I joined the Punjab Cadre of the IAS in 1958. In August, 1965 with seven year service, I was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, the old British district which stretched, from the Sutlej at Bhakra, to the Yamuna on the border of the U.P. There was no Haryana in 1965. Pakistan had already initiated trouble in Kashmir, by sending across heavily armed raiders. They were discovered and held. Soon, Pakistan launched a full scale military push in Chhamb – Jaurian, in an effort to capture the Akhnoor bridge across the Chenab, and cut off all links with J&K. The situation rapidly escalated. Our army began to mobilise and move to the Punjab border.
In the first days of September, I came home after a long tour of the Ropar area at 9.00 P.M. My wife indicated that the area commander, Major General Bhatia, had been frantically searching for me. I had a quick bite and drove to the cantonment, in the blackout darkness. I took my Superintendent of Police, Mr. Birbal Nath with me. Gen. Bhatia made an amazing demand. He wanted me to move the Sixth Mountain Division, from Lalru on the Chandigarh road, to somewhere on the border, immediately. The border, he said was open. He demanded that the First Battalion should leave by 2.00A.M. Instinctively, I applied the mode, of what the British called the 'Punjab School of Administration' – Act first and find the authority and rules later. I asked Birbal Nath to set up barriers on the G.T. Road; commandeer every truck going by, unload fruits, sugar, whatever, and make a convoy of 200 trucks. Birbal Nath happily concurred with my decision. At 1.00 A.M. I took the convoy to get the fuel from the army depot. To my horror I found, that the depot lay across the main lines, going from Delhi to Amritsar and beyond. Gates were shut and army loaded wagons were whizzing past. We managed to get across, but were blocked by the soldiers at the Depot, who refused to wake up their Major Saheb. I shouted him awake and they started to give Diesel, which to my horror was in Second World War Jerry cans. How could you pour those into a truck in the darkness? Somehow, we sent the first 200 trucks to Lalru. I came home and began to ring all my neighbouring Deputy Commissioners, waking them up, and demanding that they pick up every bus / truck in the town, and send them to Ambala. Most of them were my seniors, but no one questioned my authority. The next day, I made a simple authority slip, which was given to every truck, to be produced after the war. I took over all the petrol pumps along the G.T. Road, and started filling the trucks with diesel on my authority, quickly and smoothly. Trucks continued to pour in from the neighbouring districts, till we lifted the Division to the front. When we have no more trucks I rang Delhi. It was not their war. They demanded that I pay for the petrol! I sanctioned it. Delhi officers showed little interest, in the Punjab's travail. All this while, I did not care to consult the Punjab Govt., as post Kairon, it could not be accused of any decision making capacity. I did all this, confident in the belief, that my actions were in the national interest, and would be upheld. What amazed me was, that the Sixth Mountain Division, had been brought from beyond Bareilly in civil transport. The Army dumped it in Lalru, without any thought, on how it would go to the border. No planning and no warning to the civil. Today, when I travel to Chandigarh as I enter Ambala, I look across the railway lines, to the fuel depot, which has still not been moved to a correct location in the main cantonment.
We were bombed twice, since Ambala is the biggest airbase in the area. The DCs house is at one end of the runway, and the cantonment with its hospital, is at other. Two ancient Canberras flew over my 'House'. We could see the shadow pass over. As it turned out, they dropped a few bombs, over the Model Town, smashing houses and a few at the other end, on the Military hospital. The pilots were new to war. Our people were seeing the war for the first time. There was hysteria in the Model Town. We calmed them. The next day, I went to the Military hospital; some patients have been killed. The bishop had come down from Delhi, and he came to see me. He said he would pray for us. I asked where was he staying. He said, in the Cathedral compound. As it happened, the bombers came again that night. This time they put two bombs right through the roof of the Cathedral, built in 1865, and blew it apart. If only, the Bishop had prayed for his own safety; he had spent the night in a trench. I realized the value of propaganda. The GOl were not letting any journalist come to the Punjab. I begged and got a team of Indian and international press. I painted to them, the horror of the hospital bombing, and the Church destruction. I reminded them of Coventry Cathedral, destroyed by the Germans. We got a good story across the World. As it happened, the Pakistan Air force missed a great chance. Our fighter planes used to operate in the day, from Punjab forward air fields. At night they all parked at Ambala. If, those silly boys had dropped only one bomb on the runway, we would have lost all our front line fighters.
We had complete surprise, when we attacked across the Punjab international border, with three divisions, but showed no boldness and planning. We got stuck at the Ichhogil Canal, just across the border, and generally milled around, in the first few miles. The General on the Lahore front 'withdrew' from his jeep, leaving his maps and plans behind! He was replaced, but this being India, was again given command elsewhere, later. The Tank Division was taken beyond Pathankote, and massed with two more divisions opposite Sialkot. The countryside was open, with no canal obstacles, ideal for tank warfare. We had surprise. But again we milled around, in the first 7 to 10 miles, and failed to take Sialkot. The Pakistan Army, relocated their Artillery and tank units, and effectively blocked us. The Pakistan Tank Division attacked from Kasur towards Tarn Taran. Their inaptitude led to delays in crossing the Kasur Nallah, and they got stuck in September crops and soggy soil, as the water distributaries had been cut. They were bold but incompetent.
It is true that the Army Chief Gen. Chaudhary panicked, at the Pakistan armoured division attack, and wanted Gen. Harbaksh Singh to pull back to the Beas river, leaving Amritsar and half of the Punjab to the Enemy. We were lucky in 65' that Gen. Harbaksh, the Army Commander, Gen. Dhillon, the Corps Commander, and Gen. Gurbaksh Singh, the 4 Division Commander, were all Sikhs, fighting for their home and hearth. Harbaksh refused to withdraw, and saved the day. We ended on their side rather than back on the Beas. Sadly, Gen. Harbaksh Singh like Gen. Arora, after Bangladesh, never got his due.
The Punjab people backed the Army, right upto the frontline, even feeding it. The thousands of truck drivers, carried ammunition, to the frontline, many losing their lives. Sadly, in our distorted conferment of Honours, not one truck driver was recognised. Even, in the Army something surprised me. Every, Maj. Gen. from Kashmir to the Rajasthan Thaar Desert, was given a Mahavir Chakra! In Armies in the West, such medals are given only to soldiers and young officers, who fight and die, in the face of the enemy. Generals never do that. They sit safe, far back, plan and launch attacks. This practice, I think continues, with the Generals happily awarding each other, such gongs, even now.
This is an unpublished article.
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