New Delhi: Sitting on a plush cream-coloured couch at his home in Gurugram, Major General Gagandeep Bakshi (retd) adjusts his tie, takes the stem of a delicate teacup in his hand, and begins to extol the virtues of military retaliation against Pakistan.
For G.D. Bakshi, war is not a diplomatic disaster, but an inevitable price Pakistan must pay for being a “pagal kutta”.
“A rabid dog that goes around biting everybody,” he tells Defensive Offensive, a news portal, shortly after we leave.
And the call is not entirely political — Bakshi lost his brother, Captain Srishthi Raman Bakshi, in a mine explosion during the India-Pakistan War of 1965. The Captain was only 23 years old at the time.
“His entire body was shattered to pieces in that mine blast. People collected whatever was left and burnt his body then only. Then they gave us urn with the ashes, saying ‘here, this is your brother’,” Bakshi tells ThePrint.
“After immersing the ashes, I was filled with rage. At that moment, I decided that I would join the armed forces and take revenge for my brother.”
Five decades, an illustrious career in the army, a PhD in military history, and two grandkids later, Bakshi’s quest for revenge has not mellowed. Rather, it has metamorphosed into another form — rabid rhetoric on television.
Nowadays, whenever the media needs a defence expert to cry war on Prime Time television, Bakshi is inevitably the man for the job. You can find him wagging a self-righteous finger on your television every other night, his gruff voice reaching a breaking point as his temper rises and his nostril flares.
The theatre of war
While he is synonymous with Republic TV, where he is an ever-present fixture, Bakshi has been making appearances elsewhere too.
Three weeks ago, his theatrics were on display in the ABP newsroom.
“How many casualties will we suffer? For 30 years we have tolerated this in silence, 30 years!” he can be heard screaming during a debate after the 14 February Pulwama attack.
“Pakistan will pay a heavy price for their unholy actions. I can promise you this. Agar Pakistan ko Mahabharata chahiya, toh woh ho ke rahegi! (If Pakistan wants a war, then they will get one),” he adds.
In January this year, while speaking at a conclave on Article 35A, regarding ‘permanent residency’ in Jammu and Kashmir, Bakshi spoke on the situation in the state. “I want their top commanders,” he says.
“I particularly want those Pakistanis who have come into my country without a passport or visa. Yeh koi randi khana hai? (Is this a whorehouse),” he yells into a reverberating microphone. “Yeh koi randi khana hai!?” he shouts again.
For those watching, Bakshi has become a performance — the top-most liked comment on the video (with over 3000 thumbs ups on YouTube) is by Dhruv Chopra who writes, “Those who came to see that moment when he loses his s**t, head over to 11:44. Thank me later.”
A week ago, as Bakshi sat on a panel in conversation with News Nation’s senior correspondent Ajay Kumar, a debate on alleged Pakistan-sponsored terrorism descended into the retired army general shouting, “Screw you! This isn’t about Pulwama.
“I’m only asking ‘Is Indian blood this cheap?’” he goes on in a tirade. “Come on, tell me you bloody peaceniks! Is Indian blood this cheap, you kabootar udane walo! Marjao chullu bhar paani me doobke (Die of shame). We are not prepared to die!”
The audience applauds.
All of this, say some of those who know him, is part of the problem behind the retired general’s hawkish posturing.
“In part, I blame the media and the viewers,” a retired army man, who has known Bakshi for 40 years, tells ThePrint. “They love controversial people, and even he (Bakshi) knows that if he hadn’t created this persona, they would give him less space on strategic matters.”
That he makes an impression on an audience is also due to his credentials.
Bakshi has seen more war, insurgency and terrorism than even an average Armyman — he was at the China front during 1971, in Punjab at the height of militancy in 1985, Kaksar in Kargil in 1987, Kishtwar, J&K, in 2000. His war-time experience has earned him both the Sena Medal and the Vishisht Seva Medal for his service.
If that wasn’t enough, service in Kashmir is a family legacy. His father, S.P. Bakshi was the chief education officer of the Jammu & Kashmir State Forces (6 J&K Rifles), and his brother lost his life while serving in that regiment.
Bakshi says he joined the forces against his father’s wishes — who wanted him to be an IAS or IFS officer — and was commissioned into the very same 6 J&K Rifles.
His military experience, however, isn’t merely restricted to the battlefield. He was a member of the Military Operations Directorate — a planning body directly under the supervision of the Chief and Vice Chief of Army Staff. In the Ministry of Defence, Bakshi helped plan the Indian Peace Keeping Force operations in Sri Lanka before he was sent to Siachen when tensions in the Kashmir Valley heated up.
For Bakshi, the horrors of war are real. He says that he has seen the bodies of soldiers tortured to death by Pakistani terrorists who “receive continuous refuge from the state”. When he talks of men dying at the border, he does not access a theoretical framework, but a lived one.
All of this, however, suggests the retired army man quoted above, shouldn’t cloud the judgement of Bakshi’s views.
“We have no doubt about his commitment and love for the nation, but the manner in which he is presenting it in his speeches needs more balance,” the army man adds. “People who have a love for the strategic domain are concerned.”
Also read: If Indian media becomes anymore servile towards Modi, it will lose whatever viewership it has left
A man of contradictions
Away from the glamour and aggrandisement of the TV spotlight and in the comfort of his Gurugram home, Bakshi’s views appear more tempered. He says “communalism, of course, is bad”, and that “nobody is forcing you to watch any particular media channel”.
But he also insists that Mughal rule in India was akin to Muslim colonialism by “our enemy for eight centuries”.
As we wait in his Gurugram home, three young students from Delhi University (DU) sit with a laptop next to the retired officer. One of the boys mentions forming an “Azad Hind Sena in every Delhi college,” paralleling that set up by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose during the freedom struggle.
Bakshi says that “it’s a great idea” and that “just as the NCC (National Cadet Corps) wears a uniform, Azad Hind Sena should have a uniform in every damn school and college”.
“I’ll invite ex-servicemen to deliver lectures on military history, strategy and give you training — you can learn judo, karate and other forms of defence. As long as they’re willing to say ‘Jai Hind’, Hindu, Sikh, Musalman, doesn’t matter,” Bakshi says.
For Bakshi, the distinction between a good and bad Muslim is clear — the faultline balancing on allegiance to Bharat Mata. Muslims in the Azad Hind Sena and Muslims who denounce the Mughal period are good Indians, but the rest, aren’t Indian at all.
It, however, merely takes the mention of Pakistan, Kashmir, and “our boys at the border”, to catalyse an unfurling — Bakshi’s bottom lip shakes as his mouth forms a grimace. He sits up straight, eyes wide, fist curling into a pointed finger as he asks, “Who died in Pulwama you tell me! All of you preaching for peace!”
On the alleged human rights violations by the Indian Army in Kashmir, he says the stone pelters are “them”, who deserve “no special treatment than the rest of the country”.
He makes his case by attempting to draw a parallel between pellet gun victims in Kashmir and the rioters who died in the Dera Sacha Sauda protests (in Chandigarh) “here in Hindustan”.
“In one day, 36 Indians were killed. No FIR was filed, there were no humans rights violations,” he says. “But pellet guns against violent protesters in Kashmir are human rights violations — it can happen only there, right?”
The PhD in military history or purveyor of ‘fake news’
Through the course of the conversation, Bakshi tells ThePrint that he is not just a “screaming Armyman”.
“A lot of people tell me that I’m a fauji, and am yelling for no reason, but I’m a PhD (in military history),” he says. “I know how to research. I’ve written two books.”
Bakshi then goes on to explain that after studying the Transfer of Power Archives in London, he was shocked to learn that a letter signed by the Viceroy of India, the Field Marshal, the Commander in Chief and the director of the intelligence bureau at the time, proved without doubt that “Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India Movement had failed”.
“We never got freedom from non-violence,” he says.
His downplaying of the Quit India Movement isn’t without reason. Bakshi is an ardent admirer of Subhash Chandra Bose — the army veteran is both a trustee of the Netaji Bose INA Trust and has written a biography of Bose, the Azad Hind Fauj and the INA, which he once told Republic World, “was really responsible for forcing the British to leave”.
“Of 60,000 INA soldiers, 26,000 were martyred. They may have lost the battles of Imphal and Kohima but they won the war for independence,” Republic World quotes him as having said. “It was the INA which was really responsible for forcing the British to leave. They had completely shaken the loyalty of the Indian soldier to the Raj.”
But Bakshi, who has also reportedly served as the deputy director of the Vivekananda International Foundation, alongside NSA Ajit Doval, hasn’t always had his finger on historical facts.
In February, he was responsible for spreading the fake news that the Pulwama attack was only possible due to a 2014 incident in Budgam, in which security forces were ordered to not stop vehicles at checkpoints on the Srinagar highway.
Bakshi blamed Mehbooba Mufti of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the directive, failing to realise that she wasn’t the chief minister in 2014 — Omar Abdullah of the National Conference was.
Further, the Indian Army had addressed the Budgam incident shortly after it happened, and their version was quite different from the one general Bakshi was describing.
https://twitter.com/ipbun/status/1097017086595936257
In what was described as a “hate-mongering lecture” by an IIT Madras student in 2016, Bakshi also reportedly said that “Dehradun was originally called Dehradrone, as Dronacharya’s camp was set there… In its spot, the Indian Military Academy has come up”.
Student Abhinav Surya, who wrote a complaint letter to the IIT director about Bakshi’s speech, told the media that the Major General’s contention was “an instance of distorting history”.
Of Republic TV and that temper
According to those who knew him, Bakshi’s “temper streak is not new and has been with him for decades”.
A former student of his at the Indian Military Academy during 1978-79 recounts instances where general Bakshi “threw a duster and chalk at one of the cadets who had dozed off in his history class”.
“He started by calling him an idiot and the abuses increased to the range of madarc**d and behenc**d. Although, he later did apologise that he shouldn’t have lost his temper,” the former student added.
“But passing by on his shining motorcycle, with his simmering temper and handlebar moustache, he was the typical fauji example for young cadets to look up to,” the former student added. “We saw him as a real soldier, who was no-nonsense, well-spoken, and physically impressive.”
In today’s world, Bakshi stands at the crossroads of two increasingly divergent worldviews — the liberals and the orthodox — and has built himself a boat on this Right-wing wave.
As he says, “you aren’t forced to watch the channels” you do, before going on to defend’s Republic TV’s controversial anchor Arnab Goswami.
“He’s doing what he’s supposed to do for his channel — he’s getting viewers,” Bakshi says. “And he has a very nationalist agenda, so what the hell is wrong with it? I think we need more of that.”
(The article was originally published in March 2019)
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The Print is good at writing and hiring the worst journalists ever.Shameless,don’t you dare write nonsense things on Maj Gen. Bakshi.
We are proud of having him. A true Indian .
Shameless author. I’ll stay away from theprint articles now. So sad to read this crap.
Dear author,
When you lie , please hold your reins and control a bit. Our sensibilities can’t assimilate such a level of hypocrisy. The Indian janta is easy to fool we know. But calling GD Bakhshi and Gaurav Arya mentally ill !! How much lower can you stoop! You continue to amaze us.
Worst article I have ever seen, and screw urself the writer.
What a shame , you are writing such a defaming article against a person who served nation more then writer’s age.
The print in anti national we all know
This is not reporting. Ms Nandita accuses him of personal vendetta. And she is opinionated equally, using words like rhetoric and rabid dog, dispensing judgement in the name of journalism. You ma’am, should learn to do your job first. The first thing I notice when I read this piece is your bias. And I am not even someone who definitively agrees with the maj gen. It’s a sham in the name of journalism.
Nandita Das is an absurd journalist, and I did not even bother the read the whole article, the title was enough. You will not be even a billionth of Gen. G. D. Baxi a TRUE PATRIOT. Shame on you Nandita. shrillest warmonger in the media, my foot.
When a Major General is frequently provoked and deliberately addressed as “Major”, you will get abused
Mr tpitamber: If you demean yourself by participating in Arnab Goswami’s hot air filled freak show, expect everything but facts to be on the agenda. And if you drag the reputation of the Armed Forces through the mud participating in these shouting matches as this Bakshi character has done, you must accept the censure that follows. But then, I guess, Hindutva types like you who like to wallow in the same filth that Bakshi does might have a different take on that matter.
Idiot Author.
So, he wants war because of his brother.
Shameless author, he had taken part in 100s of encounters, 1971 war, 1999 war.
He had seen his army brothers dying because of peace rhetoric of Left and Congress.
He had seen intestines coming out of abdomen, when your father Pakistani soldiers and terrorists fired on soldiers unprovoked…..
Shameless author.
Unsavoury.
He said the right thing.I am proud of him.All those who enjoy India’s disrespect must be addressed like this.God bless the general
Mr Harsh Sharma: I guess you should replay what that Bakshi character said to your mother, wife and to your kids. Perhaps you wish to raise your kids to swear like Bakshi since you approve of his uncouth behaviour by saying
“God bless the general”
God save India.
GD is a total disgrace as a veteran. Shocking. The veteran community should throw him out.
He is even worse than an average BJP politician. And that is saying something.
Good to hear you say that. If you have pride in the Indian army, you should say so. Bakhsi has degraded the army, and he is just trying to make money, but he is doing it as the expense of national unity at a time of crisis.
He has seen a lot of comrades die in front of him. That itself is enough to trigger mental issues. All of us here don’t know how it feels to be a soldier. Stop criticizing him.
Seeing comrades die is no excuse. That is part of army life. One has to be professional at all times. Soldiers show their valour on the battlefield and use their head. I repeat Bakhsi diminishes the character of the Indian army, of India – and I would say of Hindus.
Bakshi also gives the impression that Pak and China have reduced Hindus to shaking wrecks. You say it has triggered mental issues. Army men who have mental issues should not be projected on TV – as outsiders also conclude Indian army men cannot take the stress. Watching such an army man is highly embarrassing.
The world lost gems like Jimi Hendrix at 27, and even Lennon, Freddie, Chris Cornell, all of them so early. How I wish THEY lived till 68!!!!
Ignorant and stupid arse narrative by the Article author..
An Army personnel and politician are different..
A communist journalist and Nationalist Citizen is different..
You run away from Bullet, He takes Bullet..
His bravery and Commitment is celebrated across the Ranks.. so be prudent and rational before judging through the lens of Communism
Right Bro!
Vested Interests.
I am born in land of kodava warrior.i love General & Arnav. ……. NEVER NO HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM & THE SHOW.SO SWEET OF THEM.”Anti-nationalists, Fake Indian people dangerous to the country.drive them out”DARING DEOUS” DEMOLISH PRINT.
We need Hindus like you, Bakshi and Arnob at the LAC.
Mr Rasgolla: Whilst I firmly believe that Mr M.B. Ponnappa’s armchair jingoism and espousal of fascism is deeply deplorable, your anti-Hindu tirades are equally, if not much worse examples of hatred for Hindus. You are nothing but the Muslim equivalent of the thugs that lynched Mohammad Akhlaq, Alimuddin Ansari, Junaid Khan and many others.
I SPIT ON YOU.
You are acting like a Hindutva Hindu, spitting on people ! Scratch the skin, and you are like Bakshi. I have revealed it.
What is my anti-Hindu tirade ? Be specific. And what do you mean I am worse than the lynchers of Aqhlaq ? I have not lynched anyone, and nor is anyone going to lynch Hindus because I said the BJP Hindus are incompetent and destructive people.
Nehru said Hindutva is fascism, Hindu style. Who is following Hindutva ? Who is undermining India and all its institutions ? Who wrecked its economy ? Who did not stand up and fight at the LAC ? Who facilitated the Chinese entry into the Indian economy ? Who are the ones who defrauded Indian banks and ran away ? Who is causing bad publicity for India in the western and Gulf press ? Who made Nepal and Sri Lanka turn against India ? Is it Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and Parsis ?
What Bakshi has said is revealing about Hindus and what you have written confirms that. May I advise you that Nehru had in a moment of despondence written in 1953 that India is doomed unless Hindus change their outlook. He knew who had precipitated partition. By outlook, he meant Hindu casteism and communalism. He foresaw what such a mentality will do in the future. What he foresaw is here before our eyes. If you want change, you need to tackle this mentality.
We need some for internal security for f’ing traitors inside India.
The Print as usual , Ant modi n Pro lefties .These same print guys / Lefties sadi indis should come back Dhoklam, but indai went to push back till 71 dasy . These lefties went silient.
Again these lefties are trying to say that India will loose n we should not confront china. Go to China , Print , NDTV bridgade.
India is not a chomu conutry what you wanted like Manmohan’s era
Extremely Poor artcle by Print. The artcile here is biased and offers a poor class of Journalism.
Small news factories have news like this only. These small news factories appear to be funded by the people who are in favour of Pak & China. Govt should ban these fake factories.
I had official interactions with him as Chief of Security in GAIL with Advisor Security in Relliance. Also had frequent interactions during the activities of Patriots Forum. My personal interactions with him continues even now on at least weekly basis. Has has that pathological dislike towards shady characters who would sell thier souls for few coins!
He shoots straight and shoots from hip! I am proud that he said मादर चोद to some one who was actually lookin like one and surely behaving likewise. Sad that I don’t know his name.
लगता है अब उनसे ही पूछना पड़ेगा!?
The Indian army is now full of uncouth Hindus like you and Bakshi. That is why it cannot stand up and fight the Chinese. Your type would be better in a shakha or a communal riot. In an actual war, we know you would embarass India.
Indian army is secular. It doesn’t identify anyone with the relegion. Leftists and radical Islamists r disgrace to
the nation.
As secular as the Hindu warrior Bakshi ?
Mr Aish: The Indian Armed Forces have no choice but to be secular. When you are being fired upon, you rely on your buddies regardless of their religion, language or caste. That is the esprit the corps the Forces build in you.
But Gen Bakshi, by participating in an openly BJP and Hindutva espousing, hot air and hatred spewing channel run by Arnab Goswami, the Indian equivalent of Göbbels weakens the esprit de corps of the Forces. How would you have reacted if a Sikh or Muslim Officer of the Indian Armed Forces participated in a Khalistani or Islamic fundamentalist media channel and behaved liked Gen. Bakshi did ?
It is incumbent upon senior officers like Gen Bakshi to always affirm the secular ethos and nature of the Armed Forces, even when they retire. Sadly, he does not do that and behaves like a cheap politician spewing filthy abuses in Arnab Goswami’s freak show.
Muscles is trying to lead brain. Barking journalism in india is shameful for the india staying throughout world.
He said what was needed to be said.
What is the harm in saying such words to such people?????
No harm at all, it proves the Indian army is filled with uncouth Hindus with gobar in their head.
Mr Rasgolla: Get out of this channel and stop sermonising about the Indian Army. Why don’t you go and give lectures to the generals of the Pakistani Army who excel in genocide?
Why are you speaking like a Hindutva Hindu about Pakistani the army to me ? Can I presume that is your real character and all it needed was a scratch to bring it out ? Are you unable to be rational and objective ?
according to the writer , there are two types of M The good one , who does not say Bharat Mata ki Jay & The bad one, who say it.
So, dear writer, what is the problem with u if he says anything bad to our bron enemy Pakistan. What is ur problem.
Pls spare if one TV channel does show national issue.
Rest are like u only. So pls be a lil tolerant. We are tolerating the shit from intellectual like u.
Shekhar Gupta and Nandita Singh is of mean cheap and selfish mentality in disguise of intellectuals, but actually fool, who only believe in so called pseudo secularism, shameless bias attitude and cowards who support islamic jehad ,curse to humanism, and these people are sex ridden, they dare to criticise nationalist, because our Hindu society has deep ethical humanism by roots with our deepest spiritual values, we donot appreciate criminality against other sects as Islamists does in the name of Kafir.
Your journalism is far away from truth
See courageous media like Sudarshan Z news Republic. And learn
He is a true patriot. He is absolutely right. National Media is not Bigger then the Nation. Don’t write such articals. love you Major General GDB.
I wanted to block such Chinese media like ” the print ” from my mobile or laptop. Please someone let me know at: alokbhunia@gmail.com
I guess it is about time the Modi government gets retired Generals and other military top brass to desist from inadvertently revealing national secrets on TV. As the debates get heated, people keep blurting things that they MUST not. Gen Bakshi’s speeches are in all likelihood a reflection or at the very least provide some insights into how senior Generals in India think. China, Pakistan and every diplomatic mission in India is very likely to be sifting these utterances to glean and get pointers into tactical and strategic aspects of Indian operations.
Listen to 3-4 of these Indian military types on TV or other and you can get many free dots that a foe can connect. And then there is all this declaration of war on Pakistan, raids, revenge, badly concealed hate towards Muslims and other theatrics on Arnab Goswami’s shriller and shriller screaming matches and hot air shows that could truly endanger India. Yes, the BJP financed Republic TV and their comical Josef Göbbels figure Goswami are a necessary ingredient in the BJP’s sinister Hindutva propagation agenda. But by upping the ante and playing this dangerous game of brinkmanship on TV, not only will India get more polarised, we also run the risk of revealing national secrets to foes and 3rd parties.
About time the Generals get gagged and Göbbels 2.0 gets read the Riot Act. In the interets of national security.
Pity u buddy.. u trying hard to reply To everyone and impose ur thoughts on them.. it’s no more a time where information was controlled by media.. people have an access and are well informed to take right standing.. It’s time for Print and other pseudo liberals to take note of it and shut their business before it’s too late..
Satya meva jayathe!! Jai hind