The Poonch Link Up Day: This had to be decisive and it was because Pakistani raiders were all over from Uri as well as Poonch and Rajouri!
Rule one on page one of the book of war that should be in the Military training Academy in Quetta should be ‘Do not march on India’! If you do, the consequences would be dire.! Pakistan tried to do so in 1947-1948!
-‘And the rest is history!’
-‘That was the first dead end they met both in Kashmir and in Poonch’!
-‘But before I start this piece, the first in the series of three I will love to quote the flamboyant man from the Battle of Almein Bernard Montgomery and this is what he said, ‘When I told a senior officer … that I must have a new head gunner, he remarked that the present man was a delightful person and was also a golf champion. I agreed he was delightful, but added that unfortunately the game we were about to play was not golf.’
-‘’Definitely the Pakistani Pakistani Generals had great ideas and dreams and the initial thrust was brutal and ruthless for the people of the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir but when the Indian Army struck back they had nowhere to go but to run for their lives! Yes they did do immense damage but the response was historic! The conclusion and the lesson learnt by the officer cadets who later became Generals should have been, ‘you can never win a war against India’! They never did, they can never do and they will never be able to do!’!
=‘There is a place in District Poonch where there was a war memorial. Back in the eighties it was a place which the locals called a ‘Yadgaar’! As a kid one tends to skip over such things but it was a place where I used to feel something that used to make me miss a heart beat or two for a moment! I think such places do! The place was Ajote!
-‘It was much later when I came to know about the true importance of the place and that too from a kid who always moved along with a lamb kid in her lap but it was not at the time when she revealed something later. Dhe was a kid at that time and we used to make fun of her as her nose always flowed and we offered handkerchiefs to clean it up! When she grew up she became one of the most decent girls as life moved on as it waits for none but meetings are coincidental! And it was a coincidence that we met again not elsewhere but where we were supposed or destined to, the greatest library of all, University of Jammu early in the years of the 21st century! I had switched over to the profession of writing and she was beginning a new one, coincidentally as an educationist. Do not miss out on the name Rehana and it was she who told me, ‘I salute the brave men of the Indian Army’! It was here I asked her as to why you were always there at Ajote war memorial when you were a child and I used to give you a handkerchief . The reply was an awesome one, ‘may be some of our elders in Poonch were saved by men who laid their lives for us, definitely as a child I could not have said that but now I’m!’ I just looked at her, turned my face away as my eyes got moist! It was her time to give me a handkerchief! Coincidences do happen and this was an unforgettable one!
-‘Ajote War Memorial Poonch has been constructed in the memory of Martyrs (soldiers and locals)of 1947 War and hence every year Poonch link up Day is celebrated on 22Nov in honor of martyrs here. But this time it would be special as 93 Brigade and all the Battalions are adamant to make it a memorable one. Trust me it would be after all Poonch is the land of martyrs who are very, very special! They always were!
-‘I love the maroon beret and one man looked extraordinary in that and it had to be Bernard Montgomery, As a young man, Montgomery was noted by his superiors for his strong abilities as an analyst. He began the war in 1914 as a Lieutenant leading a platoon of 30 men. Within only four years, he had become the Chief of Staff of a division by age 30.’
-‘ It was at that time he said that war is not an act of God. War grows directly out of the things which individuals do or fail to do. It is, in fact, the consequence of national policies or lack of policies. Hitler did not have any and so did the Pakistani Politicians and the conglomerate Generals they had in 1947-1948. What they unleashed was a mayhem that had to be responded to. It was by the one and only one, the Indian Army!’
-‘ I talked about the maroon barrettes, ‘Operation Market Garden was one of the largest Allied operations of the Second World War. It took place in September 1944. The goal of the operation was to secure the key bridges over three wide rivers in the Netherlands (Maas/Meuse, Waal and Rhine, respectively) in order to outflank the heavy German defenses of the Siegfried Line (Westwall) which protected heartland Germany beyond the Rhine. It was hoped that with a swift advance towards Berlin the war would be over before Christmas. It could have but the bride too far became a hindrance! I thought that Pak Generals at that time would have read it! What they planned was a nuisance, a plunder, rape and loot. It was not to free anyone! It was to holistically destroy Kashmir. Kashmir was always a garden but Pakistan wanted to make it a market! Rest is up to the analysts and theorists to decide! But in Poonch the celebrations are on for the greatest ever day in the military history of Poonch ‘The Poonch Link up Day’!
‘This is a tale to tell in bloody rhyme, A story to last till the dawn of end’s time. Of a loving boy who left dear home, to bear his country’s burdens; her honor to sow. A common boy, I say, who left kith and kin, he laughed he did with new found friends, lived there together for the noble end. They did not live for long but their names are still inscribed on the hearts of the people and magnificently made war memories. Those were the times of 1947 and Poonch was the place’….Rehana (the kid with a lamb back in early eighties of the last century at Ajote)
In 1948, during the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir between Indian Army and Pakistani forces, Poonch withstood a siege by the Pakistanis from November 1947 till relieved by an Indian Offensive, Operation Easy which commenced on November 20, 1948. The besieged garrison, then commanded by Brig Pritam Singh, was maintained by air supply. The day marks the historic link up carried out by Brig Pritam Singh’s forces with Big Yadunath’s forces from Rajouri at Danna Ka Pir on November 21, 1948. The White Knight Corps and the Awaam of Poonch thus celebrate the historic Poonch Link Up Day with gaiety and fervor every year. But trust me this year the 93 Brigade has gone overboard!
I.93 Brigade and Operation Easy:
The effects of losses were acute, and unique to each individual in Poonch as the entire town was under siege. No one knew what would happen tomorrow and no tomorrow was coming! But some brave hearts knew that it would! It did with the link up! And finally when everything happened as it had to the exclamation amongst the people was that we are thankful that there are those among us who have sacrificed dearly on behalf of us. And we ardently pray to God that we might be less like ourselves and more like them. That was what Rehana was telling me in the library and offering me a handkerchief to a stone face like me! That was because her grand dad’s family was…………I do not want to get any further! But trust me we will!
I. Threat to Poonch was enormous and no one had a clue as to what would happen next!:
* Poonch is a small town in Western Jammu, on the confluence of Batar and Suran rivers, which forms the Poonch river. In 1947, it was the seat of the Raja who was a vassal of Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to 1947, communications with Poonch were through the Punjabi town of Jhelum; towns in the east such as Rajauri, Naushera and Jammu being connected only by fair-weather tracks. There were no roads then but it was the Indian Pioneers who started it all! Others came in much later!
* Pakistan had targeted Poonch district, which had a large population of Muslim serving and retired soldiers, as an important objective. Pakistani forces comprised regular soldiers, ex-servicemen of Royal Indian Army (AKRF– Azad Kashmir Regular Force as Pakistan Generals called it) and Pashtun tribals (We have done this story), along with Muslim Poonchies inflamed by reports of massacre of Muslim refugees during the communal violence of partition. That was not the case. It was Goebbels’s propaganda theory which Pakistan backed till the Balakote strike’ There was no truth in that!’
=’The attackers infiltrated Poonch, as part of Operation “Gulmarg”, as a springboard to capture the Jammu region. The town was threatened by the raiders when the headquarters of Jammu and Kashmir forces decided to reinforce it from the North.’
-‘The relief of Poonch from Jammu was exacerbated by the fact that it lay across many kilometers of hilly terrain with poor communications. Paucity of troops, the need to secure the line of communication and to establish a firm base delayed its relief. The massacre of the populations of the surrounding areas, not only swelled the refugee population in Poonch, but also led to Pandit Nehru’s insisting that it be held. It was’!
II. Reinforcement of Poonch: Buying time was the only option!
A total of 40,000 refugees sheltered in Poonch fleeing from tribal atrocities in the West. Since the state forces were grossly inadequate to fend off the raiders, a decision to reinforce the garrison was made by Maj Gen Kalwant Singh, commander of Jammu and Kashmir forces. An attempt by 50 Parachute Brigade, under Brig. Y.S. Paranjpye was planned. The brigade faced difficult terrain and tough opposition and was not able to relieve Poonch.’
The 161st Infantry Brigade, which had pushed the raiders back to Domel on the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar route, was tasked to link up with Poonch from the North. Just before Poonch was contacted by the raiders, the town was reinforced on 22 Nov 47 by a column from 161 Brigade which left behind an infantry battalion, 1st Battalion (Parachute), Kumaon Regiment (1 Kumaon) under Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier) Pritam Singh who became the commander of Poonch garrison. There was also an under strength brigade of J&K State Forces under Brig. Kishen Singh was present in Poonch which came under command of the Indian Army. In January 1948, another battalion of infantry, the 3rd Battalion, 9 Gorkha Rifles (3/9 GR) was airlifted into Poonch to bolster the defences.
III. Siege of Poonch: The wait for tomorrow had arrived! But all hopes rested with the Indian Army! Operation Punching Drive was on from air:
Poonch was isolated by the raiders soon after the reinforcement. Brig. Pritam Singh organised the defenses with regular troops, stiffening them with the State Forces and two ad hoc militia battalions, organized from the refugees. The defenders kept the besiegers at bay by vigorous patrolling and fierce small unit actions. An air strip suitable for Dakotas was fashioned using the besieged civilians as labour.
On 12 December 1947, Wing Commander Mehar Singh, accompanied by Air Vice Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, carried out a daring trial in a Harvard on the makeshift airstrip. The same day, the first Dakotas landed on Poonch airstrip carrying with them a complete section of mountain artillery. Thereafter the fledgling Royal Indian Air Force began what they called the Punching drive, an air bridge of Dakotas, first by day and later by night.
The air bridge flew in supplies and flew out refugees, despite interdiction by Pakistani mountain artillery, to counter which Indian 25 pounder guns were flown in. The air force also attacked the Pakistani columns with Tempests and Harvards. Attacks on Poonch reduced during summer due to the protracted operations in the Uri sector and were resumed in August 1948, necessitating an immediate relief of Poonch.
But hereafter the blizzard started as the siege was blown away but as I told you that I will continue with the story in three parts, I will be back tomorrow with it but not before a small anecdote to think about!
Heroes are all–all aces and fates they carry along with them. They all once sang as we do, a common man who everybody knew in Ajote from own heart. He could have been called ‘the kid’ by the old man or a maverick who knew that he was sent to save us. That day also he received a letter from his shy sweet one and he told our family and probably that was the last one he received that day! That is why I used to stand before Ajote Memorial to find his name! I did one day’. ………(Rehana)…. This was the first in the series of three! My eyes were still moist and next she offered me a glass of cold coffee with a comment, ‘I’m no more a kid with a white lamb kid in my lap and neither do I have a flowing nose! Oh! Those childhood years!
