Slender Was the Thread: Kashmir Confrontation, 1947-48

333 Pages·1994·9.195 MB·English

by  L. P. Sen

Slender was the Thread
Kashmir confrontation 1947-48
Slender was the Thread

Lt. General L. P. Sen,D.s.o.
Slender was the Thread
Kashmir
Confrontation
1947-48
Orient Longmans
Bombay
Calcutta
Madras
New Delhi
Sknder was the Thread
® Orient Longmans Ltd 1969 First published October 1969
Typography : Sangam Press Published by
W, H. Patwardhan
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To the oflBcers and men of
,161 Infantry Brigade
who demonstrated that
courage and patriotism
never go out of fashion,

Preface
In late October 1947, at what was virtually a moment's notice, a batta­
lion of the Indian Army was flown into the Kashmir Valley. It was
followed on succeeding days by further units, and eventually estab­
lished itself in Kashmir as 161 Infantry Brigade. By the third week
of December 1947 the only land route into the Valley over the Banihal
Pass was snowbound, and 161 Infantry Brigade spent the next few
months completely isolated from the rest of the Indian Army. During
this period it faced many crucial situations but the unbounded
courage of the ofiBcers and men saw it through crisis after crisis.
These efforts have unfortunately been known only to those who
were involved in the actions and, through personal narration, to
a few others. This book is an effort to place on record, and enable
a wider section of the public to know, what exactly happened in
Kashmir during those grim days.
A rapid survey of the attitude adopted by the Rulers of certain
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SLENDER WAS THE THREAD
Princely States at the time of the partition of the sub-continent into
India and Pakistan has been included in the first chapter on the
advice and insistence of the late Mr. V, P. Menon. Although a very
sick man, he gave me a great deal of his time when I paid visits to
his Bangalore home in 1965. He was quite certain that it was neces­
sary to portray the problems which faced the newly-born Dominion
of India and acquaint the reader with the circumstances in which
Indian troops entered the State ofijammu & Kashmir. When I said
to him that his authoritative ti-eatment of this subject in his book The
Story of the Integration of Indian States was available, he cHnched
the issue by remarking : "You can't attach my book as an Appendix,
can you ?" I am most grateful to him for giving me the factual data.
His death, soon after our last meeting, has denied me the opportu­
nity of keeping a promise to present him with a copy of this book
if and when it was published.
Although the subject of the book is, in the main, warfare, an
attempt has been made to porti-ay the events in language that can be
readily understood by those with htde or no knowledge of miUtary
matters or terminology. This necessitated passing the script to a cross
section of friends, with the request that they point out what parts
were obscure. Their comments and suggestions have been most use­
ful. To all of them I owe a debt of very sincere gratitude. Also to
the large number of officers who served in 161 Infantry Brigade for
recalling anecdotes. My acknowledgments are also due to the Direc­
torate of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence for permission to
reproduce photographs.
This contribution is not designed to solve the problem of Kashmir.
Its main object is to portray a critical stage of the past, a stage in
which a relatively small body of extremely gallant men gave un­
flinchingly of their best, and made my role as their Brigade Com­
mander so simple.
New Delhi
August 9, 1969
viii
Foreword
I have read a number of accounts of the defence of the Kaslimir
Valley when the tribal raiders from the North-West Frontier, actively
aided and abetted by Pakistan's armed forces and Government,
descended in October 1947 on an orgy of killing, looting, pillage,
plunder and rape. Their object was to devastate the Valley and to
seize Srinagar.
How a fistful of the Indian armed forces, taken initially by sur­
prise, confronted the invaders and ejected them from the Valley has
been told before. It has never been told so vividly and in such faith­
ful detail as in this book by Lt. General L. P. Sen, then acting Briga­
dier in command of 161 Infantiy Brigade which faced some fierce
fighting in the Valley. In the Kashmir operations of 1947-48, Indian
soldiers fought for the first time under Indian commanders at every
echelon. It was 161 Brigade which, under its stubborn, resourceful
ix