Morale, communication, and democratic naval leadership

Katari believed colonial command had treated Indian sailors differently from British sailors and that Indian officers had often copied those habits. Independence therefore required a change from autocratic leadership toward what he called a democratic style, with the service emotionally integrated and patriotically motivated. The official report on the 1946 Royal Indian Navy mutiny warned that naval headquarters in Delhi had failed to win the Navy's confidence. Katari concluded that inadequate communication at every level had slowed the change in command relationships. He made two-way communication central to rebuilding that confidence and accepted that the change had to begin with him. Morale and discipline depended on officers and sailors understanding their shared purposes as well as their individual duties.