Wars: Caused by politicians, but fought by soldiers

Major General (retd) Ian Cardozo, AVSM, SM, has dozens of anecLdotes from conflict zones across the country.

- PRIYANKA CHANDANI

It was his courage that made him cut off a badly wounded leg with his own khukri after stepping on a landmine in the final days of the India-Pakistan war of 1971.

"Where is my khukri, I asked my Gorkha batman Balbahadur," the officer recalled on the sidelines of the release earlier this month of his ninth book, Cartoos Sahab-a name given to him by his Gorkha Regiment soldiers. "When he pulled it out, I said cut off my leg. He refused. So I cut it off and told him to bury it."

"Poor chap," Mr Cardozo continued, as he remembered Balbahadur, then quipped, "I now have a piece of land in Bangladesh."

Though his adventures in war zones ended in 1971 and he was declared unfit for field postings, Mr Cardozo had not joined the Army to sit behind a desk and refused a staff position. As he recounts it, he ran for six or seven hours every day and appeared for a running test with his one good leg and prostheses and left seven two-legged officers behind. With sheer determination, seven years after the Bangladesh incident, he went on to command an infantry battalion and then a brigade, the first war-disabled Indian Army officer to hold these positions. life is said to be the inspiration for the upcoming Akshay Kumar-starrer Gorkha, though the general finds the movies far removed from the reality of military life.

At the Tata literature festival, flaunting a yellow marigold to honour the unknown soldiers who died fighting wars, Mr Cardozo is still overwhelmed by the number of deaths he has seen and how not enough is done for those who die on the frontlines.

Excerpts from an interview: What made you write 'Cartoos Sahab' and relive a time that wasn't pleasant for you and your family?