The General Who Stood By His Convictions

'General Paddy was amongst the last line of generals who stood by his convictions and brooked no interference in matters which were his domain.'

Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah (retd) salutes his former chief who passed away on August 19.

General Padmanabhan was affectionately called 'General Paddy'.

He had led a quiet life after retirement, in literary pursuits, as he had maintained that his last appointment was above all sinecures offered.

He declined them all, for good reasons.

He was amongst the last line of generals who stood by his convictions and brooked no interference in matters which were his domain.

He was deeply religious, honest, professionally competent; a man of few words with a subtle sense of humour.

He meant what he said.

The first time we met was when he came on promotion in 1992 as General Officer-Commanding, Golden Arrow Division, in Punjab.

As Colonel (General Staff) I worked closely with him for more than a year. Punjab, at that time, was in turmoil and militancy was at its peak.

I remember an incident when the police armoury at the railway station was raided by militants, at night. They tied up the policemen and escaped with nine weapons.

I woke up General Paddy, who remained unruffled. He gave me directions and said, 'Let the Quick Reaction Teams handle it'.

He delegated responsibility, had trust in his subordinates and never breathed down their necks as long as action was within the broad frame work of orders.

The 'Kharkgus' (insurgents) were very active during that time and the formation had frequent skirmishes with them.

The Arrow Division carried out many successful operations and the situation was brought under control in Southern Punjab.

General Paddy's calm composure and dynamic leadership had a lot to do with it.

Subsequently as GOC XV Corps, when insurgents were holed up in the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar, General Paddy resisted the temptation to bludgeon them out.

The mistakes from Operation Blue Star were not repeated.

He was army chief during Operation Parakram [2001-2002] in response to the terrorist attack on Parliament. I remember his visit to the Bison Division which I was commanding. I projected several problems. The major one was reorganisation and redistribution of the Division's integral resources.

I emphasised that the training and cohesion we had built up would be severely compromised. My point was accepted and problems were speedily resolved.

The confidence reposed in me by General Paddy was a source of strength when my formation was air lifted to Gujarat in January 2002 to quell the riots.

On the successful completion of the task I took the liberty of visiting his office and handed him a copy of my report on the Gujarat riots (Operation Aman).

He told me, later, that he had personally handed over the same to the then prime minister.

I retired in August 2008 and wrote my memoirs in 2016. I requested General Paddy to pen a note. He magnanimously agreed. It is the best endorsement I have ever received and is printed on the jacket of my book.

In subsequent years, whenever I visited Chennai, I looked up General and Mrs Padmanabhan. They were always warm and hospitable.

Mrs Padmanabhan is the epitome of what an Army wife should be -- supportive, caring and non-interfering.

She has taken her bereavement bravely. We will always stand by her side.

Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah was commissioned in the Regiment of the Artillery in 1968. He served the Indian Army for more than forty years, retiring as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff in 2008. He is popularly known as 'Zoom' by his batchmates and army colleagues.

He spoke to Rediff.com's Archana Masih.

Postscript

Gen Paddy's note on the back cover of General Shah's memoirs:

Many eyebrows were raised when I nominated 'Zoom' to lead the Army complement to Gujarat. Some seniors told me of their misgivings. I told them in no uncertain terms that the choice of troops and their leader was a military decision and not open to debate.

The Army moved into Gujarat led by Zoom whose ability, impartiality and pragmatic decision making soon brought the situation under control.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com