Slender Was the Thread: Kashmir Confrontation, 1947-48 PDF
Preview Slender Was the Thread: Kashmir Confrontation, 1947-48
Slender was the Thread Kashmir confrontation 1947-48 Slender was the Thread Lt. General L. P. Sen,D.s.o. Slender was the Thread Kashmir Confrontation 1947-48 Orient Longmans Bombay Calcutta Madras New Delhi Sknder was the Thread ® Orient Longmans Ltd 1969 First published October 1969 Typography : Sangam Press Published by W, H. Patwardhan Orient Longmans Ltd 3/5 Asaf Ali Road New Delhi 1 Regd Office Hamilton House 'A' Block Connaught Place New Delhi 1 Regional Offices Nicol Road, Ballard Estate Bombay 1 • , _ 17 Chittaranjan Avenue Calcutta 13 36 A Mount Road Madras 2 3/5 Asaf Ali Road New Delhi 1 Printed in India by S. J. Patwardhan Sangam Press Ltd 17 Kothrud Poona 4 To the oflBcers and men of ,161 Infantry Brigade who demonstrated that courage and patriotism never go out of fashion, Preface In late October 1947, at what was virtually a moment's notice, a batta lion of the Indian Army was flown into the Kashmir Valley. It was followed on succeeding days by further units, and eventually estab lished itself in Kashmir as 161 Infantry Brigade. By the third week of December 1947 the only land route into the Valley over the Banihal Pass was snowbound, and 161 Infantry Brigade spent the next few months completely isolated from the rest of the Indian Army. During this period it faced many crucial situations but the unbounded courage of the ofiBcers and men saw it through crisis after crisis. These efforts have unfortunately been known only to those who were involved in the actions and, through personal narration, to a few others. This book is an effort to place on record, and enable a wider section of the public to know, what exactly happened in Kashmir during those grim days. A rapid survey of the attitude adopted by the Rulers of certain vii SLENDER WAS THE THREAD Princely States at the time of the partition of the sub-continent into India and Pakistan has been included in the first chapter on the advice and insistence of the late Mr. V, P. Menon. Although a very sick man, he gave me a great deal of his time when I paid visits to his Bangalore home in 1965. He was quite certain that it was neces sary to portray the problems which faced the newly-born Dominion of India and acquaint the reader with the circumstances in which Indian troops entered the State ofijammu & Kashmir. When I said to him that his authoritative ti-eatment of this subject in his book The Story of the Integration of Indian States was available, he cHnched the issue by remarking : "You can't attach my book as an Appendix, can you ?" I am most grateful to him for giving me the factual data. His death, soon after our last meeting, has denied me the opportu nity of keeping a promise to present him with a copy of this book if and when it was published. Although the subject of the book is, in the main, warfare, an attempt has been made to porti-ay the events in language that can be readily understood by those with htde or no knowledge of miUtary matters or terminology. This necessitated passing the script to a cross section of friends, with the request that they point out what parts were obscure. Their comments and suggestions have been most use ful. To all of them I owe a debt of very sincere gratitude. Also to the large number of officers who served in 161 Infantry Brigade for recalling anecdotes. My acknowledgments are also due to the Direc torate of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence for permission to reproduce photographs. This contribution is not designed to solve the problem of Kashmir. Its main object is to portray a critical stage of the past, a stage in which a relatively small body of extremely gallant men gave un flinchingly of their best, and made my role as their Brigade Com mander so simple. New Delhi August 9, 1969 viii Foreword I have read a number of accounts of the defence of the Kaslimir Valley when the tribal raiders from the North-West Frontier, actively aided and abetted by Pakistan's armed forces and Government, descended in October 1947 on an orgy of killing, looting, pillage, plunder and rape. Their object was to devastate the Valley and to seize Srinagar. How a fistful of the Indian armed forces, taken initially by sur prise, confronted the invaders and ejected them from the Valley has been told before. It has never been told so vividly and in such faith ful detail as in this book by Lt. General L. P. Sen, then acting Briga dier in command of 161 Infantiy Brigade which faced some fierce fighting in the Valley. In the Kashmir operations of 1947-48, Indian soldiers fought for the first time under Indian commanders at every echelon. It was 161 Brigade which, under its stubborn, resourceful ix
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