Days on the Frontier

Continuing reports of ambush of Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir, remind one of the days before Partition in the North West Frontier Pr...

Continuing reports of ambush of Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir, remind one of the days before Partition in the North West Frontier Province, which was then referred to as a 8220;no man8217;s land8221;. While being posted to the NWFP as a young officer in the British Army, one had been warned of the dangers of the daily life there. Within days the truth dawned on all subalterns on fresh posting.

For the people in the Frontier like the Kashmir Valley today, life functioned normally only during day and people hurried indoors before nightfall. Houses, though made of mud, had thick walls and were built like miniature fortresses. It was not uncommon at night for the locals to start shooting in the direction of their opponents. Cases were settled by Jirgas8217; and decisions given, sometimes blood for blood. We even heard stories of daughters being given in marriage to compensate the aggrieved parties.

History books confirmed the local tales that the area had a long history of turmoil. Before the British occupiedPunjab, Khyber Pass one of the five passes and its surrounding areas was guarded by the much-feared Sikh General, Hari Singh Nalwa, who had his headquarters in Jamrud Fort and a small garrison at Loralai Pass. For collection of revenue jazia8217;, he had spread out his posts in the area.

I remember visiting the area in the company of a local, who showed me graves spread over nearly 10 miles of the dead during the advance of the Sikh troops in Maharaja Ranjit Singh8217;s time. In fact, a place in the centre of a lake called Shahi8217;, which had been named by Pathans after Shah8217; or Badshah8217;, was the headquarters of a Sikh post.

Later the British while establishing their rule in India, realised the importance of the five passes of NWFP and set up big cantonments at the entrance of the passes in an attempt to seal them 8212; Peshawar, Kohat, Banu, Quetta and Dera Ismail Khan. British agents8217; posted in the area, who used to liaison between the Pathans and the government, were very influential.The British wereclearly using this area as a training ground for troops of the Indian Army with live ammunition.

We found that the Pathan was a cunning fighter and a good shot, who avoided hand to hand fight or frontal attack. Troops who depended on only brawn were the worst sufferers while the clever and ruthless which included Sikh troops came out with flying colours. Pathans8217; mode of fighting was to ambush the troops. It was common for the Pathans to tie the guns under the belly of the sheep they were grazing. Finding a vulnerable target, they would pull out the gun, fire and then put it back and pretend to be simple shepherds. Similarly while ploughing, they would fire and then put the gun in the furrow and revert to ploughing.

Approximately, 13 km from Quetta, there was an advance post at Razmak, where we, as a part of the brigade, were stationed. A wall 8212; four to five feet of loose stones 8212; was erected to mark the garrison.

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From our camp at Razmak, there were the headquarters of a pir8217; Manak Sharif a fewmiles away in the hills, whose men used to sneak into the garrison at night. Once they killed a complete guard of the Gurkha Regiment and took away their arms. It was reported that the pir8217; had a machine gun mounted on a camel, but no action was ever taken to disarm him.

Like in Kashmir today, every week, supplies of the garrison from Quetta were taken to Razmak in a convoy, guarded by troops who ensured that the road remained open. This gave the troops a good experience of road opening exercise8217;. But it was not uncommon to see convoys ambushed and looted.