Krishnaswamy Sundarji: Difference between revisions

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{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}

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| birth_place  = [[Chengelpet]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]] (Present-day [[Chengalpattu]], [[Chengalpattu district]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]])</small>

| branch        = {{army|British Raj}}<br>{{army|India}}

| unit          = [[Mahar Regiment]]

| commands      = [[File:IA_Western_Command.jpg|20px]] [[Western Command (India)|Western Army]]<br/>[[XXXIII Corps (India)|XXXIII Corps]]<br/>[[1st Armoured Division (India)|1st Armoured Division]]

[[General (India)|General]] '''Krishnaswamy "Sundarji" Sundararajan''', [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal|PVSM]] (28 April 1928 &ndash; 8 February 1999),<ref name="services_chiefs"/> was the [[Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army]] from 1986 to 1988.<ref name="bharat">{{cite web | url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Personnel/Chiefs/156-K-Sundarji.html | title=General Krishnaswamy Sundarji | access-date=19 August 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527183522/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Personnel/Chiefs/156-K-Sundarji.html | archive-date=27 May 2013 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was the last former [[British Indian Army]] officer to command the Indian Army.<ref name="services_chiefs">{{cite book |last1=Abidi |first1=S. Sartaj Alam |last2=Sharma |first2=Satinder |date=2007 |title=Services Chiefs of India |location=New Delhi |pages=74–75 |publisher=Northern Book Centre |isbn=978-81-7211-162-5 }}</ref>

During his army career, he had commanded the [[Operation Blue Star]] under orders from [[Indira Gandhi]] to clear the [[Harmandir Sahib|Golden Temple]] shrine. Widely respected as a scholar warrior, he was regarded as one of the most promising Generals of Independent [[India]]. He introduced a number of technology initiatives to the Indian Army.<ref>{{cite web |title=Second General K Sundarji Memorial Lecture |url=https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1571233 |website=pib.gov.in}}</ref>  He was also questioned for his role in recommending the [[Bofors]] howitzer in the [[Bofors Scandal]]. As the Chief of Army Staff, he planned and executed [[Operation Brasstacks]], a major military exercise, along the [[Rajasthan]] border.

Sundarji was born into a Tamil brahmin family in [[Chengelpet]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] on 28 April 1928.<ref name="services_chiefs"/> His official name was Krishnaswamy Sundararajan, but he was popularly known by the informal name of Sundarji. He studied at the [[Madras Christian College]] only to leave it before receiving a degree. Later in his career, he graduated from the [[Defence Services Staff College]] (DSSC) at [[Wellington, Tamil Nadu]]. He also studied at the [[Command and General Staff College]] at [[Fort Leavenworth]] in the US, and the [[National Defence College, India|National Defence College]] in [[New Delhi]]. He held a [[Master of Arts]] in international studies from [[Allahabad University]] and an [[MSc]] in defence studies from [[Madras University]].

In the period following India's [[Indian independence movement|independence]], he saw action in [[Kargil district]], Jammu and Kashmir, during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948]]. In 1963, he served in the [[UN]] mission in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]], where he was chief of staff of the [[Katanga Province|Katanga]] command and was [[mentioned in dispatches]] for his gallantry.

Sundarji served as the commanding officer of an infantry battalion during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]. He played an important role as Brigadier General Staff (BGS) of a corps in the [[Rangpur, Bangladesh|Rangpur]] sector of [[Bangladesh]], during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]]. This war led to the [[liberation of Bangladesh]]. As an acting brigadier, he was appointed Deputy Military Secretary, Army HQ, on 20 January 1973.<ref name="brig_actg">{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=1279  |date=10 November 1973 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref>

Sundarji was promoted to [[major general]] on 26 July 1974.<ref name="maj_gen">{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=553  |date=19 April 1975 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> For the first time in the history of Indian Army,  an infantry officer became the [[general officer commanding]] (GOC) of the elite [[1st Armoured Division (India)|1st Armoured Division]]. He was chosen by Gen. [[KV Krishna Rao]] to be part of a small team for reorganising the Indian Army, especially with regard to technology. He raised the [[Mechanised Infantry Regiment]] by amalgamating various battalions from the army's premier infantry regiments.

He was promoted to [[lieutenant general]] on 5 February 1979.<ref name="lt_gen">{{cite news |title=Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch) |page=791  |date=1 September 1979 |publisher=The Gazette of India}}</ref> In 1984, he led [[Operation Blue Star]], intended to evict [[Sikh]] extremists who had occupied the [[Golden Temple]] in [[Amritsar]]. The Indian Army marched into the temple with their boots. He later said "We went inside with humility in our hearts and prayers on our lips". According to his wife, Sundarji emerged a changed man after this operation.<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000306/nation.htm#14 Tribune.com].  Accessed 10 March 2007.</ref>

In 1986, he was promoted to [[General (India)|General]] and appointed [[Chief of Army Staff (India)|Chief of Army Staff]] (COAS) after the assassination of General [[Arun_Shridhar_Vaidya|A.S. Vaidya]]. After taking over as COAS, he wrote a letter to his soldiers warning of deteriorating standards, and the evil of sycophancy. His operation at [[Sumdorong Chu]] in 1986, known as [[1987 Sino-Indian skirmish|Operation Falcon]], was widely praised. The Chinese had occupied Sumdorong Chu and Sundarji used the [[Indian Air Force]]'s new airlift capability to land a brigade in Zimithang, north of [[Tawang]]. Indian forces took up positions on the Hathung La ridge, across the [[Namka Chu]] river, where India had faced a humiliating defeat in 1962. The Chinese responded with a counter-build-up and adopted a belligerent tone. Western diplomats predicted war and some of prime minister [[Rajiv Gandhi]]'s advisers blamed Sundarji's recklessness. But Sundarji stood by his steps, at one point telling a senior aide, "Please make alternate arrangements if you think you are not getting adequate professional advice." The confrontation petered out.

In 1987, the Indian government agreed to a Sri Lankan request and the [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]] was sent to [[Jaffna]] to disarm the [[LTTE]]. However, the Indian Army had no experience in unconventional jungle warfare and took heavy casualties. Among the few successes was the bombing of the LTTE controlled jetties by the Indian Navy Marine Commandos (MARCOS) then known as the Indian Navy Special Commando Force. The IPKF force was withdrawn in 1990.

Sundarji was amongst the most far-sighted armoured corps commanders in the Indian Army.<ref>{{cite web |title=General Krishnaswamy Sundarji – Bharat Rakshak – Indian Army & Land Forces |url=https://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/personnel/chiefs/156-k-sundarji.html |website=www.bharat-rakshak.com}}</ref> Despite being commissioned in the infantry, he was a keen student and admirer of tank warfare. He pioneered various operational guidelines and challenged his commanders to push the machines and men to the limits. In various exercises he is known to have ordered tanks full speed up sand dunes in the [[Thar desert]] in 70 degree heat. Amongst other things he designed the all black uniform of the [[Indian Army Armoured Corps|Armoured Corps]]. He then went on to create the [[Mechanised Infantry Regiment]]. With emphasis on speed, technology and mobile weaponry it is now an integral part of the Indian strike corps.

Sundarji can also be credited for shaping modern Indian Army thinking. In his stint as the Commandant of the College of Combat (now [[Army War College, Mhow]]), he practically rewrote the war manual with emphasis on speed, decisive action, technology and his abiding love – armour. Sundarji was also one of the few to predict the total rout of the Iraqi forces in the [[Gulf War]]. Writing for [[India Today]], he was amongst the few who clearly saw what superior air power and technology could do.

He also left behind a partially completed autobiography titled ‘Of Some Consequence: A Soldier Remembers', of which he had completed 33 episodes out of a planned 105.

Sundarji married Padma Sundarji when he was a major. They had two children, Pria and Vikram. In 1978, when he was serving as [[general officer commanding]] (GOC) XXXIII Corps in the Eastern Command, she died of cancer at the Army Hospital, Delhi Cantonment. Later, he married for the second time. His second wife, Vani, wrote the introductory chapter of Sundarji's memoirs ''Of some consequence – A soldier remembers'', which was published after his death.<ref name="VaniBook">{{cite web|url=http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/20000306/ina06001.html |title=Operation Bluestar' left Gen Sundarji a changed man|publisher=Indian Express |date=2000-03-06 |access-date=2014-01-14}}</ref>

|Samar Seva Medal

|Paschimi Star

|Raksha Medal

|Sangram Medal

|align="center" |[[File:Lieutenant_Colonel_of_the_Indian_Army.svg|35px]] || [[Lieutenant Colonel]] || Indian Army || 26 November 1965<ref name="lt_col"/>

 

[[Category:Alumni of the National Defence College, India]]