One should feel sad ~ for the real-life story of Nation’s heroes have not been in School curriculam.We read more of British history and Moghul history !! – a design by the British and later day Commies.
Decades
ago, this book titled ‘Pathinaalu Naatkal’ [14 days] impressed me most…. It was
a story on Indo-bangla war … the hero is Indian pilot who gets captured and
falls in the hands of a Paki general who hates India….. the air warfare was so wonderfully depicted
with Sujatha touch of humanism….
The Indo
– Pak war which liberated Bangladesh officially began on 3rd Dec
1971 when West Pakistan launched a series of pereemptive air strikes on Indian
airfields. On 6th Dec
1971,India recognized East Pakistan as Bangladesh.On 16th Dec 1971 – Pak forces surrendered to India ~
Lt Genl AAK Niazi, Supreme commander of Pak Army in East Pak surrendered to Lt
Gen Jagjit Singh Arora……..The direct
military conflict between India and Pak that gave rise to a new Nation
–Bangladesh occurred in 1971. It is considered to be one of the shortest wars
in the history.During
the course of the war, Indian and Pakistani forces clashed on the eastern and
western fronts. East Pakistan officially seceded from Pakistan on 26 March
1971. Wikipedia reports that between 90,000 and 93,000 members of the Pakistan
Armed Forces including paramilitary personnel were taken as Prisoners of War by
the Indian Army. It is estimated that between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 civilians
were killed in Bangladesh, and hundred thousands ofwomen raped by the Pakistani armed forces.
Now more
of our own History ~ the day when India became free – 15th Aug 1947,
the
state, like Hyderabad and Junagadh, and unlike over 500 other princely states,
had not acceded to either India or Pakistan. Its maharaja, Hari Singh, was
reluctant to join either of the dominions and wished to keep his state
independent. Threat from Pakistan was imminent.On October 22, 1947, over 5,000 tribesmen, with weapons and transport
supplied by the Pakistani Army, entered Kashmir and seized Muzaffarabad, Domel
and Uri and surged towards Srinagar. Two days later, the Maharaja offered to
accede to India and asked for immediate military assistance. VP Menon,
secretary in the ministry of states, flew to Jammu and got the instrument of
accession signed by the maharaja on Oct 26.
Operation
J&K commenced at first light on the morning of Oct 27. One after another
more than a hundred planes, both civilian (BOAC) and military (RIAF), flew out
of Safdarjung Airport, ferrying weapons, rations and troops of the Sikh
regiment led by Lt Col Ranjit Rai who was one of the first soldiers to
sacrifice his life, but not before his unit had succeeded in establishing a
bridgehead on the Baramula-Srinagar road which halted the invasion and saved
Srinagar.
On hearing that
Indian troops had landed in Srinagar Pakistani governor general Mohammad Ali
Jinnah ordered General Douglas Gracy, acting chief of the Pakistan Army (both
India and Pakistan had British officers in top echelons) to move his troops
into Kashmir on the Rawalpindi-Srinagar road towards the Banihal pass and cut
off Kashmir from Jammu and the rest of India. Mountbatten and his chief of staff, General
Hastings Ismay, flew to Lahore on November 1. They spent over three hours with
Jinnah discussing Junagadh, Hyderabad, and Kashmir. When Mountbatten suggested
impartial plebiscites the Quaid-e-Azam spurned the proposal.
On
November 8, Nehru wrote to his Pakistani counterpart, Liaquat Ali, enumerating
India's proposals: Pakistan should publicly compel the raiders to withdraw;
India would withdraw its troops as soon as the raiders withdrew and law and
order was restored; both governments should make a joint request to the UN to
hold a plebiscite at the earliest. By mid-November
Indian forces had retaken Uri and secured the Valley. Jhangar was captured in March 1948 and Rajouri
taken next. By early March the threat to the lines of communication from Jammu
to Naushera was neutralized. Having fully secured Ladakh and Rajouri Poonch,
India accepted ceasefire for which international pressure had been building up
and could not be resisted any longer. The guns fell silent on the last night of
1948 and ceasefire became effective from January 1, 1949.
India
agreed to a plebiscite subject to certain very specific conditions, the most
important of which was that Pakistan should withdraw all its troops and vacate
the entire territory of the former princely state of Jammu & Kashmir. This Pakistan
refused to do and still refuses to do.Yet
some fools, who have not read History would write on social media that India
has not so far conducted referendum in Kashmir.
On 13 Oct 1948,
when the Pakistani attackers tried to recapture the Richhmar Gali of the South
and Nastachur Pass of the East of Tithwal
respectively and they planned to re-attack and capture the Richmar Gali. Lance
Naik Karam Singh at that time was commanding the section of Richmar Gali. The
fight began with an initial attack of howitzers and guns. All the bunkers were
destroyed by heavy firing from the enemy’s side. All the communication links
and lines got damaged and there were no ways for Karam Singh to communicate
with the commander, in order to ask for any assistance and updating the
situation. But Lance Naik Karam Singh did not give up his high morale and went
bunker to bunker to give aid to the wounded crew men, he was himself badly injured,
but he showed the attitude of a lion and rescued two injured comrades and
brought them back to the main company position.
The enemy got to
grab its positions near the Frontline but Karam Singh was completely fearless
stepped forward in front of the enemy and bayoneted the invader to death. Singh
overpowered the enemy so much that the enemy became clueless and they finally
decided to set back. The battle of Tithwal
would always be remembered for the great actions of Lance
Naik Karam Singh; his daring spirit had been commendable that made him a
true deserver of the Param Vir Chakra.
Subedar
and Honorary Captain Karam Singh PVC, MM (1915 – 1993)
became the first living recipient of the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India's
highest award for gallantry. Singh joined the army in 1941, and took part in
the Burma Campaign of World War II, receiving the Military Medal for his
actions during the Battle of the Admin Box in 1944. He also fought in the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947, and was awarded the PVC for his role in saving a
forward post at Richhmar Gali, south of Tithwal. He was also one of the five
soldiers chosen to raise the Indian flag for the first time after independence
in 1947.
We did
not study the Battle of Tithwal of 1948 and sadly, Indians do not know much
about their hero Param Vir Chakra awardee Capt Karam Singh.As the battle at
Tithwal continued for months, the Pakistanis grew desperate and launched a
massive attack trying to capture the
Richhmar Gali, located south of Tithwal, and the Nastachur Pass, east of
Tithwal.Although outnumbered ten-to-one
by the Pakistani troops, the Sikhs repelled their attacks multiple times. Under
the heavy Pakistani fire, Singh moved from position to position, boosting the
morale of his men and intermittently throwing grenades. Despite being wounded
twice, he refused evacuation and continued to hold the first line of trenches.Singh’s valour is exceptional and
commendable.
In the 1980s, the
Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), named fifteen of its crude oil tankers in
honour of the PVC recipients. The tanker MT Lance Naik Karam Singh, PVC was
delivered to SCI on 30 July 1984, and served for 25 years before being phased
out. The government also built a memorial in his honor at the District Administrative
Complex in Sangrur.
Jai
Jawan ! long live our soldiers ~ mera Bharat mahan hai !!
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
27th Feb
2019.
