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Kunhiraman Palat Candeth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Military Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu | |
| In office 19 December 1961 – 6 June 1962 | |
| Preceded by | Post Established |
| Succeeded by | T. Sivasankar (asLieutenant Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1916-09-23)23 September 1916 |
| Died | 19 May 2003(2003-05-19) (aged 86) |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Relations | Sir C. Sankaran Nair (Maternal Grandfather) Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (Paternal Grandfather) Sir C. Madhavan Nair (Maternal Uncle) |
| Awards |  Padma Bhushan Param Vishisht Seva Medal |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  British India Republic of India |
| Branch/service |  British Indian Army Indian Army |
| Years of service | 1934–1973 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Unit | Royal Indian Artillery |
| Commands |  Western Army8 Mountain Division 17 Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars | World War II Indo-Pakistan War of 1947 Operation Vijay Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 |
Lieutenant GeneralKunhirāman Pālātt Kandèt,PVSM (23 October 1916 – 19 May 2003) was a seniorofficer in theIndian Army who played a commanding role in theLiberation of Goa fromPortuguese control in 1961, and briefly served as theMilitary Governor of Goa, Daman and Diu.
He later served as theDeputy Chief of Army Staff based inGHQ in New Delhi during thesecond war in 1965, and later effectively commanded theWestern Command during thethird war with Pakistan in 1971.
He was born inOttapalam,Malabar District (nowKerala) inBritish India (nowIndia) to M. A. Candeth, the son of theNayanar landlord and writerVengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar. His maternal grandfather wasSir C. Sankaran Nair, who was the President of theIndian National Congress.[1][2]
Commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1936, Candeth saw action in West Asia during the Second World War. Shortly before India's independence from colonial rule, he was deployed in theNorth West Frontier Province, borderingAfghanistan, to quell local tribal uprisings. The mountainous terrain gave Candeth the experience for his later operations againstNagaland separatists in the North East. He attended the Military Services Staff College atQuetta, capital ofBaluchistan in 1945.
After Independence, Candeth was commanding 16 Field Regiment, an artillery regiment that was deployed toJammu and Kashmir afterPakistan-backed tribesmen attacked and captured a third of the province before being forced back by the Indian Army. Thereafter, Candeth held a series of senior appointments, including that of Director General of Artillery at Army Headquarters inDelhi, to which he was appointed on 8 September 1959, with the acting rank of major-general (substantive colonel).[3]
Following Indian independence from British rule, certain parts of India were still under foreign rule. While the French left India in 1954, the Portuguese, however, refused to leave. After complex diplomatic pressure and negotiations had failed, on 18 December 1961Defence MinisterV.K. Krishna Menon ordered the military to overrun Goa and oust the Portuguese.[4] Candeth, whose father was close to Menon, all three of them being related as eliteNairs,[4][5] was chosen by Menon to command inOperation Vijay—theAnnexation of Goa,Daman and Diu from Portuguese rule. In an obituary tribute to Candeth, The Independent of London however referred to him as "born into a middle-class Anglo-Indian family"[6] while early scholarly references also referred to him as Kenneth P. Candeth.[7] As 17 Infantry Division commander, Candeth took the colony within a day and was immediately appointed Goa's first Indian administrator (acting as the Military Governor), a post he held till June 1962.[8] Controversial as the military action was, Candeth inevitably received critical coverage in the western press, although the primary brunt of criticism was Menon, followed by Nehru.
After relinquishing command as Goa's Military Governor in 1963, Candeth was appointed GOC, Nagaland on 23 August 1963.[9] He took command of the newly raised 8 Mountain Division in the North-East on 15 November 1963,[10] where he battled, although with little success, the highly organised Naga insurgents. The insurgency in the North East has not been quelled completely to this day. On 7 May 1965, he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Army Staff (DCOAS) with the acting rank of lieutenant-general.[11] He was promoted to lieutenant-general on 17 January 1966,[12] and was appointed GOC-in-C, Western Command on 27 September 1969.[13]
Lt. Gen. Kunhiraman Palat Candeth was awarded theParam Vishisht Seva Medal and also thePadma Bhushan by theGovernment of India.[14] Retiring from the army on 21 October 1972,[15] he joined theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 1990s and was appointed a member of the Party's Executive Committee.[16]
| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date of rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Second Lieutenant | British Indian Army | 15 July 1937 (seniority 30 August 1936)[17] |
 | Lieutenant | British Indian Army | 30 November 1938[18] |
 | Captain | British Indian Army | 1940 (acting)[17] 1 January 1941 (temporary)[17] 30 August 1944 (substantive)[17] |
| Captain | Indian Army | 15 August 1947[note 1][19] |
_OF-6.svg) | Brigadier | Indian Army | 1948 (acting)[note 1][19] |
_OF-3.svg) | Major | Indian Army | 30 August 1949[20][note 1][19] |
 | Major | Indian Army | 26 January 1950 (recommissioning and change in insignia)[19][21] |
 | Lieutenant-Colonel | Indian Army | 1953 |
 | Colonel | Indian Army | 30 August 1956[22] |
 | Brigadier | Indian Army | 30 August 1959[23] |
 | Major General | Indian Army | 8 September 1959 (acting)[3] |
| Lieutenant-General | Indian Army | 7 May 1965 (acting)[11] 11 January 1966 (substantive)[12] |
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Moti Sagar | Deputy Chief of the Army Staff 1965-1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command 1969-1972 | Succeeded by M. L. Thapan |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
