In words of one of our heroes, Gen. J F R Jacobs: In 1965, Field Marshal Ayub Khan took a gamble by infiltrating a large number of insurgents into Jammu and Kashmir as part of Operation Gibraltar. These infiltrators were dealt with effectively dealt by the Indian army, but these events led to a full scale war, which saw the largest tank battle since World War II at Khem Karan, where the Pakistan armoured forces were dealt a crippling blow.
This sounds very much like Musharraf’s Kargil misadventure. Of course in case of Operation Gibraltar, the Pakistanis claimed victory. In Kargil they could not even claim their dead. Honor and shame are alien words to them. Anyway, pressured by international forces, a meeting was arranged in Tashkent, which was moderated by Premier Alexei Kosygin. Lal Bahadur Shastri and Muhammad Ayub Khan represented India and Pakistan respectively. The terms of this declaration sounded like platitudes. However, out of good faith, Haji Pir Pass, which was won by us, was returned to the Pakistanis. This was a huge blunder by Shastri’s government who, in words of Gen Jacobs: displayed competence and guts right upto the last, he was a great man.
To emphasize the importance of this piece of real estate, let me talk about Golan heights which was captured by the Israelis from the Syrians. Here is what is said about the military importance of Golan Heights: The Golan is a strategically important region, extending like a finger between the borders of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. In the past, that finger was crucial to preventing the Israeli defense dike from bursting and allowing Arab armies to flood the country. Why? Because it is only about 60 miles -- without major terrain obstacles -- from the western Golan to Haifa and Acre, Israel's industrial heartland. In the hands of a friendly neighbor, the escarpment has little military importance. If controlled by a hostile country, however, the Golan has the potential to again become a strategic nightmare for Israel.
Since then the Israelis have resisted giving up that piece of land. It would be unwise to do so even if it may be the right thing to do.
The two key players in the capture of the crucial pass were legendary Lieutenant General Harbaksh Singh, who was then the Western Army commander and Major Ranjit Dyal. Haji Pir Pass, which has a similar importance to the security of J&K, connects Poonch to the valley. But Gen Harbaksh Singh's strategy and the actions of men like Dyal dashed their plans. Gen Singh ordered his men to launch a two-pronged attack on the Haji Pir pass to capture the entire bulge and cut off the main route for the infiltrators from Pakistan. The move would also serve to cut off the main logistics support for infiltrators already inside Indian territory. With damp shakarparas and biscuits as ration, Major Dyal led the 1st Para down the Hyderabad nullah towards the Haji Pir pass on August 25, 1965. The capture itself was a victory against all odds, including three days without proper food. While launching the final assault on the pass on August 28, the paratroopers had to walk up 4,000 feet on foot. At times they even had to crawl on all fours in the slushy mountainside in the night. But their attack was so well executed that the Pakistani troops left the pass and fled.
Major Dyal was awarded the Mahavir Chakra. Much later in life, Lt. Gen Ranjit Dyal said: that the pass would have given India a definite strategic advantage. "It was a mistake to hand it back," he said. "Our people don't read maps," said Gen Dyal, regretting the return of the pass to Pakistan at the Tashkent talks brokered by Russia to end the Indo-Pak war of 1965.
So here we had an honorable man, Lal Bahadur Shastri, perhaps the most honorable leader we have ever had, fall short when it came to statesmanship. Out of a good sense he did the honorable thing, which was not the right thing for our security. War is a dirty business. Great men like Ranjit Dyal risk everything to go out and win us the advantage, the importance of which can be appreciated by warriors not politicians. You do not take your foot off the throat of a your enemy. You KILL him. That is the way of the world. Machiavelli famously said: If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared. In war, you destroy your enemy, not sing “mere dushman, mere bhai”. Perhaps the only person who realized that was Sardar Patel. All other leaders leading up to today seem to be hell bent on losing any advantage we gain over our enemies. The examples are all around us.
Maj. Gen Suman, whose article inspired this series, says that Return of the vital Haji Pir pass was a mistake of monumental proportions for which India is suffering to date. In addition to denying a direct link between Poonch and Uri sectors, the pass is being effectively used by Pakistan to sponsor infiltration of terrorists into India. Inability to resist Russian pressure was a manifestation of the boneless Indian foreign policy and shortsighted leadership.
Gen Jacobs' article can be read at: http://www.sify.com/news/a-bitter-harvest-news-analysis-kimp01fbhad.html
Article on the battle for Haji Pir Pass can be read at: http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/dec/21haji.htm
The Golan Heights article can be read at: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/viegolan.html
The picture is from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7666985.stm
Gen Suman's article can be read at: http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010/07/seven-blunders-that-will-haunt-india-for-posterity.html
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