As the “victory torch” commemorating 50 years of India’s triumph over Pakistan in the 1971 war reached the Bhubaneswar home of Major S.A. Simha, 90, on Wednesday, the army veteran reminisced: “Today even the smallest of operations makes news immediately but those were different days.”

Memories came flooding back when Maj. Simha held the Swarnim Viyay Varsh-Vijay Mashaal with his wife beside him.

“There was no social media those days and even the regular media was not active as it is today. Today even the smallest of operations makes news immediately but those were different days,” he said.

“The roads were rough and technology was not that developed. We used to climb mountains and used maps to ensure precision strikes. Modern warfare is entirely different and highly dependent on technology,” Maj. Simha recalled.

He was 39 years old and the father of two sons when he took part in the 1971 war. “I remember I had to leave all of them behind at the base camp and proceed to the battle front,” the veteran told The Telegraph.

Maj. Simha is one of the oldest recipients of the flame that was lit at the National War Memorial in New Delhi on December 16, 2020, and reached Odisha on October 20. The celebration had been flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the National War Memorial on December 16, 2020.

A 1953-batch IMA graduate and repository of information, Maj. Simha has vivid memories of the war.

“In October 1971, our artillery regiment moved to Dyala Chak in Jammu and Kashmir, completely focussed on Operation Cactus Lilly. On November 25, the regiment, along with the 33 Infantry Brigade, moved to the Poonch sector and formed part of the HQ 25 Artillery Brigade.

“The regiment fought gallantly during the operations that took place in December and earned a name for itself in the Poonch battle. It is all part of history now,” Maj. Simha said.

Noting that war tactics have changed over the decades, Maj. Simha said: “It’s more of a psychological war now. China has emerged as a major threat to the Indian security system though earlier it preferred to act from behind Pakistan. However, over the years, we have been able to develop our own quick response system, which is quite resilient. Now we have GPS systems and also rocket technology.”

He asserted that no army can match the Indian soldiers’ warfare techniques in the mountains.

Simha, who hails from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, said: “Till I joined the Indian Army, I had no idea about north India. But after my joining, I was acclimatised with the weather of this region and spent my entire life on different frontiers of India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and other parts of the country.”

Maj. Simha, who retired in 1976, said: “I have a feeling that because of the Indian system of administration, IAS officers enjoy more power and sometimes they even try to do things that impact the Indian Army and its value system. That’s wrong.”

The veteran appeared unwilling to comment on the present structure of the Indian Army and whether it was under any kind of political pressure.

“I retired from the job almost 40 years ago. I cannot comment on the issue. But we don’t let politics come into these things. The Indian Army should always be free from any kind of political pressure. The basic foundation of the Indian Army is discipline and obeying of commands. That is still there,” Maj. Simha said.

Although he welcomed the one-rank-one-pension system of the army, he pointed out there were many other anomalies that ought to be corrected.