DOGRA MILITARY ETHOS AND THE DOGRA SOLDIER

Soldiering is in the Blood of the Dogras, who are the inhabitants of Jammu region of J&K State, former three Districts of Punjab i.e. Kangra (now HP), Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur (part of it now in Pakistan) and also the adjoining areas of Pakistan across Jammu Border. Whatever the reasons, Dogras have made soldiering their profession. Reasons are many which include geographical location of the Dogra lands on the path of the foreign invaders from times immemorial with the result they were either the part of the force resisting the invaders or aiding the forces or fighting for the Country with the result they were always involved one way or the other. Secondly, as they mostly inhabit the Himalayan region of the State and also the plains of Punjab along the foot hills, they have developed a hardy life and a strong will to resist intruding forces and also fight for their values by virtue of geographical, historical and economic factors. They have become great professionals in the art of war and are always in great demand by the warring principalities from the Mughals to the British and finally to the Sikhs when they were able to establish the largest State of J&K in the Country under Maharaja Gulab Singh with the help of Generals like Gen Zorawar Singh, Gen Khan and Col Baste Ram.

The founding of this unique State gave a special identity to the Dogras and also the Dogra State Army which has excelled wherever it went, whether in World War I or World War II or in defending the most difficult areas in Ladakh, Gilgit – Baltistan where it was engaged in perpetual fighting for over hundred years right upto 1947. Their finest hour was the defence of J&K in 1947 against Pakistan who wanted the State to accede to it but when it did not, Pakistan attacked on 22 Oct 1947 via Muzaffarabad. Had it succeeded as planned to reach Srinagar within 48 hours, the history and the geography of the sub-continent would have been different. Maharaja Hari Singh wanted to accede to India but Mountbatten was determined to prevent this as the Britishers had promised J&K State to Pakistan with a view to continue their influence in the sub-continent through their stooge Country Pakistan occupying the most strategic area of the continent Gilgit – Baltistan where once three empires met and now after the partition five Countries meet i.e. Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Infact, it was this factor which had caused the partition of India and the denial of Accession by Maharaja Hari Singh to India by Mountbatten by convincing Mr. Nehru that J&K being a Muslim majority State must become a part of Pakistan as the British had promised to Pakistan as a part of the partition formula. It was for this reason the Britishers managed to keep Mountbatten as Governor General with all the senior British Army Officers till the Mission with Mountbatten i.e. handing over of J&K to Pakistan was complete and that’s why Mountbatten did not let Nehru to even accept ‘Stand Still Agreement’ which has no logic. By doing so Nehru handed over the State to Pakistan on a platter. Not only that, when finally Pakistan was convinced that Maharaja Hari Singh will never accede to Pakistan, attacked on 22 Oct 1947 via Muzaffarabad which was valiantly resisted by Brig Rajinder Singh, the Chief of Army Staff of the J&K, an Independent Country. Brig Rajinder Singh himself defended with his 100 gallant Dogras from 23 Oct 1947 to 26 Oct 1947 for four days, enabling Maharaja Hari Singh to have parlays with the Indian Govt. to accede to India before Indian Army could move to save the State on 27 Oct 1947. This timeframe was barely 8 hours after the martyrdom of Brig Rajinder Singh who had been ordered by his Ruler to fight to the Last Man. His unique and succinct order in the annals of Military History is reproduced below and was implemented by Brig Rajinder Singh in letter and spirit for which he was awarded the first gallantry award of Independent India (MVC Posthumously), and is known as ‘Saviour of Kashmir’ and is respected by its people. His contribution and life story is by itself a Saga of a Dogra Soldier and that is the Dogra Military Ethos. Unfortunately not much has been written about him by the historians. There is no book on him yet.

Surprisingly when Maharaja requested Govt. of India to send the Army to save the State, Mountbatten refused it thereby giving another precious day to Pakistan Army to complete its mission of capturing the valley which they could never do as they wasted that day in looting and plundering Baramulla with all inhuman atrocities committed on Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and even Muslims and also the nuns in the hospitals who were raped and carried to Pakistan. It was again Nehru’s mistake which delayed the Accession and move of the Indian Army with the result Baramulla was totally annihilated. Here is what Nehru had to say on the Accession, bringing in the plebiscite which was never a consideration for Accession by an Independent Country as J&K was an Independent Country on that day.

“The fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the peoples. We will not, and cannot back out of (The Pledge) we are prepared to have a referendum held under International auspices Like the United Nations. We want a Fair just Referendum of the People and we shall accept their verdict”. (Jawaharlal Nehru)

The two above mentioned Military feats of the Dogras in creating the unique State and defending and acceding it to India prove the richness and the efficacy of the Dogra Military Ethos. To illustrate it further it may be mentioned that Gen Zorawar Singh as a Governor of Kishtwar conceived the idea of conquering of Ladakh and Gilgit – Baltistan, for which he raised a special force based on the hill men of Kishtwar who could fight in the rigorous climate of ladakh and Baltistan and trained it accordingly. Once he made up his mind he did not look back and carried a number of attacks across the Zanskar range, 19000 feet above the sea level and once he even went cross Country in winter in temperature below -31 degrees over 30 feet snow for 10 days along the Zanskar range to surprise the King of Ladakh at Leh. In the next two years he captured Gilgit and Basltistan including the present Siachen glacier. While he was fighting and consolidating in Ladakh and Baltistan he was planning to annex Tibet with Jammu Raj which he ultimately attacked in April 1841. He defeated the Chinese in a decisive battle of Mantalai near Mansarovar lake in may 1841 and captured their standard which is a prestigious possession of Fateh Shib Ji Battalion, now 4 JAK Rifles, presently at Jammu. A few months later however Gen Zorawar lost a decisive battle more to the climate and weather than to the Chinese at Toyo on 12 Dec 1841, when Chinese attacked the Dogra Force and Zorawar was killed by the Chinese. It was of course a disaster and all the territories captured by Zorawar in Tibet were lost including part of Ladakh which was however recaptured by the Dogras under Wazir Ratnu next year.

Gen Zorawar’s rise to be the one of the greatest Generals of India, the only General from the plains of India to fight and capture territories across the Himalayas, establishes the qualities of Military leadership which unfortunately have not been written about by the Dogras, not even by any Indian. It was written about by Cunningham in his book Ladakh. ‘Founding of J&K’ by Panikar is another authentic book on Maharaja Gulab Singh and finally a book on Gen Zorawar Singh by Sukhdev Charak of Jammu University has the credit of giving us the only book on Gen Zorawar Singh. Unfortunately, whatever is available even in Oral History and Dogri Literature has not been documented which is a matter of serious concern for the Dogra intellectuals and particularly for the Students of History and Literature of Jammu University and Central University Jammu, Suchani.

In the case of a study of defending the State by Dogras by Brig Rajinder Singh under Maharaja Hari Singh, there is total darkness. Although many books have been written including foreigners, yet there is no comprehensive story or a book on Brig Rajinder Singh and his Dogra Soldiers who saved the State miraculously till the Accession when there was no other Force available as the Indian Army only landed after the Accession on 27 Oct 1947. There is material about the Indian Army Operations which though saved the valley but could not save the State against the machinations of the British, which needs to be studied in depth for which enough material is available but because of the two powerful dynasties of Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah, a History of the J&K Operations and the part played by the J&K Forces predominantly by the Dogras is missing or distorted. This aspect has been brought out by Mr. Harbans Singh Sambyal in his book “Maharaja Hari Singh: The Troubled Years” which is a must read by every Dogra.

J&K Operations has two distinct periods, one upto 26 Oct 1947 when the Accession took place and the other till the Cease Fire under United Nations 01 Jan 1949. In both the periods the Dogras have given an excellent account of Dogra Soldiery, Bravery and Sacrifice. It can be judged by the figures: out of total strength of 12000 of J&K State Forces on 22 Oct 1947 almost 1500 lost their lives and a large number of Muslim Soldiers deserted and joined Pakistan Army after killing their own Comrades, often when sleeping in their Barracks and yet the Dogras did not lose heart. They went on fighting under extreme weather conditions in Skardu, Gilgit, Ladakh and later in Mirpur, Kotli, Poonch and Bimber. All these Operations have been reasonably well documented in three regimental Histories of the Jammu and Kashmir Regiment. The Regiment was integrated with the Indian Army as a ‘whole’ without any screening, the only Regiment given this privilege out of 500 States and yet the J&K State never honoured it. Infact Sheikh Abdullah wanted this force to be disbanded fearing that this was Maharaja Hari Singh’s force and would not help the new State Administration. Surprisingly three battalions out of nine 30% were disbanded immediately after winning the War, 5th Kashmir Infantry (Suraj Gorkha), 6th J&K Inf and 8th J&K Inf which had helped to save Poonch and even earned the gallantry awards and Battle Honour of Poonch. This was the Govt. Policy of the Nehru Govt. immediately after the J&K Operations. All these Battalions and many more had to be reraised after the 1962 War, again self-inflicted by Pandit Nehru.

It was only 1956 that one of its Battalions, again Fateh Shib Ji of Gen Zorawar Singh, now 4 JAK Rifles presently located at Jammu, managed to beat back a Brigade attack by Pakistan Army in Hussainiwala in Ferozpur District of Punjab where it decimated the Pakistani Brigade with two Companies. Only then did the Indian Army realize the true worth of the Dogra Army of the State and decided to merge the entire J&K State Force into the Indian Army without any screening. This is what is all about the Military Ethos. All this and many more historic facts are recorded in the following Regimental histories:

Jammu and Kashmir Arms: History of the J&K Rifles by Maj Gen D K Palit, VrC.

History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles (1820-1956) by Maj K Brahma Singh.

Sun And Snow (A History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles) by Maj Gen G D Bakshi..

Why the historical background to the saving of the State by Brig Rajinder Singh under Maharaja Hari Singh, both Dogras with 100 Dogra Soldiers, saved Kashmir, indeed the J&K State, for India is the work personified of Dogra Military Ethos as they say proof of the pudding lies in the eating. Saving the State at the most crucial period of history of the sub-continent by a few Dogras is there to see for everyone. If the Unique State created by Maharaja Gulab Singh and General Zorawar Singh was not saved by Brig Rajinder Singh and acceded to India by Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of J&K State, an Independent Country after 15 Aug 1947, the only one person who could accede to India, the history and the geography of the State would have been different. We can imagine today even after 70 years having seen what is happening around us in Pakistan, Afghanistan and in other Countries aligned with the philosophy of Pakistan and also China. The picture emerges that Ladakh would have been with China without Buddhism and with the present understanding, China would have been all over right upto Kathua as China is already there in Gilgit – Baltistan and in POJK area. This is the contribution of the Dogras to the history and the geography of the State and the Country, indeed the sub-continent.

Now about the Dogra Soldier. Besides the adage that a man should be judged by his actions and achievements, as narrated above the Dogra Soldier is a simple, God-fearing Soldier from the hills. He is a tough, hardy, loyal and patriot Soldier. He is dogged and persevering under stress and hardships and that is his biggest quality as a Soldier. He will not give up easily and will not even tell others about his achievements, he often suffers perhaps for this very characteristic and as he is first to accomplish his task but last for receiving the rewards or accolades. In the Army it is said that “Give me Dogra Troops and I will accomplish any task given to me”. There are many stories from World War I, World War II, J&K Operations 1947-48, Kargil and other Wars fought by India so far and also when the State of J&K was established which need to be recorded. Unfortunately, these have not been recorded and the onus now lies on the Dogras themselves and the University of Jammu and the Central University Jammu, to unearth this golden treasure in which the electronic media particularly Television and Radio can do a lot by recording the history and of the past hundred years and putting them on web as Oral History of the Dogras. Jammu University of the Dogras has both the auditoriums named after these two famous Dogra General, Gen Zorawar Singh and Brigadier Rajinder Singh, Gen Zorawar Chair and Brig Rajinder Singh Memorial Lectures is the proof of the Dogra Military Heritage which has to be properly documented and made available to the Country.