When Sardar Patel lost his temper and saved Kashmir

[hab...@anony.net]

http://www.rediff.com/freedom/0710jha.htm
'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir,
or do you want to give it away?'
Field Marshall S H F J 'Sam' Manekshaw, India�s greatest military
commander, would have turned 100 on April 3, 2014. To mark the
occasion and to celebrate a brilliant mind, we reproduce some of the
articles Rediff.com had published over a period of time on one of
India�s most-loved soldiers.
Sam Manekshaw, the first field marshal in the Indian army, was at the
ringside of events when Independent India was being formed. Then a
colonel, he was chosen to accompany V P Menon on his historic mission
to Kashmir. This is his version of that journey and its aftermath, as
recorded in an interview with Prem Shankar Jha.


At about 2.30 in the afternoon, General Sir Roy Bucher walked into my
room and said, 'Eh, you, go and pick up your toothbrush. You are going
to Srinagar with V P Menon. The flight will take off at about 4
o'clock'. I said, 'why me, sir?'

'Because we are worried about the military situation. V P Menon is
going there to get the accession from the Maharaja and Mahajan.' I
flew in with V P Menon in a Dakota. Wing Commander Dewan, who was then
squadron leader Dewan, was also there. But his job did not have
anything to with assessing the military situation. He was sent by the
Air Force because it was the Air Force which was flying us in.'

Since I was in the Directorate of Military Operations, and was
responsible for current operations all over India, West Frontier, the
Punjab, and elsewhere, I knew what the situation in Kashmir was. I
knew that the tribesmen had come in - initially only the tribesmen -
supported by the Pakistanis.

Fortunately for us, and for Kashmir, they were busy raiding, raping
all along. In Baramulla they killed Colonel D O T Dykes. Dykes and I
were of the same seniority. We did our first year's attachment with
the Royal Scots in Lahore, way back in 1934-5. Tom went to the Sikh
regiment. I went to the Frontier Force regiment. We'd lost contact
with each other. He'd become a lieutenant colonel. I'd become a full
colonel.

Tom and his wife were holidaying in Baramulla when the tribesmen
killed them.

The Maharaja's forces were 50 per cent Muslim and 50 per cent Dogra.

The Muslim elements had revolted and joined the Pakistani forces. This
was the broad military situation. The tribesmen were believed to be
about 7 to 9 kilometers from Srinagar. I was sent into get the precise
military situation. The army knew that if we had to send soldiers, we
would have to fly them in. Therefore, a few days before, we had made
arrangements for aircraft and for soldiers to be ready.

But we couldn't fly them in until the state of Kashmir had acceded to
India. From the political side, Sardar Patel and V P Menon had been
dealing with Mahajan and the Maharaja, and the idea was that V.P Menon
would get the Accession, I would bring back the military appreciation
and report to the government. The troops were already at the airport,
ready to be flown in. Air Chief Marshall Elmhurst was the air chief
and he had made arrangements for the aircraft from civil and military
sources.

Anyway, we were flown in. We went to Srinagar. We went to the palace.
I have never seen such disorganisation in my life. The Maharaja was
running about from one room to the other. I have never seen so much
jewellery in my life --- pearl necklaces, ruby things, lying in one
room; packing here, there, everywhere. There was a convoy of vehicles.

The Maharaja was coming out of one room, and going into another
saying, 'Alright, if India doesn't help, I will go and join my troops
and fight (it) out'.

I couldn't restrain myself, and said, 'That will raise their morale
sir'. Eventually, I also got the military situation from everybody
around us, asking what the hell was happening, and discovered that the
tribesmen were about seven or nine kilometres from what was then that
horrible little airfield.

V P Menon was in the meantime discussing with Mahajan and the
Maharaja. Eventually the Maharaja signed the accession papers and we
flew back in the Dakota late at night. There were no night facilities,
and the people who were helping us to fly back, to light the airfield,
were Sheikh Abdullah, Kasimsahib, Sadiqsahib, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed,
D P Dhar with pine torches, and we flew back to Delhi. I can't
remember the exact time. It must have been 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock in
the morning.

(On arriving at Delhi) the first thing I did was to go and report to
Sir Roy Bucher. He said, 'Eh, you, go and shave and clean up. There is
a cabinet meeting at 9 o'clock. I will pick you up and take you
there.' So I went home, shaved, dressed, etc. and Roy Bucher picked me
up, and we went to the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet meeting was presided by Mountbatten. There was Jawaharlal
Nehru, there was Sardar Patel, there was Sardar Baldev Singh. There
were other ministers whom I did not know and did not want to know,
because I had nothing to do with them. Sardar Baldev Singh I knew
because he was the minister for defence, and I knew Sardar Patel,
because Patel would insist that V P Menon take me with him to the
various states.

Almost every morning the Sardar would sent for V P, H M Patel and
myself. While Maniben (Patel's daughter and de facto secretary) would
sit cross-legged with a Parker fountain pen taking notes, Patel would
say, 'V P, I want Baroda. Take him with you.' I was the bogeyman. So I
got to know the Sardar very well.

At the morning meeting he handed over the (Accession) thing.
Mountbatten turned around and said, ' come on Manekji (He called me
Manekji instead of Manekshaw), what is the military situation?' I gave
him the military situation, and told him that unless we flew in troops
immediately, we would have lost Srinagar, because going by road would
take days, and once the tribesmen got to the airport and Srinagar, we
couldn't fly troops in. Everything was ready at the airport.

As usual Nehru talked about the United Nations, Russia, Africa, God
almighty, everybody, until Sardar Patel lost his temper. He said,
'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir, or do you want to give it away'. He
(Nehru) said,' Of course, I want Kashmir (emphasis in original). Then
he (Patel) said 'Please give your orders'. And before he could say
anything Sardar Patel turned to me and said, 'You have got your
orders'.

I walked out, and we started flying in troops at about 11 o'clock or
12 o'clock. I think it was the Sikh regiment under Ranjit Rai that was
the first lot to be flown in. And then we continued flying troops in.
That is all I know about what happened. Then all the fighting took
place. I became a brigadier, and became director of military
operations and also if you will see the first signal to be signed
ordering the cease-fire on 1 January (1949) had been signed by Colonel
Manekshaw on behalf of C-in-C India, General Sir Roy Bucher. That must
be lying in the Military Operations Directorate.

Excerpted from Kashmir 1947, Rival Versions of History, by Prem
Shankar Jha, Oxford University Press, 1996, Rs 275, with the
publisher's permission.Readers in the US may secure a copy of the book
from Oxford University Press Inc USA, 198, Madison Avenue, New York,
New York 10016, USA. Tel: 212-726-6000. Fax: 212-726-6440.