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URL: http://www.rediff.com/freedom/0710jha.htm
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.
