All three services of the Indian Armed forces have dedicated days that celebrate their significance and their role in protecting the nation. While Air Force Day is celebrated on October 8 every year to commemorate the founding of the service on that day in 1932, Navy Day is celebrated on December 4 to celebrate the Indian Navy's missile attacks on Karachi on that day in the 1971 War.
Army Day, which is being celebrated on Tuesday, commemorates the appointment of lieutenant general Kodandera Madappa Cariappa as the first 'Indian' commander-in-chief of the Indian Army. He took over from Roy Butcher as chief of the Indian Army on January 15, 1949.
Born in Madikeri, Coorg, in present-day Karnataka in 1900, K.M. Cariappa, had many distinctions in military service. He became the first Indian officer to join the Staff College in Quetta (present-day Pakistan) in 1933. He saw action under the British during World War II in the Middle East and Burma. Pakistan's first military dictator, General Ayub Khan, served under Cariappa's command during this period.
Before partition, Cariappa was recalled from the Imperial Defence College (since renamed the Royal College of Defence Studies) to serve on the Army Sub Committee of the Forces Reconstitution Committee that would divide the British Indian Army between India and Pakistan.
Before taking over as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Army, Cariappa had led Indian Army units that drove out Pakistan-back raiders from Jammu and Kashmir in 1948. In addition to showing prowess as a military leader, Cariappa also won the hearts of the local residents by arranging for essential food items. There is a park in honour of Cariappa in Baramullah.
Cariappa remained active in public life after retirement, serving as high commissioner to Australia and New Zealand and was active in promoting the cause of ex-servicemen's welfare.
Cariappa was given the rank of field marshal of the Indian Army in 1986, only the second Indian after Sam Manekshaw to get the title. Cariappa died in 1993.
Cariappa had a memorable exchange with his subordinate Ayub Khan during the 1965 war when his son, K.C. Cariappa, an IAF fighter pilot, was shot down over Pakistan. When his son was taken prisoner, Khan contacted his former commander, offering to release him. However, Cariappa told Khan he expected no special treatment for his son.
