1947: One decisive battle and Jinnah’s plan on Kashmir got the torpedo hit!

It was at Shalteng! This was the major axis of advance of the tribe’s men, hacking the humanity in Kashmir but then the saviors arrived! The rest is history!

-‘ By the way the enemy was advancing on three different axes. It was time to take decisive action and the Indian Army took one holistic one’! There was no other way other than this!’

-‘Something was going to happen on the day after the Accession day after Maharaja Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession with India, Colonel Diwan Ranjit Rai took a flight from Delhi’s Willingdon airport at first light with a handful of men. Not sure if the airport was still safe and had not fallen into the hands of the Pakistani invaders, the pilot of the plane, Biju Pattnaik, the man who was to later become a successful politician, circled the airfield for about 30 minutes. When nobody fired at the plane, Pattnaik decided to land the plane at the airfield. The history was to be written as so far the Pak sponsored raiders si far had been having their own way! It was pay back time and what a gritty show it was! Courage of a few men supported by locals began what was the biggest show in history of Jammu and Kashmir! India never declared the war but it was Pakistan who initiated it! The entire plan was brought to a screeching halt as the infiltrators were chased out but they had already inflicted immense damage on the Kashmiris!’

-‘There is an untold story of patriotism and extraordinary valor of 19-year-old Mohd Maqbool Sherwani, who single-handedly thwarted the advance of thousands of invaders and gave valuable time to the Indian Army to land in Srinagar. Pakistani soldiers had stormed Baramulla on October 22 and were planning to advance to Srinagar. Sherwani went around on his bicycle, misguiding the enemy into believing that they should halt their advance and fortify as the Indian Army had reached the outskirts of Baramulla. Sherwani’s brave act gave the Army precious time to prepare for the Battle of Shalateng. The enemy later shot him dead when they came to know that the Indian Army was nowhere near Baramulla.’

-‘Brigadier Akbar Khan, the Pakistani officer in-charge of ‘Operation Gulmarg’, was visibly livid that morning. Since the Indian army landed at the Srinagar airport to repulse the Pakistani lashkars that had entered Kashmir, he had been pleading with the government to send armored cars into the Valley to support the invaders. But, the Pakistani government had refused to budge from its position of fighting a covert war. Our men will fight in plain clothes. Officially, Pakistan will not take ownership of the invasion, Khan was told by a senior minister in the government.

-‘India’s position was extremely precariously poised. Before Col Rai dashed to Baramulla, just 40 men holding a defensive position east of Baramulla stood between the 5000-strong army of invaders and Srinagar. Col Dewan launched a counteroffensive on joining the state forces east of Baramulla. But he was killed in the gunbattle and 1 Sikh had to withdraw further east towards Srinagar.

-‘Several years later, Major Agha Humayun Amin, a Pakistani officer was to review the first war between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and note October 27, 1947 as the day when the golden opportunity to capture Srinagar was lost forever. It had to because the Indian Army as the avengers had arrived. Thereafter it was a total rout of the enemy forces and the tribes men scampered everywhere as scared hares and finally some did reach from where they came from’!

-‘Had the advance of the Indian army carried on, which in any case should have, the history of Pakistan would have been written then and there but it was not to be but severing Pakistan of its Eastern wing, now Bangladesh was again history written as Indian armed forces mowed down the Pakistan citadel. Yayha Khan was never heard of again and General AAK. Niazi confined himself to writing books of his days in then Pakistan of, course melancholically’!

-‘But plenty was happening in PaK GHQ, Akbar Khan threw his hands up in disgust. The Indian army is now officially fighting in the Kashmir-Baramulla sector. Why can’t Pakistan send its army to support our tribal jihadis? Khan retorted. The Quaid-e-Azam, Khan was told, can’t order the British commander of the Pakistan army to engage and he will have to rely on the tribals to get the job done. Akbar Khan knew that Pakistan’s political compulsions would cost his men the ongoing war in Kashmir. Without proper military backup, he realized, the untrained lashkars would be decimated by the Indian army. He needed to find a way out.

-‘The solution he was looking for did come from Major Masud, one of the army commanders at the GHQ. The commander of the 11 Cavalry stationed at Rawalpindi suggested he’d send a squadron of armored cars into Kashmir without seeking the assent of the government at his own risk. The armored cars were to be operated by army regulars in civilian clothes. But, while they were discussing the secret plan, Raja Ghazanfar Ali, a Muslim League politician, entered the room and on learning of the proposal shot it down. ‘You can kiss Kashmir goodbye forever,’ Khan fumed and resigned to Pakistan’s fate.’

-‘While Brigadier Khan was desperately trying to arrange armored cars for ‘Operation Gulmarg’, the Indian army decided to send its 7th Light Infantry with its armoured cars to bolster the defense of Srinagar. On November 1, when Lieutenant Noel David left with his squadron for Kashmir from Ambala, he had no premonition of the stellar role he was to play in the battle for Srinagar.’ Thereafter it had to me the nemesis for the invaders! It was! Pakistan was facing a humiliating defeat as they were chased out as the Indian army continued to fly its soldiers into Srinagar on civilian planes throughout the last week of October. By the first week of November, the balance of the war with the Pakistani invaders had started tilting towards India!

By: M S Nazki

 

Mendhar/Jammu:

Earlier in the piece I talked about the battle for making sure that Srinagar and the people there did not suffer. They were not destined to do so. A decisive battles made sure of this and it was the battle of Shalteng and this is what happened:

* The Pakistani lashkars were still stuck at Baramulla, repulsed by 1 Sikh that had taken up strong defensive positions west of Srinagar. The lashkars, not trained to fight in open grounds, decided to resort to guerilla warfare and avoid the Indian army position altogether. In small groups and batches, they bypassed the Indian army and appeared behind them at Badgam, just a few kilometres from the Srinagar airfield.

* On November 3, the lashkars, dressed like native Kashmiris, ambushed an Indian company guarding Badgam and inflicted heavy losses on them. The Indian company, led by Major Somnath Sharma, fought bravely to the last man and pushed the invaders back. For his exceptional bravery, Major Sharma was to posthumously become the first recipient of India’s highest gallantry award–the Param Vir Chakra.

* In spite of the looming invasion, the atmosphere in Kashmir that November evening was buoyant and festive. Since it was considered an auspicious day, several marriages were to be solemnised and celebrations were on in several parts of the state’s capital.

* Barely 7 miles away, at a place called Shalteng, tribal invaders were getting ready for the final assault on Srinagar. Around 5000 of them had gathered at Shalteng the previous evening and were waiting for a signal from their commanders to light up the sky with gunfire.

* Just before the attack was to begin, an armored car crept up behind the lashkars. Believing that the reinforcements had been sent by Pakistan, the lashkars started celebrating raucously. They were soon to be shocked by the turn of events.

* A few meters west of them, Indian Brigade Commander Brigadier LP ‘Bogey” Sen was giving final touches to his plan for a frontal assault on the invaders.

* As part of the plan, he had asked Lieutenant Noel David to abandon their recce mission and take up a position behind the tribal army. Lt David, who had left Ambala with his armored car, sneaked up behind the lashkars gathered at Shalteng, creating the impression that he was one of them. And when a cracker went up in the eastern sky, David’s car unleashed a barrage of gunfire on the tribals.

* The tribals were now caught between Lt David’s fire from behind and the Indian soldiers in front of them. In the confusion that followed, the tribals forgot to fight and made a run towards an open ground behind them.

*The retreating invaders were strafed by Indian warplanes. Around 500 of them were killed within minutes. The rest of them retreated to Muzaffarabad, practically ending Jinnah’s dream of becoming the Quaid-e-Azam of Kashmir. He could never have!

In Srinagar, when the sky was lit up with gunfire, residents clambered up their terraces, believing that fire crackers were going off at marriage processions. They were to learn the next morning that invaders had been repulsed right from their doorsteps. And Kashmir was now firmly in India’s hands.

That was in 1947 but the battle was recreated to commemorate the historic victory of Indian Armed forces. Shalteng was one of the two places where the Pak invasion had to bite the dust! As part of celebration for ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and to commemorate the historic victory of the Indian Armed Forces in its first war after independence, Chinar Corps conducted a unique light & sound show to re-enact the historic ‘Battle of Shalateng’. ‘Battle of Shalateng’ was the most decisive battle of the first Indo-Pak War 1947 and had a long standing impact on the history and geography of Jammu & Kashmir. It literally changed the face of the war and saved Srinagar from the onslaught of the Pakistan Army and the barbarian hordes, supported by the Pakistan Army. The well-coordinated and executed operations by 1 Sikh, 1 Kumaon, 4 Kumaon and a Squadron from 7 Light Cavalry, supported by the Indian Air Force strikes, changed the course of the war, wherein Kashmiri citizens and soldiers of the Indian Army fought valiantly alongside to evict Pakistani Forces, driving them out of most of Jammu & Kashmir till ceasefire on 05 January 1949.

The re-enactment of the ‘Battle of Shalateng’ events in the form of light and sound extravaganza was a befitting tribute to pay obeisance to the brave soldiers and the invaluable contribution of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, who fought alongside the Indian Armed Forces to ultimately defeat Pakistan Army who had unleased plunder, loot, rape and destruction of property and houses of Kashmiris, their most deplorable act was the mass rapes of local women. The replica of the historic event was also a befitting tribute to honour the ‘Next of Kin’ of war heroes who participated in the 1947-48 War.

The nostalgic event was witnessed by Lieutenant General DP Pandey, Chinar Corps Commander along with several other civil and military dignitaries. In addition, the Next of Kin of war veterans who travelled across the country to be a part of this mega event were felicitated along with the units which participated in the ‘Battle of Shalateng’. Those felicitated included Mrs Usha Parmar, daughter of Brigadier Rajinder Singh, Mahavir Chakra, Chief of Staff of the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces and Mrs Sher Mishra Rana, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Narain Singh Samyal, 4 JAK RIF. The showcasing of the true historical events of 1947-48 Indo-Pak war will rekindle the curiosity of the youth to explore and rediscover the true history of Jammu & Kashmir and the valiant acts of those who selflessly put their lives at stake to protect the people of J&K.

Remember the battle took place at a point when Indian troops had just begun their fly-in into Srinagar airfield during the opening stages of the war. The lashkars were advancing along three axes – North of Wular lake, along the main Muzaffarabad-Baramulla-Pattan-Srinagar axis and from Gulmarg. Along the Gulmarg route, a lashkar of 700 raiders was known to be approaching Badgam but no contact had been made with it. Everything was dangerously poised but men like Dewan Ranjit Rai, Major Somnath Sharma and LP Sen, LT. Noel David, Maqbool Sherwani and so many other fighters are born once in a blue moon. They set up a tradition and a legacy! And the line is very clear, ’Pakistan can never harm Kashmir and Kashmiris’!