Indian military fiction

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Please improve this article if you can. (September 2007)

Some of the older books dealing with fictionalized scenarios for the Indian military and written by Indians were:

  • "The Fourth Round: Indo-Pak war in 1984" by Ravi Rikhye. This 1982 book is a scenario for what an India-Pakistan war fought in 1984 might look like. Though it is no longer available, it will be republished in E-form in 2007.The war postulates Pakistan is about to succeed in its quest to develop nuclear weapons. An Indian air strike on its main R & D and enriched uranium production facilities at Kahuta leads to a retaliatory Pakistani strike against India’s most powerful symbol, its parliament. India then declares war.

Interestingly, the Indian Army’s Directorate of Military Intelligence recommended the book be banned on grounds it disclosed vital secrets. The Chief of Army Staff, however, declined such action primarily on the grounds that the book was simply interesting, harmless fun. The book was the first the author managed to get published: his first, Pakistan Rearmed (1973) was refused clearance. He refused to submit for clearance two other books writing during the 1975-77 Emergency. Subsequently, his Militarization of Mother India aroused no comment, but his The War That Never Was, an analysis of the 1986-87 army exercises Brasstacks, Trident, and Falcon – which were really covers for actual planned offensives led to investigations by various government agencies and harassment of the publisher.

Among the newer books are:

  • "Writing on the Wall" by General Sundararajan Padmanabhan. Unlike the other books it involves India fighting a war simultaneously with Pakistan while improving relations with China. On the other hand the United States, to prevent a jihadi takeover in Pakistan, sends its Special Forces units to the aid of that country. The book ends with the detonation of an EMP device that disables the US communication networks and begins peace talks between the two nations. The book covers a period of several years while these changes occur and in this time the General delves into several non-fictional matters of India's internal security.
  • "Op Kartikeya" by Airavat Singh. This is about a military operation named after the God of War (Kartikeya). Unlike the other books, it describes a massive pre-emptive air attack on the Pakistani armed forces backed by the landing of special battle groups in Gilgit and the Baluchistan coast. A rapid re-deployment of the IAF also checkmates Pakistan's closest ally China. This book was written in 2004 and depicts an integrated defence headquarters with an Air Chief Marshall as the Chief of Defence Staff.
  • "Op Kartikeya-II" can be read for free on the author's website. Titled Knockout, the story brings to conclusion the author’s first novel, Op Kartikeya. Where the latter depicts the planning and execution of an air campaign by India, Knockout analyses the activities of the enemy on the ground. Most of the action also takes place on land with Indian Special Forces operating in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan in alliance with the local freedom-fighters. On the international stage the intervention of the US on India’s side and the interception of Chinese merchant shipping by the Indians, prompts the Peoples Liberation Army to break its alliance with the Pakistani generals.

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