Now Reading: Retired general recalls India’s transformation from Partition to Kargil
-
01
Retired general recalls India’s transformation from Partition to Kargil
Lieutenant General Arvind Mahajan, who retired in 2007 after nearly four decades in the Indian Army, says his generation helped shape a newly independent India. Born in 1947, he served in forward…
The Story in Brief
Lieutenant General Arvind Mahajan, who retired in 2007 after nearly four decades in the Indian Army, says his generation helped shape a newly independent India. Born in 1947, he served in forward areas including Ladakh, Joshimath and the former North-East Frontier Agency, now Arunachal Pradesh. He recalls a time of poor roads, weak communications, rationing and limited facilities.
Mahajan says highways, tunnels, bridges and modern communications have changed border regions, while India has also expanded in education, healthcare, technology, energy and the economy. He describes the 1962 war with China as a major influence on his generation’s decision to join the armed forces. He calls the Kargil War one of the defining experiences of his career and links India’s national growth to the technological evolution of the Army’s EME Corps.
The Indian Opinion
Mahajan’s account resists both easy nostalgia and triumphalism. Claims that India’s progress has been uniform overlook the shortages, wars and uneven access that marked his early years, while blanket claims of transformation can obscure persistent gaps in border infrastructure and public services. His experience offers a useful test: whether today’s roads, communications and energy gains reach remote communities as reliably as they serve strategic needs.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
