Look back on 1962

THE Henderson Brooks report on the 1962 India-China border conflict has come under the scanner. It supplements Neville Maxwell’s book, ‘India China War’, which was published in 1970. The Henderson Brooks report has been under the classified category and is inaccessible for scholarly research. After the defeat in 1962, the Indian government gave two generals, Henderson Brooks and Premindro Singh Bhagat, the job of researching on the matter. The report ascribes India’s defeat to interfering politicians, incompetent military leadership and unrealistic strategy in the country. It has been made clear in the report that India’s forward policy in Ladakh and Nefa was responsible to a large extent for bringing on the hostilities. The Henderson Brooks report has been gathering dust in the archives for decades. Delhi continues to shroud it in secrecy though its contents have been public knowledge since 1970. Having commissioned it, the government cannot wish the report away but finds the contents unpalatable.
The government should declassify the report. The 30 year ban is long since over. In 2010, the then defence minister declared that it was top secret. The findings can go against India’s foreign policy concerns, the South Block felt. In 2009, the Central Information Commission had the same take on the issue. However, the official history of the 1962 conflict is available on the internet and it leans heavily on the Henderson Brooks report. It flies in the face of reason why the report is still kept under wraps. Relations between India and China have gone through periodic mutations since 1962.