BOOKS : Book Reviews

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BOOKS

The Shershah of Kargil – Capt Vinod Batra, PVC

Deepak Surana

Pages: 224+ (8pp colour) Paperback

ISBN: 978-81-8158-314-7

Price: Rs 399

NATRAJ PUBLISHERS

2/11 (LGF), Ansari Road,

Daryaganj, New Delhi 110002

Tel: 011-47675759

Email: natrajbooks@gmail.com

www.natrajbooks.in

The Shershah of Kargil takes you through the life and times of Late Captain Vikram Batra PVC, who was one of India’s greatest soldiers.

Embark on a journey of an ordinary lad from Palampur who went on to become a legendary warrior before he turned twenty-five. With access to first-hand accounts from his family, friends and comrades, the author takes you through the various dimensions of Captain Batra’s life.

What made a young man of twenty, ditch a highly-paid job with the merchant navy? What made Captain Batra the daredevil commando he was? What were his aspirations and dreams? Why was he called What made him say at 17000 feet? And what was the impact he had on the nation at a time when things looked bleak?

Read to know about this hero and how he made history.

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The POW Who Saved Kashmir:

Unsung Saga of Sher Bachha Brig Pritam Singh, MC

Brig Jasbir Singh and Pankaj P Singh

ISBN : 9789388150040

Hardcover and paperpback

The Browser, Chandigarh, 2020

One man stood like a rock between Pakistani Lashkars and Poonch in Nov 1947. Forty thousand refugees depended on him for a year for food, shelter and protection from the raiders. Braving all odds, he constructed an airstrip for legendary pilots like Baba Mehar Singh to fly in supplies and ammunition till the siege broke.

Pritam Singh was a hero. He led his forces to victory in the Battle of Shalateng saving Srinagar before Poonch. This man had an iron will. Held as a POW by the Japanese in Singapore, he escaped with two fellow officers, one of whom was Col Balbir Singh, father of the author Brig Jasbir Singh, travelling through enemy-held Malaya, Thailand and Burma for six months before reaching India. The British awarded him the Military Cross (MC).

Pritam Singh served India like no other. But his Generals punished him, denied him justice, court-martialled and dismissed him for a case of misappropriation of funds, in a faulty trial. They stripped him of his medals, but couldnot take away his MC.

He died forlorn and unsung. The people of Poonch call him Sher Bachha and worship him. Even today. This man was Brigadier Pritam Singh,MC, was a soldier-patriot, who deserves to have his honour restored. This is his story.

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INDIA The Future of South Asia

Rise of the New Power of Peace!

Editor Karan Kharab

Turning Point Publishers, Noida, 2019

ISBN 978-81-937831-5-3

292 pp, Hardcover, Rs 1195

This book is prophetic analysis of South Asia’s economic, geopolitical and security challenges, opportunities and imperatives. India’s unmatched growth story including emergence as a new ‘Global Power’ underscored by strategic initiatives such as the Balakot airstrike, A-Sat ‘Mission Shakti’ and significant diplomatic advances in today’s world, has been comprehensively explained in this book. It is an exciting amalgam of valuable inputs from an elite corps of Generals, intellectuals, strategists, diplomats, media analysts and social activists from India, Pakistan, China and the USA. Many of these contributors have held commanding positions in policy framing and strategic planning on defence, internal security and foreign affairs besides vast global exposure in various capacities.

Racing ahead at the world’s fastest growth rate surpassing that of France, India’s US$2.6 trillion economy is already the world’s sixth largest and is closing up fast with Britain’s. By virtue of its geo-strategic position, India is the unchallenged central power in this partof the world. If India is rising, can South Asia be far behind?

A strong India zooming to a Global Power status will benefit all in South Asia, whereas a failed Pakistan will endanger the security of the entire sub-continent.