A stamp for Sam

Last year on Vijay Diwas, the day when the historic victory of India’s armed forces over Pakistan in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War is observed, the country recalled the iconic hero of that emphatic win by releasing a commemorative stamp of the late Field Marshal Sam H. F. J. Manekshaw, reported the Afternoon Despatch and Courier (ADC) on December 17, 2008. On the previous day, which marked the 37th Vijay Diwas, President Pratibha Patil released the postage stamp and special cover depicting the Field Marshal who died on June 26, 2008 at the age of 94.

Sam Manekshaw: postal honor

Defence Minister A. K. Antony recalled Manekshaw’s contribution during that famous victory that created not only history but also a new nation, Bangla­desh. Army chief General Deepak Kapoor said there was no better way to honor the spirit of the great man than by releasing the commemorative stamp on Vijay Diwas, reported the ADC.

The absence of the top military and political leadership at the Field Marshal’s funeral had left the nation fuming and matters were compounded after it became known that the rank of Field Marshal did not figure in the Warrant of Procedure that dictated government protocol, the ADC recalled.