POONCH, NOV 24: Fifty years after Poonch in Jammu & Kashmir was wrested from Pakistan, the residents of the area have united to get justice for the hero of the year-long battle, posthumously.Brig. Pritam Singh, the hero of the siege of Poonch was court-martialled later on minor charges.The people of Poonch believe that Singh was framed by fellow officers and have appealed to the President of India to posthumously exonerate him and restore his rightful place in history.``It is an irony and a matter of grave concern that the nation does not even recognise the man we worship,'' they said in a appeal to the President. The appeal has been signed jointly by the Hindus and Muslims of the border district.The people of Poonch still recall the services of the gallant soldier during the Pakistani siege of Poonch in 1947-48. ``He was a great man. We owe our lives to him,'' said 80-year-old Muneer Hussain of Loran. ``Brig. Pritam Singh gave us salt,'' said another resident.Mohammad Din Bandey, vice-chairmanof the Pahari Development Board, said Singh was framed by his detractors who were jealous of his valour. Bandey was one of the political prisoners held by Pakistan during its aggression of Poonch in 1947. He recalled that Singh organised the local people to make an aircraft runway at a vast chunk of land, punctuated with termite mounds and uneven ground, to ensure percolation of immediate supplies to the troops and civilians.However, when the guns went silent and the dangers receded, Major Gen. Atma Singh and others started a vilification campaign against Singh, the appeal said.Headed by Maj Gen. Khanolkar, the court of inquiry slapped 26 charges against Brig. Pritam Singh for abetting murder, abetting theft of a carpet from the palace of then Raja of Poonch, for criminal breach of trust in regard to public funds and for voluntarily causing hurt to three policemen.As the Court Martial assembled in January 1951 at Dehra Dun with Major General JN Chaudhari as the presiding officer, there were only sixcharges against him. Of them, three were for causing hurt to policemen, two for financial irregularities and one pertaining to the theft of a carpet.The appeal pointed out that Sub Inspector Sham Lal and Head Constable Uttam Chand were beaten up by the Brigadier for letting the refugees kill Muslim prisoners in their charge. About the third policeman, it said he had taken a bribe of Rs 10 and released a prisoner held in police custody for illegally felling trees.However, these policemen pleaded for withdrawal of the cases, stating that they owed their lives and those of their families to Brig Pritam Singh.About the remaining two charges, the appeal said that the carpet was a gift to the Air Force by the Raja of Poonch and Brig Pritam Singh had placed it with the Air Transport unit at the airfield on July 5, 1948, with the instructions that the same be handed over to Major MS Grewal, Air Liaison Transport Officer, for sending it to Palam. Even the Commander-in-Chief did not approve of the verdict oftheft against him.Similarly, the charges of misappropriation of money were also false, the appeal pointed out. It asked the President to nullify the General Court Martial proceedings and honour the gallant soldier who helped alter the boundary of the country.
