New Delhi:
A former Indian Army officer who took part in the 1947-48
operations against Pakistan-backed tribesman in Jammu and Kashmir
feels that a ceasefire that halted the march of Indian forces to
Muzaffarabad was unwarranted, according to a blog post by BJP
leader L.K. Advani Sunday.
Advani quoted a speech of former Jammu and Kashimir governor Lt.
Gen. (retd) S.K. Sinha at the Kolkata University Institute last
week stating that India had to confront a very difficult situation
in the northern state after independence. The lecture was held as
part of 110th birth anniversary celebrations of BJP idealogue S.P.
Mukherjee.
Sinha said in October 1947, Pakistan organised a clandestine
invasion of the state by a force composed of Pathan tribesmen,
ex-servicemen and soldiers 'on leave' which precipitated the first
Indo-Pak war after the two countries became independent.
Advani said an Indian Foreign Service officer, Chandrashekhar
Dasgupta, who served as India's ambassador to China 1993-96, has
written a book on the Kashmir invasion titled "War and Diplomacy
in Kashmir, 1947-48", in which he describes this war as "unique in
the annals of modern warfare".
`"It was a war", he writes, "in which both the opposing armies
were led by nationals of a third country. British generals
commanded the armies of the newly independent states of India and
Pakistan. In India, moreover, the Defence Committee of the Cabinet
was chaired by Lord Mountbatten, not Prime Minister Nehru. Thus
the course and outcome of the Indo-Pakistan cannot be explained
simply in terms of political objectives and military capabilities
of the antagonists. A crucial determinant was the role of the
antagonists," Advani said.
Advani said three top British generals were serving in the Indian
Army after August 1947.
He said during the period, Lt. Gen. Dudley Russell headed the
Delhi and East Punjab and Sinha, then a major, was General Staff
Officer (Operations).
Advani said of the three British officers, Gen. Robert McGregor
Macdonald Lockhart proved disloyal to India, and had to be
removed.
"Dudley Russell, in contrast, was very loyal. Maharaja Hari Singh
acceded to India on the afternoon of 26 October, 1947. Russell
told Sinha that there being an embargo on British officers serving
either India or Pakistan from entering the Kashmir theatre Major
Sinha as the only Indian officer in the region would have to
conduct the operations," Advani said.
Advani said in his Kolkata speech, Sinha pointed out that it was
nothing less than a miracle to do as many as 800 Dakota sorties at
a short notice to airlift troops from Delhi to Srinagar.
He said Sinha told the gathering that they were able to win a
decisive victory by liberating Baramulla and advancing 60 miles to
Uri where, the Valley ends and a gorge along the Jhelum starts to
Muzaffarabad.
Sinha said at this point Indian forces received orders to cease
fire and halt the advance to Muzaffarabad. He said Russell was
surprised by the orders as he felt Indian forces should advance to
Muzaffarabad and seal the border by securing the two bridges at
Kohala and Domel.
"Russell, however, was overruled. The senior British officers in
Delhi as also Lord Mountbatten, we gathered, did not want the
Indian Army to get directly involved in fighting the Pakistan
Army, which this advance to the border would certainly entail.
"It was argued that hitherto the confrontation was mainly with the
tribal raiders. The argument did not have much merit. Everyone
knew that Pakistani soldiers dressed in civilian clothes were in
action along with the tribesmen, and all were functioning under
direct command of the Pakistani army General, Akbar Khan," Advani
quoted Sinha as saying.
Sinha was the Indian Army vice chief when he was superseeded to
enable Gen Arun Vaidya occupy the past on the retirement of Gen.
K.V. Krishna Rao. He subsequently put in his papers.
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