`I have no option but to ask for help’

Accepting the accession, Lord Mountbatten wrote to the Maharaja on October 27:

“In the special circumstances mentioned by Your Highness, my Government have decided to accept the accession of Kashmir State to the Dominion of India. It is my government’s wish that, as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invaders, the question of the State’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people. Meanwhile, in response to Your Highness’s appeal for military aid, action has been taken today to send troops of the Indian Army to Kashmir to help your own forces to defend your territory and to protect the lives, property and honour of your people.”

In the developments from October 22 onwards, time was the most crucial factor. Every minute mattered. The State forces under the command of Brigadier Rajinder Singh, though hampered by large-scale desertions of Muslim troops, fought to the “last man and last bullet” at Uri delaying the advance of the main horde of raiders for two crucial days. The Uri bridge was also destroyed by the retreating force, thereby gaining another one day. Brigadier Rajinder Singh died like a hero and made an invaluable contribution in saving the State. The Maharaja got the time to seek and obtain India’s help.

Baramulla fell into the hands of the raiders on October 24-26. Overtaken by their wild habits, they indulged in large-scale looting, burning, raping and killing. As noted by Father Shanks,“The tribesmen — great, wild, black beasts they were — came shooting their way down from the hills on both sides of the town. A 20-year old Indian nurse, Philomena, tried to protect a Muslim patient whose baby had just been born. She was shot dead first. The patient was next”. Even the St. Joseph Convent was destroyed, and the Assistant Mother Superior and three nuns were brutally murdered. After visiting Baramulla, the correspondent of the New York Times wrote, “Surviving residents estimate that 3,000 of their fellow townsmen, including four Europeans and a retired British officer and his pregnant wife, were slain.” The raiders hardly realised that the time spent by them in committing their abominable crimes would turn out to be their punishment, as it enabled the Indian forces to land at Srinagar airport onOctober 27 and ultimately push back the raiders inflicting heavy casualties on them.

On October 27, a few planes of the Indian Air Force hovered over Srinagar airport carrying the first batch of Indian troops under the command of Lt-Colonel Ranjit Rai. It was not certain whether the airport was still held by the State Forces. After landing, Lt.-Colonel Rai led the small contingent of the troops towards Baramulla. He dug his defences at Pattan and engaged the raiders near Baramulla. He lost his life in this bold venture. But this unnerved the raiders. They thought that the Indian Army had arrived in strength.

An account of the accession drama excerpted from `My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir’, by Jagmohan, Allied Publishers