Of particular importance to Indians is a photograph of the Pakistani Army signing the document of surrender to the joint forces in Dhaka on December 16, 1971. For nearly half a century, Indians have shown this image as a symbol of their 'biggest military victory'. However, on December 16 last year, the photo was removed from the army chief's office.
According to the report of the Indian media NDTV, almost a month after this incident, on Tuesday (January 14), the Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi explained the reason for removing the film.
General Dwivedi said, 'India's glorious history has three chapters—the British era, the Mughal era and the earlier era. The previous image has been removed to create this historical connection with the army's vision.'
The newly installed painting is called 'Field of Deeds' or 'Karam Kshetra'. Which means 'workplace'. According to an NDTV report, this expresses the Army's view. This painting portrays the army as a unified force, the defender of religion, the protector of the nation's values and technologically advanced.
This new painting was painted by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Jacob, an officer of the 28 Madras Regiment of the Indian Army.
In the background of the image are snow-capped mountains, Pangong Lake in Ladakh on the right and Garuda (Vishnu's vehicle in Hindu mythology) and Krishna's chariot and Chanakya (an ancient Indian figurehead on political science and economics) on the left. Besides, images of modern military equipment such as tanks, all-terrain vehicles, petrol boats, indigenous light combat helicopters and Apache attack helicopters are also displayed.
According to the Indian Army Chief, the new painting is a symbol of connecting the Army's past, present and future.
But the new painting has drawn criticism for its depiction of a 'half-clothed' Brahmin on the shores of Pangong Lake. In this regard, General Dwivedi said, “If Indians do not know Chanakya, then they should find the history of their civilization.”
He further said, 'The new painting has been made keeping in mind the current reality. This is a reflection of the army's preparedness especially for the challenges coming from the north of India.'
Army chief Dwivedi clarified that it is not a matter of removing the 1971 painting. He said, 'The army chief has two lounges. The surrender image is in the Manekash Center lounge.'
It may be noted that the background of the picture which was hung in the lounge of the Chief of Army Staff of India was the surrender of the Pakistani army to the joint forces in Dhaka on December 16, 1971. The historic photo shows Pakistan's Lt. Gen. AK Niazi signing the surrender document. Sitting next to him is Indian Army's Eastern Command Chief and Bangladesh-India Joint Force Commander Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Arora. Standing behind them are Bangladesh Commander Air Vice Marshal AK Khandkar, Vice Admiral Krishnan, Air Marshal Dewan, Lt General Swagat Singh and Major General JFR Jacob.
