Forgotten heroes: Brigadier Pritam Singh, the saviour of Poonch

Pakistanis occupied the ridges overlooking Poonch and as the J&K State’s Forces were getting besieged, the raiders were all buoyed up to capture the town. The dejected inhabitants shuddered, helplessly awaiting their fate, which could have been similar to the ghastly treatment that the ill-fated residents of Baramulla, Rajouri and some other towns of Kashmir had undergone a few days earlier. The condition of Poonch became chaotic.

Pakistan had entered into a “Standstill” agreement with J&K and undertaken to continue to treat J&K as an independent state. But, Pakistan unilaterally broke this agreement and attacked J&K. The Maharaja of J & K had to perforce seek military assistance from India and so he signed the ‘Instrument of Accession’ on 26 October 1947, thereby acceding to India. Thereupon, the Government of India took the momentous decision to send military aid to J&K. After saving Srinagar and adjoining areas from the marauders the Indian Army moved 1 Kumaon (Para) to save the beleaguered Poonch. Lieutenant Colonel Pritam Singh, Commanding Officer of I Kumaon (Para) arrived at Poonch on 21 November 1947 through the Uri–Haji Pir Pass and set about to assure the people that he had no intentions of abandoning them to their fate. To strengthen his assertion, he cancelled all orders for an impending withdrawal and zealously undertook reorganisation of the defences.

Adhering to the military dictum that adopting an offensive stance is the best form of defence, Pritam Singh undertook the arduous task of recapturing the overlooking hill features by personally leading assaults on vital objectives. The responsibility of civil administration also fell on Pritam Singh because the administrators had hastily departed leaving their jobs in times of crises. Law and order, health related issues and feeding the massive population became complicated matters.

Pritam Singh undertook unorthodox measures with his ingenuity; one of them was to enhance the combat manpower; ex-servicemen and able bodied youth were enlisted and formed into Scouts units. Another was to feed the bloated population of Poonch.

With the influx of refugees into Poonch, the garrison fell short of rations. Pritam Singh resorted to the so called ‘grain or bory’ operations, by personally leading most of these grain collecting operations of covertly retrieving grains from areas that had been captured by Pakistanis. People, who had fled from areas that had been overrun by Pakistan, often acted as guides to collect and carry the grains.

Pritam Singh’s life is replete with unparalleled instances of audacious boldness and risk. As a Capt; the young Pritam Singh had been severely wounded in an air-raid at Singapore in 1942 and taken prisoner of war. Risking his life, he had escaped from the Japanese prison along with two more officers. Trudging a distance of 3000 miles through jungle infested terrain, hostile environments over land and sea; they reached Manipur after six gruelling months. For their bravery and resilience, all the three officers were awarded the Military Cross.

During the siege, Poonch was totally cut-off, and deprived of supplies of rations, medicines, warm clothing. Induction of additional troops and armaments suffered. Getting the airstrip constructed in a record time of six weeks by motivating the residents and the refugees that had entered Poonch, remains one of Pritam Singh’s singular contributions as it enabled air-maintenance, evacuation of casualties including refugees, and reduced the burden on Poonch.

While under the siege, and being cut off, Pritam Singh was to create history by holding onto Poonch for more than one year and ultimately defeating the siege. His undefeatable energy, determination and extreme courage enabled in overcoming the overwhelmingly strong enemy and thus saving the lives of thousands of people.

Pritam became a darling of the media, a famous international personality and attained a larger than life image, but this was unpalatable to many. Granting of out of turn promotion to Lt Col Pritam Singh to the rank of Brigadier as he was already commanding a sizeable garrison created turmoil. Superseding a number of officers aroused jealousies, rivalries, and envy and aroused intrigues.

One allegation levelled by hostile elements was construction of the airstrip on ground that had to be flattened by levelling some graves, as no other flat area was available. But, Pritam Singh maintained that saving human lives took priority. Another issue cropped up when Sheikh Abdullah flew into Poonch. The locals demonstrated and sloganeering assumed alarming proportions. Sheikh Abdullah had to be escorted and flown off, but he took it amiss, complained to Nehru, and insisted on Pritam Singh’s court martial.

This national hero was court martialled on trumped up charges and dismissed from service. His detractors had succeeded in maligning and sullying Pritam’s reputation. Also, buried was the story of the siege of Poonch, which remains unique and is worthy to rank amongst the great sieges of world history, and it would have been a subject of study in institutions the world over.

Despite being wounded, Pritam Singh had created history by valiantly holding on and repulsing the siege till Poonch was linked up after a year on 23 November 1948. Poonch never fell, and this is the ultimate, lasting tribute to Pritam Singh.

The man with a ‘never say die’ attitude, Brig Pritam Singh died on 06 July 1975 at his Village Deh Kalan—Bara Graon of Sangrur, with no newspaper writing even a two line obituary for him. Alas! The great warrior and administrator had walked into the sunset as a shattered man, ignored, overlooked, isolated, heartbroken.

The Pakistan Army could not pull him down, but he was felled by his own people. After he had succeeded in defeating the siege, he was persecuted as a murderer, a sadist, a thief and a cheat. Then he wrote in disgust: “Sometimes serious doubts assail me whether it would have been better to have let the State Forces garrison slip out of Poonch and I would have merely followed it, than to have put up that tenacious fight, but I dispel them with my conviction that I have done my duty to India and that one day the truth will come out”.

The people of Poonch had sent a petition to the President of India in January 1996, to exonerate Brig Pritam Singh and to honour him posthumously for his great services to the nation. Nothing came out of this petition. The truth should come out now, and proper posthumous recognition needs to be accorded to Brigadier Pritam Singh.

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