Shiban Khaibri
The Greek epic poet Homer says: “Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, and asks no omen, but his country’s cause.” We have heard sagas of bravery, the gritting determination, impeccable resolve and feats of warriors but they all appear not above the extreme bravery and patriotism shown by the proud son of the soil, Brigadier Rajinder Singh who fought the swarm of Afridees, Mahsuds, Wazirs, Swathis and others known as Qabaliyees, those were inspired, aided armed and pushed into Kashmir by Pakistan along with its regular soldiers attired as tribesmen under the overall command of Colonel Akbar Khan under his nom de gurre of “General Tariq.” They were armed heavily to belch Kashmir by deceit and despicable means in Oct 1947. His aim of putting the country above every other thing else including his own life while taking on the hordes of attackers in Baramulla and Uri sectors in Kashmir, reaffirmed the fame of the Dogras as being counted among the best of warriors in the world. We, the beholden citizens, revere his bravery and bow to his martyrdom attained by him at Bunyar near Baramulla on Oct27, 1947 while defending Kashmir and stopping the advancement of the frenzied hordes to capture Srinagar which proved vital not only militarily but more importantly politically. On October 26 itself the state of Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to the Indian union. On Oct27, Indian troops landed at Srinagar airport which hundreds of civil volunteers had made worthy of landing.
Brigadier Rajinder Singh is the first Indian soldier to be decorated with the highest gallantry award of Maha Vir Chakra. The Maharaja had pinned high hopes in the Brigadier who was the army chief as well, to protect the state of Jammu and Kashmir “till his last man and last breath”. The brave heart kept his word. It is interesting to note, especially by our younger generations, about the heroic deeds of those sons of the soil who eventually attained iconic forms due to the feats of bravery exhibited by them while saving the motherland from being defiled by the enemies. At a very short notice, Brigadier Rajinder Singh received orders from the then ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh to rush to Baramulla to save Srinagar following the tribesmen and Pakistani attack on Muzzafarabad on Oct22, 1947. The raiders burnt the town – indulged in large scale looting, killed people and abused women particularly non- Muslims. They, in the intervening night of Oct22/23 , over ran Uri and captured Mahura and damaged the power station due to which the whole city plunged into darkness. He could just arrange a paltry number of 150 men and marched to Baramulla which by that time, had fallen and the town of Dhumal 112 kms far from Srinagar too was lost. His first action was at Garhi on Oct23, 1947, the second one at Uri on Oct 24th and third at Mahura on Oct 25. He succeeded in destroying a vital bridge at Uri to halt the advancement of Qabalies. One by one his men offered the supreme sacrifice and the Brigadier leading from the front, single handedly, kept fighting for hours together even in the condition of being profusely wounded. He kept on fighting till the enemy surrounded him in overwhelming numbers and rained bullets on him making him attain martyrdom. The Brigadier won the decisive battle while the nitwit enemy won a mere local fight. The enemy, as per its time table, had to reach Srinagar on Oct 25, instead because of his resolute fight, they could merely reach Baramulla only to burn, loot, kill and rape. It is a matter of feeling proud that the Brigadier had, besides his few soldiers – cooks, mess bearers, orderlies etc; who also took up arms on his orders to fight the ruthless despised enemy to defend Kashmir. Brigadier Rajinder Singh shall always, not only be remembered but venerated too by the countrymen in general and the people of Jammu and Kashmir in particular, for his iconic feats of determination, bravery and highest levels of patriotism exhibited by him while saving Kashmir in 1947.
Another brave heart who contributed his tremendous mite to save Kashmir and decisively defeat the enemy, was Major Som Nath Sharma. When his company was ordered to move to Srinagar, Somnath had a fractured arm in plaster paste from the wrist to the elbow and was initially declared technically unfit for the operation but he wanted to do something special for the country and managed to take part in active operation and was asked to lead the company. Within hours on receiving orders, he landed at Srinagar where the situation was fast deteriorating as the raiders and the Pakistani regulars had virtually neared the airport by reaching as near as Badgam. Major Sharma and his company were dispatched to Budgam. A 700 strong tribal and Pakistani force armed heavily with modern weaponry attacked the Indian forces. Being outnumbered by 7 to 1, the valiant Major sent a request for reinforcements. He feared that in case the enemy advanced any further, the security of the airport would be endangered to the extent of even falling into the hands of the enemy and that would mean losing Kashmir to Pakistan. The Srinagar airfield was the only lifeline between the valley and rest of the country. He kept on fighting superbly bravely and sent the last wireless message to the headquarters stating ,”The enemy is only 50 yards from us, we are heavily outnumbered and are under devastating fire -I shall not withdraw an inch but will fight to the last man and the last round”. Soon after, this brave son of the country fell to a mortar fire. Three days later on Oct 30, Sharma’s body was recovered though mutilated beyond recognition, a few pages of the Holy Gita that he always adored in his breast pocket and the empty leather hoister of the pistol helped to identify the brave heart’s body. It is said that his favourite pastime was listening to his grandfather reciting from the Bhagavad Gita and its teachings remained ingrained in Somnath till his last breath in the battlefield. He was, accordingly, awarded the first Param Vir Chakra. The citation read,” Keeping his nerve, he skillfully directed the fire of his section into the ever – advancing enemy; his leadership, gallantry and tenacious defence were such that his men were inspired to fight the enemy outnumbering them. Major Sharma set an example of courage and qualities seldom equaled in the history of the Indian Army.”
Civilians also played an important role in their own way to save Kashmir from the alien ruthless marauders. Among such people the name of a Kashmiri boy aged just 19 is worth mentioning. He was Mohamad Maqbool Sherwani, a shop keeper of Baramulla. On Oct26, 1947 he rode his motorcycle and went around the town telling Kabaliyees not to advance towards Srinagar as Indian troops had reached the outskirts of Baramulla. The raiders got themselves totally immobilized for full four days and by that time the Indian army had landed in Srinagar. That speaks for why 0ct 27 is celebrated every year as infantry day. Not only this, he put the raiders on a wrong track from Baramulla just to halt their advance so that the Indian troops could liberate the fallen areas from the enemy. For this, he was caught by the wild and uncivilized hordes of Kabaliyees and asked to say, “Pakistan Zindabad”, which this true son of the soil refused. He was nailed alive to a post through the palms and the chest at Baramulla crossing and as many as 14 bullets were pumped into his body.
Three days after his martyrdom, his body was brought down the post by the army on reaching Baramulla. To a larger extent, due to Sherwani’s role, the famous Shalateng battle near Srinagar was fought to eliminate the enemy. He got crucified and attained martyrdom for the honour of his motherland and the people. Alas! Such heroes stand totally forgotten and neglected; instead those who preach separatism, exclusiveness, communal hatred and believe in violent means to achieve political ends seem to be getting eulogized. Newer concepts, theories and stories are floated about Kashmir to make undue hay in the vast and warm sunshine of our democratic liberal system. Equally some pseudo intellectuals and so called experts on Kashmir too are emerging on the horizon who have made it an enterprise to talk, write and preach fictions about Kashmir repugnant to the facts and historical truths.
Oct 26, the accession day of the state is a historic day, a day to celebrate and to remember the valiant heroes who did not hesitate to offer the supreme sacrifice to save Kashmir as if resolutely saying, “Our country would be ours and ours for ever as long as the sun shines.” This is a day to remember and pay tributes to those who became victims of the raiders’ brutality, savagery, cruelty and lust having no parallels in the annals of the history. It is a travesty that Oct 26 is not declared as a state holiday nor is the day commemorated in the way befitting its importance, nor are there any programmes and celebrations sponsored by the state government involving the youth specially so that they get acquainted with the sagas of the legendry heroes and their heroic deeds to enable them pass on the legacy to the next generations.
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