Ambala, April 7

The Ambala police have arrested three men for stealing and selling products related to the Canteen Stores Department of the Indian Army in the open market.The accused have been identified as Mahender Rao, Amarnath and Dilip Kumar. They were produced before a local court today that sent them to judicial custody till April 21.The police said there was information that products from a CSD depot were being stolen and sold in the open market. Acting on a tip-off, a naka was set up near the Railway hospital chowk on Thursday. During inspection, a four-wheeler was stopped and the products were seized.Driver Mahender Rao, helper at a CSD depot Dilip and storekeeper Amarnath were arrested. Mahender Rao is a resident of Uttar Pradesh while the other two accused are residents of Ambala Cantonment.The products include soaps, baby products, hair oil, shampoo, dish wash gels and cloth washing bars.The cost of products is said to be over Rs 1 lakh. The shopkeeper to whom the consignment was to be delivered is yet to be arrested. The police are suspecting the involvement of some more people in the racket.DSP Suresh Kaushik said, “It is a serious issue and all people involved in this racket will be arrested. The accused shopkeeper has been identified and he will be arrested soon”. — TNS

A man evacuates children in a boat from the flooded Rajbagh area of Srinagar on Friday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 7

Three soldiers buried under an avalanche in the remote Batalik sector near the Line of Control were found dead on Friday as the flood threat in the Valley receded with a pause in the downpour.An Army spokesman said the three soldiers, who were buried under an avalanche which hit their post in the Batalik sector yesterday, were found dead this morning as rescuers struggled against inclement weather and dug through 15 feet of snow to locate them.“Special teams braved inhospitable weather and worked through 15 feet of snow overnight. The bodies of three missing soldiers have been recovered,” the spokesman said.The three soldiers were among the five Army personnel manning a post in the Batalik sector, which was hit by an avalanche. While two soldiers were rescued immediately, three were missing as the Army launched rescue operating to locate them and pressed specially trained and equipped avalanche rescue teams into service.An unprecedented mid-spring snowfall and heavy rain had triggered a flood threat in the Kashmir valley and multiple avalanches in the Batalik and Kaksar sectors of Kargil district.The Jhelum river, which snakes through the Kashmir valley, and its tributaries had swollen as heavy precipitation continued for three days before registering a significant decrease today.The river’s water level crossed the ‘flood declaration’ level of 21 feet at Sangam in south Kashmir on Thursday evening, sparking panic in the region. The water level touched a high of 22.10 feet at Sangam at 4 am on Friday, a little short of the danger level of 23 feet before the waters began to recede.Residents across the Kashmir valley monitored the river’s level on an hourly basis, tuning to updates from the irrigation and flood control department.In south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, rescuers today found the body of a passenger who was travelling in a taxi which had skidded into a gushing stream yesterday in the Kokernag area. The deceased was identified as 35-year-old Mohammad Ashraf Chauhan while the taxi driver Riyaz Awan is still missing and search is on to locate him.As the downpour continued for three days, it also triggered landslides along the mountainous stretches of the Srinagar-Jammu highway and forced its closure.On Friday afternoon, the authorities were able to allow stranded vehicles to move towards the Kashmir valley as debris was cleared along several stretches.The state meteorological department in its forecast bulletin said the weather was likely to remain dry from Saturday with the possibility of light to moderate rainfall at few places in the region.(With inputs by Suhail A Shah from Anantnag and RK Kichlu from Ramban)

Guv condoles deathJammu: Governor NN Vohra on Friday expressed grief over the tragic death of three soldiers when an avalanche struck an Army post in the Batalik sector of Ladakh region. The Governor spoke to Lt Gen PJS Pannu, GOC, 14 Corps, and conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved families and wished the early recovery of the soldiers buried under snow who had been rescued.

Bodies of 3 soldiers trapped in avalanches recovered

Govt takes over Saragarhi memorial gurdwara

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has taken over the gurdwara built in 1924 by the Britishers in Ferozepur in memory of the martyrs of the Battle of Saragarhi, by reversing the January 5 order of the previous Akali-BJP government to hand over its control to Baba Lakha Singh of ‘Nanaksar Samparday’. The government now plans to hand over the gurdwara to the Saragarhi Memorial Management Trust.

HT FILE PHOTOTje Saragarhi memorial gurdwara that was built in 1924 at Ferozepur by the Britishers in appreciation of the supreme sacrifice of the Sikh soldiers.

The Akali-BJP government’s order had come a day after the poll code of conduct came into effect.

The development has taken at a time when a book, ‘Saragarhi and the defence of Samana forts’, penned by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh is scheduled to be released on April 8.

Lack of any cohesive action against Maoists marks failure of successive govts. The Maoists now choose the place, the time to kill our young men in paramilitary forces. A look at what has gone wrong

RISING TOLL: Villagers and family members of CRPF soldier Surender Thakur take his body for cremation at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. Thakur was among 26 paramiltary men killed in a Naxalite attack in Sukma, Chhattisgarh. PTI

CRPF jawan Ram Mehar being cremated in Karnal. PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR

FOR over four decades, India’s home ministers seem to be vying for the wooden spoon on the anti-Naxalite battlefront. The ease with which nearly 300 Maoists planned and laid the ambush to kill 26 CRPF men at Burkapal in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh last week startled the security experts and political leaders. The Maoists walked away with over 27 sophisticated weapons. As the nucleus of the 106 districts of 10 Red Corridor states, Sukma has been in the news with ominous frequency over the past few years. Being at the tri-junction connecting Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana it facilitates Maoists’ inter-state movement to dodge the police.“The Naxalites have graduated from guerrilla warfare to mobile warfare and have captured nearly 10,000 sq km of the area around Sukma. Their politburo is active in the region,” says former joint director of Central Intelligence Bureau (CIB) and former Director General of Chhattisgarh police, Vishwaranjan. He bore the brunt of intense criticism when 75 CRPF jawans and a state police officer were killed in an ambush in Dantewada on April 6, 2010. The Maoists have gained in strength with multiple layers of leadership. The Maoists now decide the timing of attack. “For now I see no light at the end of the tunnel as the state police are not being trained to meet the challenge,” says Vishwaranjan. He feels the Greyhound force of Andhra Pradesh came closest to meeting the challenge. 

No cohesion

Despite multiple committees at the Centre and state level, there is little cohesion and intelligence-sharing between security forces. Former Director General of Madhya Pradesh police Kirpal S Dhillon, better known in Punjab for leading the police during the dark days of militancy, says, “A well-thought out policy needs to be formulated and executed under a joint command. The primacy of state police is lost.” Upendra Joshi, another ex-DG who handled the Maoists militancy at its initial stage in Madhya Pradesh, says the genesis of the problem lay in disconnect between the people and the state officials. Barring a few development-oriented officers, others saw the posting in the region as punishment and tried to make the most of it for corrupt practices. Cases of financial irregularities and exploitation of women turned the tribal population against the officials. Joshi says the introduction of Central forces to assist the local police had a flip side. The local police absolved themselves of much of responsibility. The first instance of Naxalite violence was reported in composite Madhya Pradesh in 1967. For half a century, the problem has been allowed to fester.

Lack of policy

Political expediency has often prompted administrative responses. The government claims the Naxalites are acting in desperation because of the pressure by security forces. They targeted the CRPF that was helping in the construction of road in the region because they feel development would expose their sanctuary in the thick forests. But, the Maoists’ outlawed outfit, the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC), owned up the attack saying it was carried out in retaliation to the alleged sexual violence by security forces against tribal women.Late last year the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had found several security personnel guilty of raping and physically assaulting at least 16 tribal women in five villages. The commission still awaits the recorded version of another 20 alleged victims of similar sexual violence. The incidents took place in October-November 2015 and the NHRC took suo moto cognizance of news reports after spot investigation.The NHRC directed the state government to probe the incident within a month and pay compensation to the victims. It asked the DIG (Investigation) to record the statements of the 15 victims who could not testify before the commission or a magistrate. The police say the investigations could take a few months as tracing the victims, who live in remote forests, and bringing them to the court to record their statements is a daunting task.

Left-wing extremism on the rise

• 106 districts in 10 states — Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, W Bengal, MP, UP and Chhattisgarh — are hit by Maoists. The area is called the Red Corridor (see map).
• The CPI (Maoist), believed behind killing CRPF men in Sukma, was formed in 2004
• The strength of armed Naxalites is estimated around 9,000 with access to 6,500 firearms

Sumayyah Qureshi

Hindus and Muslims once lived in peaceful coexistence in ‘Kalhana’s paradise’. And, then, they had a bitter separation. The circumstances changed, equations changed, relations change, and friends became foes overnight.

The debut novel of Sanchit Gupta takes us to the point where it all started in Kashmir, almost three decades ago. It takes us to the days when Kashmiri Pandits lived happily with their Muslim neighbours, when they used to share their happiness and grief with each other. It brings alive their joys and what they had to go through in later years. The story takes us through that tumultuous journey. While one community suffered away from home, the other was condemned to suffer at home.

The author doesn’t discriminate, or support or oppose anyone. He doesn’t demonise anyone either, or judge or take sides, but talks dispassionately about the overall human sufferings, of those who lived on this land, who belonged here, who stayed and who left.

Gupta weaves his story around three friends, one of whom is a Pandit. He is the link among their lives. The plot revolves around the lives of Bilal, Safeena and Deewan. The three are distanced by circumstances and engulfed in a vortex of violence. But they are destined to meet again, and to pull each other out of the quagmire. They all have their share of grief. They all have grim, sordid tales to tell as they ‘come from the land that has no identity’. It is also the story of two neighbours who live in Srinagar — the Bhats, who are Pandits, and the Maliks, who are Muslims, and who are like one big happy family.

And, then one day, everything changes — for worse. As the chorus about ‘azadi’ gets louder in the streets of the Valley, one night the Bhats take refuge at Maliks’ house. In that long, unending dark night, everything loses its meaning or rather the meaning as understood till that point in time. And dreams, lives and everything synonymous with Kashmir — Kashmiriyat, friendship, brotherhood — are ripped apart, shattered, mauled.

That night, death changes all equations, it changes the way the two families look at each other. It fills their hearts with sorrow and hatred.

The book details the transition from the times of peace to the times of war. It talks of fear — the fear of living in one’s homeland, the fear of living away from home, the fear of being labelled a terrorist. It talks of murder, torture chambers, rape, conflict, crackdowns, destroyed homes, killings, Army brutality and militant excesses. It talks of the plight of Pandits and the plight of Muslims, doing a fair justice to the story. The book covers almost all aspects of the Kashmir conflict. It gives us an overview of everything that Kashmiris have had to go through since armed insurgency broke out in Kashmir.

The author, though not a Kashmiri, seems to have his finger on the pulse. He gets the intricacies and the tenor almost perfect. He seems to have done his work well, giving readers an unprejudiced story from a conflict zone.

It is not one of those lopsided stories. It does justice to the big story that is ‘Kashmir’. It spares no one, neither the Army, nor the militants. It is unforgiving, vivid, well-written, profound and well-paced for a debut novel.

Canada”s Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan presented the coin of honour to Diljit Dosanjh on the sets of a reality show. Photo courtesy Twitter handle: @diljitdosanjh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23

It was a proud moment for Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh on the sets of Rising Star where he received the coin of honour from Canada’s Minister of National Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan.The defence minister had also unveiled the second poster of Diljit’s upcoming film Super Singh.“Had a unique opportunity to meet the famous and very humble @diljitdosanjh. Great discussion on his work to inspire the next generation,” the minister later wrote on his social networking site.The event is trending on twitter currently. Sajjan gave his personal coin of honour that the government of Canada had bestowed upon him.On Twitter Diljit Dosanjh shared his experience, “Harjit Singh Sajjan Said It’s good to get rewards for your Hard work but what is more important is what you give back to society!!”

A video grab of the human shield incident in Kashmir.

Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 21

Pakistan has set up a number of cyber warfare centres to fuel violence, militancy and stone-throwing in the Valley with the long-time objective of defaming India over Kashmir across the world.Highly placed sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs told The Tribune that Pakistan after declaring 2017 as the “Year of Kashmir” had intensified its cyber warfare against India over the Valley. It had been producing videos like “Sangbaz” (stone-thrower) with fiery songs and “martyrdom appeals” to target the Indian security forces and wreck its political and democratic system. Pakistan had undertaken a major exercise to make youth, some of them hired cyber warriors, to go in for anti-India propaganda.A highly placed source in the MHA said that after seeing the crowds in Kashmir fight the police and CRPF in the wake of the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, the ISI and Pakistan army with the clear nod of the civilian government had started such cyber warfare centres. The propaganda material gets downloaded in the social media sites of the individuals hired for the purpose, and that is used by them instantly or at a convenient time.The restrictions on the Internet in Kashmir have not much affected the cyber warriors, who have the patronage of political groups, and are operating through highly sophisticated and undetectable devices that broadcast real and imaginary images.It remains a mystery that who uploaded the videos showing the Army in a negative frame or the heckling of CRPF personnel in Budgam on the polling day on April 9. It is also not known who shot and uploaded the video of the “human shield” used by the Army. The video has been shot professionally as the camera deftly captures the images from the front and then moves to the top and then straight before going to the rear.“This is highly professional work,” a source said, adding that it is suspected that some hi-tech minds are involved with a large financial support.The MHA authorities are looking into the whole affair and are trying to find out ways to get rid of the propaganda-churning machinery. They believe that something more than mobile phone cameras are at work.“We have confirmed and reconfirmed that it is Pakistan behind the trouble. Other factors are secondary,” the source told The Tribune.

Human shield video shot ‘professionally’

• It remains a mystery who uploaded the recent videos on Kashmir showing the Army in a negative frame or the heckling of CRPF personnel in Budgam. It is also not known who shot and uploaded the video of the “human shield” used by the Army. The video has been shot professionally as the camera deftly captures the images from the front and then moves to the top and then straight before going to the rear.

Clashes in Valley, youths protest use of force against students

JKLF activists throw stones at policemen at Maisuma in Srinagar on Friday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 21

Protests and clashes took place between agitating youth and security personnel at various places in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley after the Friday prayers over the alleged use of force against students recently.The police lobbed teargas shells to dispel the protesters in the Nowhatta area of Srinagar, where youths took to the streets after the congregational Friday prayers, prompting a shutdown in the area.Even as the separatists had given no shutdown call today, spontaneous protest demonstrations were witnessed in various parts of the Valley. There were reports of protests and clashes from Pulwama in south Kashmir and Sopore and Bandipora in north Kashmir.In Sopore town, the police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the protesters who were agitating after the Friday prayers.Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who delivers the Friday sermon every week at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid, continued to be under house arrest for the seventh consecutive Friday, a spokesman said. He said Mirwaiz had expressed concern over the use of force against students of Government Degree College, Pulwama, on April 15 and the subsequent harassment of the protesting students in other parts of the Valley.Meanwhile, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan today directed the principals of all colleges to adopt a proactive approach in dealing with any untoward incident on the campuses and focus on ensuring a peaceful atmosphere in the institutions. He also asked them not to allow any outsiders on the premises of their institutions.

Colleges to remain closed today

• Srinagar: While the higher educational institutions in the Valley remained closed on Friday to prevent any further protests by students, the divisional administration said the teaching work in all colleges shall remain suspended on April 22 as a precautionary measure. However, protests were witnessed in Bandipora, where students of Government Boys High School, Bagh, hit the streets, triggering a shutdown in the main town. The Valley witnessed massive student protests on April 17 against alleged thrashing of students, including girls, by security personnel at Government Degree College, Pulwama, on April 15. TNS

Police lob teargas shells to quell protests

• Protests and clashes were reported from Srinagar, Pulwama in south Kashmir and Sopore and Bandipora in north Kashmir
• The police lobbed teargas shells to dispel the protesters in the Nowhatta area of Srinagar and in Sopore town

US NSA Lieut Gen HR McMaster with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo courtesy: Twitter handle of PIB

New Delhi, April 18The US on Tuesday reaffirmed India’s designation as a Major Defence Partner and emphasised the importance of its strategic relationship as its National Security Adviser HR McMaster met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks with his counterpart Ajit Doval.“The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation,” the US embassy said in a press statement after the meetings here.“NSA McMaster emphasised the importance of the US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India’s designation as a Major Defence Partner,” it said and noted that the meetings were “productive”.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

McMaster, whose trip here marks the first visit by a top official of the Trump Administration, also met Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.“The visit was a part of the regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad,” the statement said.During the US official’s meeting with the Prime Minister, the two sides discussed key bilateral and regional issues, including defence and counter-terrorism cooperation.Doval, Jaishankar and several key officials were present in the meeting that took place at the Prime Minister’s residence.Earlier, McMaster and Doval held detailed discussions on Indo-US relations, especially the security aspect of the ties, sources said.The US NSA arrived here on Monday evening from Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and some top officials.In Islamabad, the relations between India and Pakistan figured in McMaster’s discussions with Sharif. PTI

Indeed a great general, we owe him so much..

Lt Gen Joginder Singh Dhillon (1914-2003)

Last salute to the Lion of 1965

The death of Lieutenant General Joginder (Jogi) Singh Dhillon on 20
November 2003 at the age of 89 received no coverage in the Indian
papers, although it was his inspiring generalship that helped smash
the superior Pakistani armour, poised to head for the Beas bridge and then onto Delhi, in the opening days of the 1965 India-Pakistan war.
Such milestones seem of lesser consequence to our press than the
extensive coverage given to dubious public figures.What Jogi Dhillon brought to his command as lieutenant general
commanding XI Corps in the 1965 war, was a military service of many
firsts. He stood first in 1933 in the all India entrance examination
to the Indian Military Academy, then won both the coveted gold medal
and the Sword of Honour before joining the Bengal Sappers on February 1, 1936.

Graduating in 1939 with honours from Roorkee s Thomson Civil
Engineering College, he was soon sent overseas for the first four
years of World War II. He saw active service in Iraq, Iran and Burma and, after a stint in the Staff College, Quetta, was again sent to command a field company in Malaya (1945-46), then onto Sourabaya, where he commanded 2 Field Company, before returning home.

From 1946 to 1947 he was staff officer in the E-in-C s Office Army HQ,then went to Quetta as garrison engineer, before taking over as GSO1 in the E-in-C s Branch from October 1947 to February 1948 in the rank of lieutenant colonel.

At this critical juncture in the life of the Bengal Sappers, Jogi
Dhillon was handpicked to take charge of its regimental centre at
Roorkee. The centre’s crisis arose from the fact that since the Indian
Army’s Corps of Engineers had centres in Bangalore, Roorkee and
Kirkee, under the terms of Parition the centres in Bangalore and
Kirkee would remain in India, while the Roorkee centre’s assets would go to Pakistan.

So Bengal Sappers was one of the formations that bore the brunt of the division of the Indian Army. In the division on a two-third, one-third basis the majority assets in the Roorkee centre’s case went to Pakistan’s Engineers Centre at Sialkot, including plant and equipment, and even furniture, carpets, curtains, books, silver, crockery, cutlery and typewriters and one-third of the regimental fund.

In the two years after taking command in February 1948 of what was left of the centre, Dhillon turned the challenge of resurrecting it into a personal triumph that left everyone breathless. Combining
organisational skill with drive, determination and steel, he
rehabilitated the centre, streamlined its training and administration and integrated it into an efficient and war-worthy team.

A change of profound importance introduced at the centre which thenewly independent nation’s army as a whole eventually adopted was that whilst hitherto several messes for the other ranks had cooked food in each unit for a particular caste, Colonel Dhillon decisively ended this outdated practice. He decreed a single integrated mess would serve food to all men and not their caste.

Another thing, according to a retired Sappers officer, Colonel Chanan Singh Dhillon, the dynamic commandant did was demolish the wall that separated the centre’s gurudwara and Hindu temple and build a platform instead, so that gatherings of both denominations could jointly celebrate their special days.

When Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited the centre in 1949 he was so impressed by what he saw that he extended Jogi Dhillon the singular honour of selecting him to command India’s first Republic Day parade in 1950.

After command of the Bengal Sappers, Dhillon commanded two infantry brigades in succession before his appointment, in 1956, as director of technical development in Army HQ. He then served as director, weapons and equipment, before being promoted to major general in December 1957.

He was chief of staff, Western Command, at the time of his selection to attend a course at the Imperial Defence College in the United Kingdom, from where he returned to an appointment in the National Defence College, before assuming command of a division in August 1960.
His next job was as deputy chief of the general staff at Army HQ, then promotion to lieutenant general and posting as GOC, XI Corps in Punjab.

The posting would be the culmination of everything that had gone into the making of this exceptional soldier. When on the morning of September 6, 1965, war with Pakistan broke out, with the XI Corps launching a massive retaliatory attack across the border in Punjab on several fronts at 4 am, the aim was to teach Pakistan a lesson for its unprovoked attack on India in the Chhamb sector a few days earlier.

It is not possible to describe this 17-day war here but the decisive
tank battle of Assal Uttar, near Khem Karan, on September 10 does bear telling. Indian units hid their Sherman tanks 500 metres apart in a U-shaped formation in tall and unharvested sugarcane fields, and snared the enemy’s vastly superior Patton tanks into this ambush, annihilating them to the last tank and deciding the outcome of the war.

The destruction of Pakistan’s armoured pride and the casualties it
suffered, including an artillery brigadier and many other senior
officers killed or surrendered, destroyed the enemy’s morale. At Assal Uttar, 97 enemy tanks of which 72 were Pattons and 25 Chafees and Shermans were destroyed, damaged or captured intact, of which 28 Pattons were in perfect running condition.

Facing the very modern M-48 Pattons were India’s old and inferior
Centurions and Shermans outgunned, outdistanced and far fewer in number. And yet Indian losses at Khem Karan were only 32 tanks.

There are countless other such telling statistics but the fact that
stands out is when Pakistan’s chief of army general staff and air
chief met their president on September 19 and requested him to
negotiate a ceasefire with the Indians, Pakistan’s defeat was
acknowledged at the highest levels.

A few days after the cessation of hostilities, Frank Moraes (he was
then editor-in-chief of The Indian Express), spent a weekend in the
Lahore sector, calling first on Lt General Dhillon at his wartime
corps HQ at Raiyya, and then visiting some places that had already
become household words like the Ichhogil Canal, Dograi, Khem Karan.

Moraes described our visit in The Soldier’s Spirit in his paper of
November 1, 1965, and also his meeting with Jogi Dhillon: I was
fortunate to spend some time with Lt General J.S. Dhillon, the corps commander in this sector, and to note and understand how greatly the spirit of all, from jawans to divisional commanders, depends on the calibre of the corps commander. Jogi Dhillon is an enthusiastic, intelligent soldier with a physical vigour, drive and combativeness which enable him to be extraordinarily mobile over his wide command and an inspiring presence and example to his officers and men.

In recognition of his role in the 1965 war, the President of India
invested Dhillon with the Padma Bhushan in August 1966 and appointed him GOC-in-C Central Command, from where he retired on August 4, 1970.

When the army bade farewell to its distinguished comrade in Delhi on November 21, 2003, six generals acted as pallbearers and the COAS, General N.C. Vij, flew in for the funeral from Hyderabad. This reaffirmed that the Indian Army stands steadfast on some of its finest traditions.

On a more personal note, Jogi Dhillon was married for 62 years to
Minnie, who survives him, and to whom he was as devoted as she to him.He is also survived by his three daughters, Kiran, Komal and Kamal: an architect, airline executive and head of her own consultancy firm each as individualistic as their indomitable parents

MORE DETAILS OF THE BENGAL SAPPER LION

Lieutenant General Joginder Singh Dhillon (1914–2003) was the first post independence Sapper Army Commander (Central Army) and was a decorated and celebrated Indian and Sikh military war hero. Lt Gen Dhillon was the first Army Officer to be awarded the ‘Padma Bhushan’ on 24 November 1965, for his role in the 1965^[1] Indo-Pak War, where he was the General Officer Commanding Corps (XI corps). The official citation given for the award was as follows:

“In this Sector, the enemy launched repeated counter-attacks and the conduct of day to day operations called for great tenacity, strong determination and robust mind. Lieutenant General Dhillon displayed all these qualities in abundance and the success achieved by his Corps was to a great extent due to the personality of the General officer.”

Early career

He was commissioned into Bengal Engineer Group in 1936, after receiving the Sword of Honour and Gold Medal at the Indian Military Academy in 1935, and standing first in the all-India entrance examination to the Indian Military Academy in 1933. Graduating in 1939 with honours from Roorkee s Thomson Civil Engineering College (now IIT Roorkee), he was soon sent overseas for the first four years of World War II. He saw active service in Iraq, Iran and Burma and, after a stint in the Staff College, Quetta, was again sent to command a field company in Malaya (1945–46), then onto Sourabaya, where he commanded 2 Field Company, before returning home. From 1946 to 1947 he was staff officer in the E-in-C s Office Army HQ, then went to Quetta as garrison engineer, before taking over as GSO1 in the E-in-C s Branch from October 1947 to February 1948 in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel

Resurrection of the Bengal Sappers

The Bengal Sappers was one of the formations that bore the brunt of the division of the Indian Army during partition. Since the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers had centres in Bangalore, Roorkee and Kirkee, under the terms of Parition the centres in Bangalore and Kirkee would remain in India, while the Roorkee centre’s assets would go to Pakistan. In the division on a two-third, one-third basis the majority assets in the Roorkee centre’s case went to Pakistan’s Engineers Centre at Sialkot, including plant and equipment and more than half its personnel, and one-third of the regimental fund

The onus of resurrecting the Bengal Sappers fell to Colonel JS Dhillon, who was the first commandant of the Bengal Sappers after India’s independence. With minimal resources and limited personnel, Col Dhillon reorganized and rejuvenated the Bengal Sappers into the leading engineering group of the Army.

“In the two years after taking command in February 1948 of what was left of the centre, Dhillon turned the challenge of resurrecting it into a personal triumph that left everyone breathless. Combining organisational skill with drive, determination and steel, he rehabilitated the centre, streamlined its training and administration and integrated it into an efficient and war-worthy team“

“A change of profound importance introduced at the centre which the newly independent nation s army as a whole eventually adopted was that whilst hitherto several messes for the other ranks had cooked food in each unit for a particular caste, Colonel Dhillon decisively ended this outdated practice. He decreed a single integrated mess would serve food to all men and not their caste.“

When Prime Minister Jawarharlal Nehru visited the regimental center at Roorkee in 1949, he was so impressed by the Bengal Sappers that he specifically asked for Col JS Dhillon to command India’s first Republic Day parade

Honour of commanding first Republic Day parade

Having taken the salute from Col Joginder Singh Dhillon, Commandant, Bengal Engineer Group and Centre on 25 November 1949 at the Centre Parade Ground, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru specifically asked for him to command the First Republic Day Parade to be held in Delhi.

The Parade was held on 26 January 1950 at the Irwin Stadium, Delhi, and was duly commanded by then Brig Dhillon. The Parade had contingents from Army, Navy, Air Force and the Police and it was one of the finest spectacles of the Independent India staged in Delhi during that period. Brig Dhillon later commanded two infantry brigades and also served as director of technical development and director of weapons and equipment at army headquarters before being promoted to Major General. As Major General, he was selected to attend a course at Imperial Defence College in the United Kingdom, and returned to a posting at the National Defence College and was later given command of a division in August 1960. JS Dhillon was Deputy Chief of General Staff at Army headquarters when he was promoted to GOC, XI corps in Punjab.

“The posting would be the culmination of everything that had gone into the making of this exceptional soldier. When on the morning of September 6, 1965, war with Pakistan broke out, with the XI Corps launching a massive retaliatory attack across the border in Punjab on several fronts at 4 am, the aim was to teach Pakistan a lesson for its unprovoked attack on India in the Chhamb sector a few days earlier“

Role in 2nd Indo-Pakistan War, 1965

Lt Gen J.S. Dhillon was the Commander of XI Corps which was responsible for the Punjab sector during the 1965 Indo-Pak War. He is credited in producing and conducting the battle plan that destroyed or captured over 100 superior Pakistani battle tanks, turning a potentially dangerous defeat into an amazing victory, as the Pakistani tanks were poised to head for the Beas Bridge and then on to Delhi.

“The decisive tank battle of Assal Uttar, near Khem Karan, on September 10 does bear telling. Indian units hid their Sherman tanks 500 metres apart in a U-shaped formation in tall and unharvested sugarcane fields, and snared the enemy s vastly superior Patton tanks into this ambush, annihilating them to the last tank and deciding the outcome of the war.

The destruction of Pakistan s armoured pride and the casualties it suffered, including an artillery brigadier and many other senior officers killed or surrendered, destroyed the enemy s morale. At Assal Uttar, 97 enemy tanks of which 72 were Pattons and 25 Chafees and Shermans were destroyed, damaged or captured intact, of which 28 Pattons were in perfect running condition.

Facing the very modern M-48 Pattons were India s old and inferior Centurions and Shermans outgunned, outdistanced and far fewer in number. And yet Indian losses at Khem Karan were only 32 tanks“

Frank Moraes, the editor in chief of the Indian Express, who spent time on the frontlines, wrote: “I was fortunate to spend some time with Lt General J.S. Dhillon, the corps commander in this sector, and to note and understand how greatly the spirit of all, from jawans to divisional commanders, depends on the calibre of the corps commander. Jogi Dhillon is an enthusiastic, intelligent soldier with a physical vigour, drive and combativeness which enable him to be extraordinarily mobile over his wide command and an inspiring presence and example to his officers and men.“

Lt. Gen Dhillon was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his role in the 1965 war and was promoted to Army Commander of the Central Command, from where he retired on August 4, 1970.

Lt Gen JS Dhillon’s counterpart Pakistani Generals who fought against him in the 1965 war, on hearing of his death in 2003, paid warm tribute to him as a great general and warrior.