There was a sense of jubilation as civilians rushed to their homes and the relief column went chasing the enemy towards Owen Pattan. The worst seemed to have been prevented through timely intervention. However, to the dismay of Lieutenant Colonel Khan, a huge contingent of the enemy, including the fresh reinforcements in form of regulars of Pakistan army, had been waiting for them between Sensa and Owen Pattan.
In a classical progression of an invasion, thePakistani planners had not only occupied the State’s territory, they were now executingthe expansion post-consolidation. The next two days saw repeated attempts by thecolumn to push back the enemy while the enemy kept on bringing in more and more menand tried to encircle the column. With ammunition and supplies now running low, even the defence of Sensa became unviable and the CO decided to pull back and ordered thecolumn to fall back to Tharochi on 14 October.
What followed those actions- another treachery at Tharochi or siege of Kotli- is well-known. Interestingly, while a joint force composed of the remnant of State forces andIndian Army troops was fighting the invaders near Pattan on 28 October, a newdevelopment was unfolding in the South of Pir Panjal. On that night, Bhimbar was attacked by a large throng of invaders. 11th Prince Albert Victor’s Own Cavalry (FrontierForce) or PAVO CAV (now 11 CAV (FF) of Pakistan) had been tasked to lead the attack butin disguise.
Colonel “Tommy” Masud was the CO and the regiment attacked the bordertown with armoured cars during the night. Armoured cars actually gave their identityaway. In isolation, the incident may simply appear to be reinforcing the Indian claimsabout the role of Pakistan army (denied vehemently by Pakistan at that time) but theincident had a linkage with another incident that happened on 7 November 1947 at Shalateng, on the outskirts of Srinagar. That, in any case, is a different story wherein Indian Army’s armoured cars had been welcome by the invaders before getting sorted outby our men in those cars.
Having established the date of the first invasion as the night of 8/9 October, lets try andsee why 22 October and why not 7/8 October is considered as the date of invasion of theState. The first reason, of course, would be Kashmir centricity that continues even today.
The second reason given by many was the comparative volume of thrust, especially, the number of lorries (between 300 and 1000 as per various accounts) along Muzaffarabad-Uri-Srinagar road as against foot-based operations in Poonch region. Such arguments ignore two facts. The first fact relates to the terrain and infrastructure.
Poonch had no road that could match the dimensions and reach of the main Muzaffarabad-Uri-Srinagarroad. Had a similar axis been available, there would have been a similar concentration bythe enemy even along that non-existent road.
Secondly, a mere glance at the sketch of Operation Gulmarg (now in public domain) would throw up a fact or two. As against six lashkars (6,000 men) sent into the Valley, ten lashkars (10,000 men) had been sent into Poonch-Mirpur area. In addition, 7 Division of Pakistan army had moved up opposite Poonch while another brigade was posturing around Sialkot opposite Jammu!
Many commentators also feel comfortable calling 22 October as the day of invasion because they see the following actions, i.e., request to India for help by the Maharaja and signing of the Instrument of Accession a bit later, as meaningful consequences of the invasion.
Here again, we tend to ignore that Maharaja Hari Singh had toured Poonch-Mirpur after loss of Owen Pattan and Sensa and had requested the Indian government tohelp. The fact that a battalion from Patiala Forces did land up in Jammu around 15 October and an artillery battery too landed (without sights though) in Srinagar on 17 October only because of request by the Maharaja to the central leadership.
Unfortunately, it was because of an unwarranted hard stand taken by Pandit Nehru that had actually delayed the signing of the instrument right till 26 October. State’s Deputy PM, RL Batrahad been sent by Maharaja Hari Singh to Delhi to open the talks for accession well beforethe 22 October and soon after the invasion on 08 October.
Had it not been due to the delays because of Pandit Nehru insisting on obtaining concurrence of Sheikh Abdullah, the State would have possibly acceded to the Union much before 22 October. That is another story by itself. Another reason for giving priority to 22 October over 08 October was the narrative and convenience as it related to certain quarters in the literary circles.
The expected question, then, is why so much against Poonch and not Kashmir? While, Kashmir had its own significance and lure (the latter more important to the invaders), Poonch had far-reaching implications when it came to survival of the baby called Pakistan that had been born out of a virtual miscarriage. Their new capital lay less than 50 miles from Jhelum along which ran the international boundary.
Further, their connectivity to North was via the road that ran just across Jhelum. And of course, Mangla head works (later converted into a huge dam) were central to Pakistan’s insecurity regarding water. Not known to many, turbulence in Poonch had been started earlier as part of the British plan to use influence over the previous British Chief of Staff of the State forces, Major General HL Scott who, in turn, used that as an excuse to move the only reserve battalion available in the Valley, 9 JAK Infantry from Kashmir to Poonch, thereby, rendering the Valley defenceless post treachery by soldiers of 4 JAK Infantry when that happened on 22October.
The British, by planning and executing the plan through Pakistan establishment, had kept their part of commitment to save Pakistan. It was a big game, probably more gigantic than the famed Great Game of that era but unfortunately, we failed to see the macro situation in its correct perspective.
And yet, another way of looking at the issue is, as we say in the defence forces, accepting the fact that all the developments in Poonch region were preparatory in nature and were aimed at facilitating the action on 22 October (move of 9 JAK Infantry being one suchact).
The fact that the date of 22 October (D Day for Operation Gulmarg) had been fixedmuch in advance (keeping in mind upcoming snowing season that would have closed thepasses and isolated the Valley from three sides) and the aim of the invaders was to rush to Srinagar and capture Maharaja Hari Singh so as to force him to sign the accession papers, does add weight to the argument in the favour of 22 October.
The bottom line, however, is that it doesn’t really matter as long as we observe the Black Day both to remind Pakistan in particular and international community in general about the breach of international protocol, games played by the British, unreasonable attitude of certain political biggies and of course, to our own people about the supreme sacrifices that were made to defend the State.
We will do well to remember that the invaders could get in only over the dead body of the Chief of Staff of the State. Be it 08 or 22 Oct, the bigger picture needs to be understood, remembered and kept alive in the institutional memory ofa great institution called India.
Lets, therefore, do our bit and observe 22 October as the Black Day in the history of our State – Jammu and Kashmir.
(The author is a Military Historian and a founding member of Military History ResearchSociety of India)
Representative Image - Pakistani invasion in Kashmir in 1947 - Courtesy - indiavsdisinformation.com