| Battle of Haji Pir Pass | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 | |||||||
  | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 India |  Pakistan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Major Ranjit Singh Dyal |  Unknown | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| |||||||
The Battle of Haji Pir pass was a military engagement from 26 to 28 August 1965, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and resulted in India capturing the entire Haji Pir bulge including the 8,652 feet high Haji Pir pass in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. [2] [3]
In April 1965, there were a number of ceasefire violations by Pakistan and in May, Pakistani forces occupied three hill features overlooking the Srinagar – Leh Highway and commenced accurate artillery fire on the highway. [2]
In early August 1965, Pakistan launched Operation Gibraltar with the aim of clandestinely infiltrating a large number of guerrillas into Kashmir to destabilise the region through subversive activities including inciting the local population to rebellion and guerrilla attacks to destroy infrastructure, followed by overthrowing the administration and installing a puppet government. However, Operation Gibraltar failed because the local population did not revolt as expected and also on finding out Pakistan's plans, India launched a counter operation against the infiltrators who were identified, engaged and liquidated. [2] [4]
In response to Pakistan's repeated infiltrations and attempts to destabilise Kashmir, the then Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri made a statement "India cannot go on pushing the Pakistanis off its territory. If infiltration continues, we will have to carry the fight to the other side." [5]
On 15 August 1965, the Indian Army crossed the Ceasefire line (CFL) and recaptured the three hill positions that had been earlier occupied by Pakistan and were being used to disrupt traffic on the Srinagar – Leh Highway. A decision was also taken to capture the Haji Pir Bulge, which was a key hub and ingress route for infiltrations into India. [2] [4]
The plan of attack was a pincer movement, to avoid a frontal assault in order to minimise casualties. The movement from the west was codenamed Operation Bakshi, and the 19th Infantry Division was tasked with capturing Haji Pir pass and the bulge and 68 Infantry Brigade was placed under the 19th Infantry Division. The movement from the east was codenamed Operation Faulad and the 25th Infantry Division was tasked with linking up from Poonch in the south of the bulge. 1 Para, 19 Punjab and 4 Rajput were identified as the main strike units while 6 JAK LI and 4 Sikh LI were held in reserve. [2]
D-Day for the operation was set as 26 August. [2]
On 26 August 2130 hours, 1 Para battalion crossed the Ceasefire Line to the west towards Sank, which had well prepared defenses, barbed wires and minefields. The Brigade commander Brigadier Bakshi was himself part of the assaulting force. The assault was carried out in very difficult circumstances, across steep terrain and under heavy rain. However, with covering artillery fire on the Pakistani defenders, the Indian troop was able to advance and by 0415 hours the next morning, the force had attained the objective of Sank. The Pakistan defenders were taken completely unawares, panicked and fled, leaving behind their heavy weapons. After capturing Sank the battalion continued with its advance towards the next features of Sar and Ledi Wali Gali and captured both on the same day. [2] [5] [6] [4]
Major Ranjit Singh Dyal requested and procured permission to press on to Haji Pir Pass. On reaching Haji Pir Pass, they encountered a counterattack by Pakistani forces. Leaving 1 platoon to engage the Pakistani forces, Major Dyal led the rest of his troop and climbed the steep western shoulder of the pass while carrying heavy loads through the rain. Out-flanked, the Pakistani defenders abandoned their weapons and fled down the hill. By 1030 hours on 28 August, Haji Pir pass had been captured. The Pakistani brigade counterattacked on 29 August, but 1 Para repulsed the attack as well as captured a few other features and consolidated its position. [5] [6] [4]
In the meanwhile, 19 Punjab captured Pathra on 26 August. However, 4 Rajput was unable to capture Bedori due to highly rugged and precipitous terrain and having suffered heavy casualties, was forced to pull back. The commander of 19 Punjab volunteered to attack Bedori from a different direction and by 29 August had attained his objective in the face of intense resistance from defending forces. [4] On 5 September, 4 Rajput captured Bisali, but had to fall back to Sank due to an intense counterattack by Pakistani forces. By 10 September, the 93 infantry brigade had linked up with the units and the entire Haji Pir bulge came under Indian control. [5] [6]
India's capture of the entire Haji Pir bulge and Haji Pir pass was a major strategic victory as it neutralised the logistical set up and plugged the ingress routes of infiltrators as well as brought the Poonch - Uri road under Indian control, thus reducing the road distance between these 2 towns from 282 km to 56 km. [3] It was a major achievement for the units involved, who had conducted assaults in extremely difficult terrain and adverse weather conditions against well entrenched Pakistani defences to capture the objectives given. [2]
Brigadier Bakshi and Major Dyal were awarded the Maha Vir Chakra. 1 Para was awarded the Battle Honour Hajipir and Theatre Honour Jammu and Kashmir (1965). [4]
In the subsequent Tashkent agreement, India handed back the hard-won Haji Pir bulge to Pakistan. The handing back of Haji Pir bulge has been criticised by Indian strategic planners because the majority of infiltrations by militants from Pakistan into Jammu & Kashmir continues to happen from this area. [7] [3]
The Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948, also known as the first Kashmir war, was a war fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four Indo-Pakistani wars between the two newly independent nations. Pakistan precipitated the war a few weeks after its independence by launching tribal lashkar (militias) from Waziristan, in an effort to capture Kashmir and to preempt the possibility of its ruler joining India.
The Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, also known as the second India–Pakistan war, was an armed conflict between Pakistan and India that took place from August 1965 to September 1965. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against Indian rule. The seventeen-week war caused thousands of casualties on both sides and witnessed the largest engagement of armored vehicles and the largest tank battle since World War II. Hostilities between the two countries ended after a ceasefire was declared through UNSC Resolution 211 following a diplomatic intervention by the Soviet Union and the United States, and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration. Much of the war was fought by the countries' land forces in Kashmir and along the border between India and Pakistan. This war saw the largest amassing of troops in Kashmir since the Partition of India in 1947, a number that was overshadowed only during the 2001–2002 military standoff between India and Pakistan. Most of the battles were fought by opposing infantry and armored units, with substantial backing from air forces, and naval operations.
39th Indian Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II, which became a training division in 1943 after its recovery into India from Burma. The division was re-raised after independence and 39 Mountain Division is presently located in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh under XVI Corps.
The Parachute Regiment is an airborne and special forces regiment of the Indian Army. It was raised in 1945 as part of the British Indian Army but was disbanded after World War II and was re-raised in 1952 as part of the Indian Army. Currently it consists of fifteen Special Forces, two Territorial Army and one Rashtriya Rifles battalions.
Operation Grand Slam was a key military operation of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. It refers to a plan drawn up by the Pakistan Army in May 1965, that consisted of an attack on the vital Akhnoor Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The bridge was not only the lifeline of an entire infantry division of the Indian Army, but could also be used to threaten the city of Jammu, an important logistical point for Indian forces. The operation saw initial success, but was aborted when the Indian Army opened a new front in the Pakistani province of Punjab in order to relieve pressure in Kashmir. This forced Pakistan to abandon Grand Slam and fight in Punjab, thus the operation ended in failure and the stated objectives were not achieved.
Operation Gibraltar was the codename of a military operation planned and executed by the Pakistan Army in the territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India in August 1965. The operation's strategy was to covertly cross the Line of Control (LoC) and incite the Muslim-majority Kashmiri population's uprising against the Indian Government. The military leadership believed that a rebellion by the local Kashmiri population against Indian authorities would serve as Pakistan's casus belli against India on the international stage.
The Battle of Chawinda was a major engagement between Pakistan and India in the Second Kashmir War as part of the Sialkot campaign. It is well known as being one of the largest tank battles in history since the Battle of Kursk, which was fought between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in World War II.
Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), commonly referred to as Para (SF), is a group of special forces battalions of the Parachute Regiment in the Indian Army. These units specialize in various roles including counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, unconventional warfare, special reconnaissance, counter-insurgency and direct action.
Rajouri or Rajauri is a city in the Rajouri district in the Jammu division of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located about 155 kilometres (96 mi) from Srinagar and 150 km (93 mi) from Jammu city on the Poonch Highway. The city is the location of the birthplace of Sikh General Banda Singh Bahadur. Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University is also situated in this district. It is Known as The Land of Kings. The Jarral Rajputs were the Highest Ruling Dynasty of The Rajouri District. They Ruled Rajouri For 657 Years. Raja Nooruddin Khan Established Jarral Dynasty in The Land of Kings.
The 10 RAPID Division was a war formed infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. In four years, the division travelled over 4,000 miles (6,400 km) from Tehran to Trieste, fought three small wars, and fought two great campaigns: the Anglo-Iraqi War, the Invasion of Syria–Lebanon, the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, the North African Campaign, and the Italian Campaign.
Lieutenant General Ranjit Singh Dyal, PVSM, MVC was an Indian Army general and an administrator. As a soldier, Ranjit Singh led the capture of the Haji Pir pass by the Indian army during the 1965 war with Pakistan. He also drew up the plans for Operation Blue Star, and served as the General-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Command. Later, he served as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Lieutenant General Zorawar Chand 'Zoru' Bakshi PVSM, MVC, VrC, VSM was a General Officer of the Indian Army, most widely known as one of the commanders of Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He also has the distinction of being "India's most decorated General".
The Azad Kashmir Regiment is one of six infantry regiments in the Pakistan Army named after Azad Kashmir. It holds the distinction of being the only Battle Born Regiment in South Asia, formed by locals of Azad Kashmir to fight against Dogra Raj and it is the first regiment raised after Pakistan's independence. With the Regimental Centre at Mansar Mansar Camp in Attock District, the Regiment has gallantly participated in all Operations and Wars fought by the Pakistan Army
12th Infantry Division, the largest Pakistani Army infantry division, is currently based in Murree, Punjab close to Azad Kashmir. The Chinar Division's headquarters are located in the Murree Hills Cantonment. The brigades of 12th Division are deployed all across Azad Jammu Kashmir and the Line of Control. With 6 Infantry Brigades, 1 Divisional Artillery brigade and a number of supporting units of Air Defence, Supply, Engineering, Signals and Remount & Veterinary Corps under its command, 12th Infantry division is the largest division of Pakistan Army.
Naik Jadunath Singh Rathore was an Indian soldier who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration, for his actions in an engagement during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948.
Topa is a village in Mendhar Tehsil, Poonch district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the Battle of Topa was fought here by 5 Gorkha Rifles.
Forward Kahuta is a town and the district headquarters of the Haveli District in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. The district was formed in 2009 by separating it from Bagh District. The name "Forward Kahuta" has been used from the 1990s, prior to which the town was known simply as "Kahuta".
Military operations took place in Ladakh in 1948 during the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir between the Indian Army and Pakistani raiders infiltrated to capture the kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir. The eviction of this invading force of tribal raiders, who enjoyed numerical superiority, better lines of communication, commanding high ground and superior logistics, was a major military achievement for the small force of Indian soldiers.
Military operations took place in Poonch district, then part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, in 1948 during the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir between the Indian Army and Pakistani and Azad Kashmir rebel forces. Poonch withstood a siege by these forces from November 1947 until relieved by an Indian offensive, Operation Easy on 20 November 1948. The besieged garrison, commanded by Brig. Pritam Singh, was maintained by air supply. Military operations ended with Poonch town and the eastern part of Poonch district in Indian hands and western part of the Poonch district in Pakistani hands.
Malik Munawar Khan Awan was a Major rank officer in the Pakistan Army, whose career had begun in the British Indian Army and included spells in the Imperial Japanese Army and the revolutionary Indian National Army that fought against the Allies in World War II where he commanded 2nd INA Guerrilla Battalion during famous Battle of Imphal. He received a gallantry award for his work during Operation Gibraltar in 1965.
Ranjit Singh iyal , led his men to victory on Haji Pir Pass
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)