HOW CAN A MAN DIE BETTER, THAN FACING FEARFUL ODDS ......

NURANANG: THE CROWNING GLORY OF THE INDIAN ARMY AND 4^TH BATTALLION THE GARHWAL RIFLES

GOLDEN JUBILEE 17^th  NOVEMBER

The post independence history of the ‘Fighting Fourth’ Battalion of the Garhwal Rifles, which was re raised by an illustrious son of the regiment, late Maj Gen (retd) Syed Mehdi Hasnain, PVSM on 07 Dec 1959; was sculpted and carved from the happenings of 1962, which saw the bloody massacre of Indian soldiers in the erstwhile North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and Ladhak. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the proverbial Chinese Dragon, spat fire and brimstone, when it mounted a definitive and perfidious attack on India, belying the Nehruvian conviction of ‘Hindi – Chini, Bhai - Bhai’. Also, the belief that the Himalayas are an insurmountable geographical feature which bulwarks the country from any military aggression from the north was destroyed.  The triumvirate of Nehru, Menon and Mullick had pushed the Indian Army into a battle situation, which was not of its liking, choosing and timing, thus ensuring a military debacle which resulted in the murder of about 3,400 soldiers and left many more wounded. Many were also taken as Prisoners of War (POW), who were subjected to communist indoctrination in the various prisoner’s camps they were kept in, only to be later repatriated with their spirits assailed but not broken. It was in this scenario that, 4 Garhwal Rifles like many other units of the army was mobilised to move and take its battle position beyond the Sela Pass ahead of Tawang. The battalion was assigned to act as Covering Troops for the main defences, to help give time for preparation and coordination of these on the heights of Sela and around. Sela was to be the limit of penetration for the Chinese Army, as it would thereafter allow a free run for further ingress into the fertile plains of Assam. The pass was to be defended at all costs and the advance of the Chinese stopped, before they secured it.

It is in such times when a unit is assigned its operational responsibility and given an operational task, which is in keeping with the overall Corps Zone / Theatre battle plan that, sheer doggedness and fighting spirit of its soldiers decides the outcome, irrespective of the wherewithal which is available to him to fire fight. 4 Garhwal Rifles, under the command of Lt Col Bijoy Mohan Bhattacharjee (later Maj General BM Bhattacharjee, MVC) was soon to make history, written with the blood, guts and glory of its ‘Bhullas’ (as the soldiers are endearingly called by their officers). History it did make, when the ‘Bhullas’ under the leadership of its officers and junior commissioned officers (jcos), fought in the heights of NEFA at altitudes of between 12,000 to 14,000 feet, clothed in a spartan manner in woollen shirt, jersey and combat boots and armed with the antiquated .303 bolt action Enfield rifles, supported by the indirect fire of 3” mortars, howitzers and 25 pound artillery guns. The entire gamut of the fighting machine comprising man, weapon and equipment compared very poorly with what they were pitted against and the enemy had. It was not for them to question the decision to throw them into the ring and to slug it out with their opponent, with their life at stake and the odds heavily loaded against them. This was the quintessential soldier of the Indian Army for you then, but may not be so now, when values have undergone a distinct change in both the military and civil society.

When it had become impossible to hold the defensive positions even temporarily and maintain their integrity as Covering Troops, and without getting compromised, 4 Garhwal was tasked to tactically withdraw along the axis Tawang – Nuranang - Sela and consolidate in the main defences behind. Even so, there was intense patrolling being done by the unit to keep the information flowing and in one such patrol, 2^nd Lt Vinod Goswami, Vr C had managed to capture a Chinese soldier, who later had to be killed. Unfortunately, 2^nd Lt Goswami was later, himself killed in action. While withdrawing, the unit was to demolish Bridge No 3 on the Namka Chu river at Nuranang, so as to cause maximum delay to the advancing hordes of Chinese troops, who could use the same Bridge for bringing ahead their fire support and logistical requirements. The conditions were extremely difficult and skewed in favour of the PLA and despondency loomed large and sure over the ‘Bhullas’. But, their best was yet to come and history was in the making, when the unit repulsed as many as four determined attacks from the waves of Chinese soldiers, leaving many dead. The night of 17 Nov 1962 was a fateful one for a young 22 years old brave heart, who answered to the name of Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat. In a brazen act of raw and undiluted courage, Jaswant crawled, pulled and wriggled his way to the enemy emplacement of a Machine Gun, which was playing havoc with the lives of ‘Bhullas’, and single handed silenced it and took possession of the weapon. In doing all of this, the daring and selfless boy from the interiors of Garhwal, demonstrated unparallel and unprecedented bravery, before he succumbed to his wounds in the arms of his comrades from ‘A’ Company. This Company was commanded by 2^nd Lt  Surendra Nath Tandon,Vr C, who gave a sterling account of his verve and inspiring leadership.The young leadership of the unit was bursting with initiative and daring do in a near hopeless situation. So much so that, even the Regimental Medical Officer of 4 Garhwal, Capt Bejoy Kumar Nath was not only attending to the wounded but wielding his weapon and spurring the  Bhullas to fight as best they could. Number 3 Bridge was demolished by late Colonel and then Major Hasta Bahadur Rai and the task given to 4 Garhwal had been achieved. On orders to withdraw and fall back to the defences in Sela, the Garhwalis were left helpless and completely flustered, as the troops holding these had already pulled out from there, leaving the defences unoccupied and waiting to be occupied by the advancing PLA. Chinese troops were all over the hill features, which dominated both by observation and fire the withdrawing elements of 4 Garhwal along axis Nuranang – Sela, and which were repeatedly ambushed while doing so. Brigadier Hoshiar Singh, the commander of 62 Brigade, was killed in one such ambush along with many from the Garhwal Rifles. He thus became the second such senior officer after brigadier Usman of Jhangarh (Naushera) fame in 1948, who lay down his life while being in the thick of action in a military operation. Confronted by this macabre situation, about one third of the battalion made their way back to India through Bhutan, while one third was killed during the withdrawal by either enemy action or the extremities of weather and deprivation and the remaining one third were captured and taken as Prisoners of War. To surmise the situation which prevailed then, suffice it to say that complete chaos, panic and mayhem reigned and had shattered the spirit of the Indian Army. In such a situation the ‘Bhullas’ of 4 Garhwal Rifles stood out as heroes and an exception to the rule, which had gripped the jugular of the famous (Eagle) 4 Division of World War II fame and IV Corps. 4 Garhwal Rifles and the brave Brigadier Hoshiar Singh of 62 Brigade, were let down by the generals of its formations, who had left these to their fate and death, by pulling out prematurely from the defences in Sela, without as much informing them about the same. It was an irony, which has a few parallels in the history of modern warfare in the world.

 Even though, I personally, do not value the views / opinions of the then disgraced 4 Corps Commander, late Lt Gen Brij Mohan Kaul from the logistics service of the Army, known as the Army Service Corps (ASC); who in an attempt to exculpate himself from the blame which befell him as his due and just share in the debacle and disaster of 1962; I am tempted to quote from his book “The Untold Story” in praise of the fighting skills and in your face courage of the ‘Bhullas’ of 4 Garhwal Rifles. He remarked that, “Had the Indian Army fought like the ‘Bhullas’ of 4 Garhwal Rifles, the history of the 1962 war would have been different”. The battalion won two Mahavir Chakra (MVC) and seven Vir Chakra ( Vr C) in a war which saw the Indian Army routed and butchered, only because its political leadership refused to heed to the professional counsel of its military commanders, who were seized of the status of the Army’s unpreparedness to undertake any military adventure in keeping with the forward position policy of Nehru, which had the potential to provoke and escalate into a full scale war. The Army too had its cronies, as was best symbolised by Lt Gen BM Kaul, who climbed on the credulity of its soldiers and worked in synch with the country’s politico / bureaucratic leadership, which lead to a national humiliation.

 The honour roll of 4 Garhwal Rifles has 3 officers, 4 jcos, 147 jawans and 7 non combatants enrolled,  who died in action in 1962. In recognition of its historical and unprecedented fighting spirit, courage, sheer doggedness, extreme sense of commitment and selfless dedication, which went beyond the call of duty; was awarded the Battle Honour of ‘Nuranang’ by the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and a grateful nation. The only battalion to receive this honour in the war fought in NEFA. The unit, which continues to be an embellishment in the crowning glory of the Indian Army, by its several professional achievements to include operations and training; will be celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the battle of Nuranang on 17^th November 2012. While this is so, the War Memorial which was constructed in the memory of the gallant action fought by 4 Garhwal Rifles; in which Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat attained martyrdom, has attained a spiritual significance for the present and coming generations of the Army.It stands as a silent reminder of the sacrifice made by the sons of Garhwal, to inspire and motivate all those who pass through the way, in the service of the Nation. The place where this Memorial stands has been named as JASWANTGARH, in fond and lasting memory of the brave heart, who is survived by his 90 years old mother.

It is as a mark of respect and deserving homage to the hallowed battle field in which the ‘Bhullas’ of ‘Fighting Fourth’ attained martyrdom that, the Military Secretary and Colonel of the Regiment of Garhwal Rifles and Garhwal Scouts, Lt Gen Ata Hasnain*, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar will be making a pilgrimage along with a team of officers from the unit to Nuranang, to place a wreath at the memorial of JASWANTGARH.

*Lt Gen  Ata Hasnain, AVSM, SM ,VSM and Bar is the son of late Maj Gen S M Hasnain, PVSM, and a second generation commanding officer of 4^th Garhwal Rifles who as XV Corps Commander in Srinagar, Kashmir won the hearts of the people with his iron fist in a velvet glove approach, to tackle militancy in the valley and surrounding areas.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

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