Book: Operation X: The Untold Story of India's Covert Naval War in East Pakistan
Author: Captain M.N.R Samant, Sandeep Unnithan
Publisher: Harpercollins
Pages: 256
Price: Rs 400
Whenever stories of war are told, most of us speak at length about the heroics of the army. In case of wars fought by India, a lot has been said and written about the actions of the Indian Army. It might be about the battle of Shakkargad in 1965 or the Battle of Longewala of 1971. War and war stories in India have always been equated with the army. So, when someone asks about the most outstanding special forces operations conducted by India, the Indian Navy would unfortunately never pop up in anyone’s mind. The sole reason that their stories were never told. However, all that will change with the book Operation X: The Untold Story of India’s Covert Naval War in East Pakistan having hit the stalls.
The book takes readers through a journey filled with frustration and helplessness during the ’65 war with Pakistan. The Navy snatched what seemed an almost fleeting opportunity as Pakistan unleashed inhuman atrocities on the people in the erstwhile East Pakistan. The covertness of the mission begins within the first few pages of the book as it takes us through how eight Bengali Pakistan Navy submariners managed to escape from Toulon, France thanks to the assistance from Indian diplomatic staff. This gave deep insight to the planners about Pakistani locations and sea faring boats. It follows with the story of how divers who were equipped to place limpet mines under water to blow up and sink ships in harbour, carried out the daring task knowing of the consequences in case it misfired.
What makes this book hard to put down is that one thinks he is a part of the mission. The individual actors are brought to life with the access to secret documents maintained through the course of the war. This is further reinforced by individual accounts of officers, sailors and the Mukti Bahini. The style of the books is a combination of the meticulous detailing by Samant and storytelling of Unnithan. It is this combination that increses the interest in the book.
