By Arrangenmenr with India STRATEGIC
By Mahendra Ved
New Delhi. Circumstances, abrup t and beyond my control, changed my deployment as a correspondent assigned to report the impending war in 1971. Instead of going to the East Pakistan border, I was sent to Jodhpur, the Headquarters of the Indian Army’s Southern Command. United News of India (UNI) news agency where I worked as a young reporter, felt that a senior colleague assigned earlier to Jodhpur was needed in New Delhi.
The Army gave uniforms to journalists, to let them merge in the colours of operational identity and camouflage, without any badges or ranks. Reassigned, the colour of my uniform changed from bottle green to khaki to match the terrain. Only the AIR correspondent, representing the official media, wore the Major’s rank.
Preparations were on all across, and the media had been alerted and readied well in advance. Journalists moved, with speed, just as the Movement Orders came from the Ministry of Defence.
For details, please check here.
