India News | Book on Naval Officer's Secret Mission in Pakistan in 1965 Launched
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A book based on the daring mission lead by India's Naval attache to Pakistan in 1965 Captain Jack Shea to bring back the first secretary and his family out of the country months ahead of the Indo-Pak war that year was launched here on Tuesday.
New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) A book based on the daring mission lead by India's Naval attache to Pakistan in 1965 Captain Jack Shea to bring back the first secretary and his family out of the country months ahead of the Indo-Pak war that year was launched here on Tuesday.
Written by the naval officer's daughter Debora Ann Shea, the book, titled "Escape from Pakistan", is grounded in years of examining archival resources, letters and diaries, personal accounts and the author's own bittersweet memories.
Speaking at the launch event, entrepreneur turned author Debora said that it was her attempt to “do justice to the service” her father had done for the nation.
"I have longed for this day for years...the times we were at home and he was at his perilous duty are still vivid and ‘Escape From Pakistan' is just a written document of those bittersweet memories along with carefully examined archival resources, letters and diaries," she said.
Captain Shea, who was posted in Karachi as the Naval Attaché in the Indian High Commission, was given the task of pulling out the First Secretary and his family after the latter was "dangerously close" to being booked for espionage in Pakistan.
While Shea managed to bring the official and his family back to India in a cargo ship, he landed in trouble months after the war as he was drugged, beaten up by hitmen and thrown off a terrace that put him in coma for months.
"The attack on my father had come as a consequence of pulling out a marked diplomat. My father lay in the hospital for months as my mother doggedly sat outside the ICU room, afraid of another attack on his life," Debora recalled.
She added that after coming back from the hospital nothing deterred him from his duty as he completed his tenure in Pakistan before coming back to India.
"The doctors had declared he would never walk again. He did not accept the doctors' verdict and managed to walk, although the impact of the attack on his hand and wrist left it immobile," she said.
After returning to India, Shea received the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and assumed command of the 11th Destroyer Squadron of the Royal Indian Navy which played a pivotal role in the Indo-Pak war of 1971 before retiring as Commodore in 1976.
The book launch event was also attended by retired vice admiral Premvir Das, retired air marshal SP Singh, retired commander Keith Suares and Vijai Kapil.
The book is published by Penguin Random House India and is available on online and offline stores.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)