Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw passes away

27 June 2008

Wellington, India: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, hero of India's victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan, passed away early Friday morning, just after midnight at 00:30 am, the defence ministry said in a statement. He was seriously ill, and was being treated for acute broncho pneumonia with associated complications, according to doctors in attendance at the military hospital here.

His condition had been serious for the past four days, military hospital sources said Thursday, having slipped into coma on Wednesday evening.

 Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was 94 years old.

One of Indian Army's only two Field Marshals, the other being Field Marshal KM Cariappa,  Manekshaw had settled down in Coonoor in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu soon after retirement.

In a long career spanning nearly four decades, Manekshaw rose to be the eighth chief of staff of the Indian Army in 1969. It was under his stewardship that the Indian Army, along with other services, concluded a famous victory over Pakistan in 1971. This victory resulted in the truncation of the two wings of Pakistan, with East Pakistan, as it was then known, being transformed as the independent nation of Bangladesh.

His distinguished military career spanned not just four decades, but also five wars, including World War II.