The human dimension of war

With war come endless tales of gallantry and grit and instances of performance above and beyond the call of duty. Many are preserved for posterity, while some fade into eternity and heroes die unsung. Also, in the wake of military action come successes and failures, the enemy is vanquished and ground seized, yet opportunities are lost and gains frittered away.

On the 59th anniversary of the Indo-Pakistan war, fought across the western frontier during the monsoon of 1965, two new books focus on these aspects — one on the personal experiences of men who rose to the call of arms and the other where a hard-won victory was sacrificed at the altar of geopolitics.

Maj Gen Ian Cardozo, a war disabled veteran, has put together several accounts of what he describes as courage beyond fear and duty above death. He highlights the values of love for one’s country, of honour from which values emanate, of the concept that no sacrifice for the nation is too great and of the spirit of never giving up.

The author also discounts Pakistan’s claims of victory in the war, saying that it lost 1,528 sq km of territory compared to India’s loss of 554 sq km and failed to achieve its objective of annexing Kashmir. India also successfully destroyed over half of Pakistan’s armour and neutralised all its offensives.

While describing key battles, the author puts across the point that barring 1971, in all wars, India has only reacted to enemy advances. Battlegrounds such as Chhamb, Poonch and Kargil have been the common denominators in all wars with a Kashmir-obsessed Pakistan. He also rues that the same mistakes have been repeated in all wars and each time India has let Pakistan off the hook, allowing it to recuperate and carry out the next misadventure.

Elucidating on the action of HQMH Abdul Hamid, decorated with Param Vir Chakra, he brings out how the conduct of a single individual can contribute to victory in war. Also finding mention in the book is the bravery, loyalty and commitment of a Gorkha soldier who fell to enemy fire, air battles shooting down Pakistani Sabres, and the greatest tank battle since World War II.

There is also a touching story on two families, one from India and the other from Pakistan, that came together in Australia during a training course. Later, both officers were killed in the same sector in the same war and their widows met at a memorial service to honour the war dead. The author projects the futility of war, particularly in the sub-continent, where two countries fight, lives are lost, land seized and given back, peace agreements and diplomatic relations are forged and everything goes back to normal.

It was on the morning of August 28, 1965, that elements of the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (1 Para) hoisted the Tricolour atop Haji Pir pass that separates Jammu from Kashmir. The strategic pass in the vicinity of the LoC and not too far from Uri on the once active cross-border Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus route has been a major ingress route into Kashmir since 1947-48.

The 8,652 feet high pass, which had been under Pakistani occupation since Independence, was captured after a 37-hour battle fought in adverse weather conditions by five infantry battalions along with artillery support. Said to be among the most decisive and significant campaigns of the war, the Indian Army’s success in wresting control of the pass and adjoining features had the advantage of directly linking Uri with Poonch in the south with a 56-km route instead of the circuitous 282-km road, neutralise the Pakistani logistics set-up and plug infiltration routes.

Under the terms of the Tashkent Agreement in January 1966, the pass was handed back to Pakistan, a move described by strategists as a huge blunder that continues to have serious ramifications till today.

In his book on the Battle of Haji Pir, Kulpreet Yadav, a former Naval and Coast Guard officer who commanded three ships during his maritime career, documents the events leading up to the unorthodox offensive across the LoC, then called the Cease Fire Line. He chronicles the courage and sacrifice of the soldiers who fought against heavy odds.

Beginning with a narrative set in Pakistan’s Muree town on May 15, 1965, where Operation Gibraltar, Pakistan’s plan to capture J&K, was approved by its then President Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the book covers a series of events in the northern sector up till September 10, when operations in the area finally ended.

Not so widely known is the inception and role of Meghdoot Force. A small ad hoc force of commandos assembled on the initiative of a Major on the staff of the then Western Command GOC-in-C, Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh, it carried out critical attacks behind enemy lines around Haji Pir. How the young Major, who was on the verge of leaving the Army, changed his mind and walked up to the Army Commander seeking a free hand to conduct attacks on the enemy and got his way is an interesting episode in the book.

Rather than a straight narrative of events, the author has reconstructed conversations that took place during events from publically available records and documents that offer a captivating flow. Besides official war records and other published material, the author has also relied on the personal experience of Brig Arvinder Singh (retd), who as a Major had participated in the operation.