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Heroism" and " realism", "bravery " or "cowardice" - A.H Amin1999"Heroism" and " realism", "bravery " or "cowardice" are powerful words pregnantwith multiple meanings and thus often misunderstood in common discussion. This isnot exactly an article but a cursory examination of how certain individuals invarious stages of world history made remarkable achievements by being "Heroic","Realistic" etc.The "Hero" is a man who does not surrender in the face of overwhelming odds andthus emerges "victorious" or is perceived by posterity to have been morallyvictorious despite having been physically destroyed. Khalid Bin Waleed , Napoleon,Alexander, Churchill etc may be grouped in the first category and Imam Hussain,Joan of Arc, Syed Ahmad Shaheed may be grouped in the latter category. All thesemen did well and are well known figures in history even today. We will firstexamine the issue in relation with the fact "Whether the hero had an exactknowledge and sufficient time "to assess decisions that he made and whichultimately elevated him to the pedestal of a hero in history! This is importantbut very often forgotten or not understood at all by many. We will take the"Rebels" or the "Freedom Fighters" of 1857 as an example. All existing facts as weknow them today prove that these "Rebels" never really understood the real powerand potential of the English East India Company. The rebellion began not becauseof any deliberately pre-planned conspiracy but as a series of spontaneousreactions against a "perceived attack on caste and religion".It was a mechanical reaction and those who took it felt that "Rebellion" was theonly option. These were the common soldiers of the Bengal Army led by the morehot-headed Ranghar and Hindustani Pathan Muslims of the Bengal Cavalry - the 3rdLight Cavalry rebels. A spontaneous decision, sparked by court martial of 80 oftheir colleagues in a manner that was perceived as unjust. The execution was"Tactically Brilliant"! A rebellion on Sunday at the evening service time when theEuropeans were most vulnerable, followed by the seizure of Delhi! I would say thatthe decision was even strategically brilliant since Delhi was the political heartof India and one of the strongest fortress cities of India. The Sepoys so far didexceedingly well! They proved that they were superior in terms of "Resolution "and "Intellect" to many who later planned very quixotic schemes executed in allthree Indo Pak Wars and till the Kargil Affair to date! Full stop here!The Sepoys never appreciated the naval potential of Britain and never understoodthat a country that could survive a French Revolution or armies led by World classmilitary geniuses could not be defeated simply by seizure of Delhi! Despite allthis, the Meerut Cavalry troopers of 3rd Light Cavalry took a brilliant decision,once we keep in mind their knowledge of the external world, their nominaleducation and their subjective lifeexperiences! Those men were heroes, far superior to most post 1857 Muslimpoliticians and this includes all who have been on the scene to date! An answerwas provided by General Jang Bahadur, the military ruler of Nepal to Sir ColinCampbell in March 1858. The situation was as follows:The British had almost won the Sepoy Rebellion and were about to assault Lucknowwhich had been in Sepoy hands since July 1857. Jang Bahadur had led a NepaliGurkha army to assist the British and his army was part of the force tasked toassault Lucknow! Jang Bahadur told Colin Campbell as soon as he joined him withhis army "had he not visited England he would have been fighting against theBritish instead of with them! The readerscan now compare the difference! The Sepoys were "Heroic" but they were "Heroic"because they unlike Jang Bahadur had never visited England. Delhi was the ultimatecity for these brave, albeit naïve Rohtakis from villages like Kalanaur and Kanar!It appears that the British realised that the Indians needed to be educated aboutthe reality of the British Empire. Warburton records such an incident in hisbeautiful "Eighteen Years in Khyber". This was when Warburton arranged a visit of
 
the Khyber Maliks to Calcutta and Bombay sothat it may widen their horizon and make them less ambitious in their plans tofight against Britain. The exercise, it appears, was not very successful since theKhyber Afridis once again rebelled in 1897! Heroism is good but the hero isdifferent from a stockbroker or a banker! His calculations are in terms of moralvalues which he perceives as more sacred than material gains. The hero lives afterhis death while the businessmen dies every day despite living much longer than thehero, but goes on suffering indignities to gain greater dignity as that great manBacon said! I remember an incident of a great bureaucrat as narrated by one of hisrelatives! The old fox, an ex ICS and at that time a very senior man in apolitical government that once ruled Pakistan comes home and proudly tells hiswife "Oh dear you know today what happened! Mr Prime Minister abused me! Oh dearhe uses the particular word that he used only for those with whom he is veryintimate"! Ranjeet Singh was a great realist. At the height of his power a courtier said tohim, "Sir you should attack the English East India Company's territory". Ranjeetreplied dismissing his sycophant advisors, "I may advance with my army as far asAligarh but then the Englishmen would destroy me". A fine assessment by a man whohad not been to any War College or Defence College! Syed Ahmad Khan was anothergreat realist! In Bijnor herestrained the Indians from attacking English civilians and non combatants andfrom joining the anti British camp at a time when the Hindus of Bijnor were infull rebellion against the English Company! It was not very heroic ratheropportunistic as some may say! But the Syed had his reasons! Deep inside his heartwas a conviction that the British would win and in the long term the rebellionwould do more harm to the Muslims than good! The Syed was much condemned by manyMuslims after the rebellion as an "Ibnul Waqt" but the Syed atoned for his"unheroic" behaviour by establishing the MAO College Aligarh. Opportunism isexcusable if the end result is positive, but this unfortunately has not been thecase in most "scenarios". The Syed is remembered for his educational achievementstoday and not for any business empire that he left. He would have been a smallerhero had he died fighting against the British at Bijnor! He had a strategic visionand would have been an excellent Chief of General Staff or more had he been alivetoday in any Indo-Pak army! Now compare the Syed with later Muslim leaders. Headvised the Muslims to desist from identifying themselves with Egyptian, Turk orAfghan Muslims in the period 1878-1898. The Turks were too far to be of any helpto the Indian Muslims! The Egyptians too insignificant and again too far and theAfghans were the worst predators who had shamelessly looted the Indian Muslimsduring the period 1739-59. This Golden advice was forgotten by outwardly moreeducated Muslims in 1920 when the Khilafat Movement was launched! Isoruku Yamamoto, later turned famous as Admiral Yamamoto, was another greatrealist. He had studied at Yale and Harvard in between his military career andunderstood the limits of US military effectiveness! He counselled repeatedlyagainst war with the US but his advice was overruled by the more powerful JapaneseArmy, and Japan went into a suicidal war that finally concluded with a nuclearholocaust at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Clausewitz makes a very fine distinctionbetween types of courage and boldness and the level of command! Clausewitz put thelesson by using a beautiful example! Clausewitz thus stated "If a young man toshow his skill in horsemanship leaps across a deep cleft, then he is bold; if hemakes the same leap pursued by a troop of head chopping Jannisaries he is onlyresolute. But the further off the necessity from the point of action, the greaterthe number of relations intervening which the mind has to traverse in order torealise them". As a matter of fact, strategic decision-making is more difficultsince the time period is much greater than it is in tactical encounters and a muchgreater mind is required. This explains why "Military Crosses" or "Military CrossBars" failed in East Pakistan. These men had earned fame imported from junior
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