INDIA CHINA 1962 War: What really happened?

In modern Indian history no war has created more illusions and mysteries in public domain as that of India China 1962 War. Even after four decades Indian Government is not ready to divulge details of what really happened in 1962 that led to the war. Nor the government is ready to make Henderson-Brooks-P.S. Bhagat report on the war public. The government wants the public to believe that China was at fault for the War and it was China who started the War. But is that really the truth? The facts on ground points otherwise. No doubt that China was not on any angel side during the conflict but the facts points that it was Indian side which provoked the Chinese dragon. 

The first incident which created differences in India China relation was India's asylum to Dalai Lama. Though this was act was totally in good faith but Nehru overlooked the Panchsheel agreement which aimed at 'Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty' & 'Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs'. No doubt it has been a bone of contention between two countries but never a cause to be ended in war. 

Border Issue: Considering the fact that the difference in McMahon Line in Chinese and Indian Map was the problem created by British Regime, India should have acknowledged the existence of the problem rather than ignoring it. Nehru bowing down to false pressure of patriotic lobby decided to unilaterally move in the issue of McMahon Line and opted for Forward post policy. The idea was to round up the Chinese post overlooking the McMahon Line from behind and cut supply route, forcing them north of the disputed line.According to the Indian official history, implementation of the Forward Policy was intended to provide evidence of Indian occupation in the previously unoccupied region through which Chinese troops had been patrolling.This only increased assertion on Chinese side that Indian is planning to launch military offensive. Except few skirmish between Indian and Chinese troops there was no actual threat perspective or intrusion into disputed territory.

But India's action in Thag La changed the whole episode. In June 1962, Indian forces established an outpost at Dhola, on the southern slopes of the Thag La Ridge. Dhola lay north of the McMahon Line but south of the ridges along which India interpreted the McMahon Line to run. In August, China issued diplomatic protests and began occupying positions at the top of Thag La. On 8 September, a 60-strong PLA unit descended to the south side of the ridge and occupied positions that dominated one of the Indian posts at Dhola. Fire was not exchanged, but Nehru said to the media that the Indian Army had instructions to "free our territory" and the troops had been given discretion to use force. On 11 September, it was decided that "all forward posts and patrols were given permission to fire on any armed Chinese who entered Indian territory". But the matter of fact was that even Indian troops doubted the actual claim on this disputed territory. From here on, many skirmish happened from both sides which eventually led to full blown war.

Many of these blunders Indian government is still not ready to accept and it has tried to twists many facts in public domain. Regarding the Henderson-Brooks-P.S. Bhagat government has clearly said it will no release the report as  “it would not be in the public interest to lay the report on the table of the House  due to sensitive information which will jeopardize the relation between India and China and also threaten the security of the country”. This argument by government is quite hard to buy. Considering that fact the the report is 4 decades old and any details regarding troop and battle formations and deployment of that time is totally of no use to the other side. There is something which government is trying to hide.