age of 19. When the Second World War commenced, he got the commission as an officer and was sent to the Middle East, where he served with distinction. After Independence, he was absorbed into the Third Gorkha Rifles, where he had the honor of commanding two battalions. As a Brigadier, he commanded the prestigious 50 Para Brigade at Agra, successfully leading it to liberate Goa in the December of 1961. The year 1961 may well be termed as the beginning of the ‘Great Decade’ for him, culminating into the high-point of the Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. In between Goa and Bangladesh, came two other high-water marks: whipping the Chinese in Sikkim and successfully dealing with the Mizo insurgency.In 2013, Major General (retired) Randhir Sinh, who was ADC to General Sagat Singh, wrote a very readable and instructive biography, A Talent For War: The Military Biography of Lt Gen Sagat Singh. The soldier-scholar late Lieutenant General SK Sinha in his foreword has the following to say:“This biography … describes in detail how the most distinguished battlefield commander of the Indian Army conducted operations during the liberation of Goa, handled insurgency in Mizoram, broke the myth of ten feet tall Chinese soldiers by getting the better of them during a big skirmish in Sikkim and provided dynamic leadership to his Corps against all odds, leading his formation from the front in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. His outstanding leadership was a major factor contributing to the unprecedented victory of Indian Army in over a millennium.” After the war, when Gen Sagat was superseded and his junior, Lt Gen KK Singh, was made his boss, Gen Sinha said, “… I considered it very unfortunate that the higher-ups should treat a war hero who had done so much for the country in such an unfair and unjust manner.” On Sagat’s death, Lt Gen KK Singh pays him the ultimate tribute: “… a great General who had become a legend in his lifetime. India will not see the likes of Sagat Singh again.”It was a joy to hear that in March 2013, the Government of Bangladesh invited and honoured my friend Colonel (retired) Ranvijay Singh and Damyanti, his wife, to Dhaka to pay tribute to his father, General Sagat Singh, the liberator of Bangladesh. A thoughtful gesture from a grateful nation.Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw said: “If a man says he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying or he is a Gurkha.” I might add: or a Sagat Singh.