THE GARUD STRIKES

by Mukul Deva

  THE GARUD STRIKES

  An alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow, the National Defence Academy, Pune, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Mukul Deva was commissioned in December 1981, into the Sikh Light Infantry of the Indian Army. He took early retirement from the Army after fifteen years of service, including a decade of combat operations in India and overseas. Now settled in Singapore and widely acknowledged as the ‘Change Maker’, Deva is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker and an executive, business and creativity coach. He has also served as a mentor with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Afghanistan Fellowship.

  Other books written by Mukul Deva:

  Time After Time … It All Happened, (Minerva, 2000)

  M.O.D.E.L.: The Return of the Employee, (Sage, 2006)

  Lashkar, (HarperCollins India, 2008)

  Salim Must Die, (HarperCollins India, 2009)

  Blowback, (HarperCollins India, 2010)

  Tanzeem, (HarperCollins India, 2011)

  The Dust Will Never Settle (HarperCollins India, 2012)

  S.T.R.I.P.T.E.A.S.E: The Art of Corporate Warfare, (Marshall Cavendish, 2012)

  R.I.P. (Westland Ltd, 2012)

  F.C.U.K. Your Way To Success (Westland Ltd & Marshall Cavendish, 2013)

  Weapon Of Vengeance (Macmillan, USA, 2014)

  And Death Came Calling (HarperCollins India, 2014)

  For more about the author, please visit his website www.mukuldeva.com

  ‘The God of all things… it is tough describing Mukul Deva.’

  - Business World

  ‘Deva has a Nostradamus touch.’

  - The Statesman

  ‘India’s literary storm trooper.’

  - Business Standard

  ‘You can smell the gunpowder. Such is the power of the words of Mukul Deva… India’s first military action thriller writer.’

  - The Hindu

  ‘Here comes India’s Clancy or Ludlum or Forsyth.’

  - Outlook

  ‘Mukul Deva wears the crown of India’s premier military thriller writer with great skill and panache.’

  - www.indepepal.com

  ‘India finally has a writer of international caliber in the genre of military fiction.’

  - First City

  ‘Deva is a quintessential literary storm trooper… his books are fast-paced thrillers that have broken new ground.’

  -Yuva

  westland ltd

  61, Silverline Building, 2nd Floor, Alapakkam Main Road, Maduravoyal, Chennai 600 095

  No. 38/10 (New No.5), Raghava Nagar, New Timber Yard Layout, Bengaluru 560 026

  93, 1st Floor, Sham Lal Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110002

  First published in India by westland ltd, 2014

  Copyright © Mukul Deva 2014

  Mukul Deva asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  All rights reserved

  First ebook edition: 2014

  ISBN: 978-93-84030-54-4

  Typeset by PrePSol Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.

  Printed at Thomson Press (India) Ltd.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, circulated, and no reproduction in any form, in whole or in part (except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews) may be made without written permission of the publishers.

  DEDICATION

  This book is a testimonial of Mrs Jane Himmeth Singh’s dedication to her late husband, Lieutnant General Himmeth Singh PVSM.

  And to the valiant officers and men of 4 Guards (1 Rajput).

  To acknowledge the debt of honour that India owes to

  these brave men and their families, the proceeds of this book

  will be used for the welfare of these veterans, war widows and

  their children

  Contents

  Foreword

  Acknowledgement

  Author’s Note

  Preface

  Meeting The Garud

  How It All Began

  The Race For Dacca

  Tally Ho

  Day One

  Day Two

  Day Three

  Day Four

  Day Five

  Day Six

  Day Seven

  Day Eight

  Day Nine

  Day Ten

  Day Eleven

  Day Twelve

  Day Thirteen

  Day Fourteen

  Day Fifteen

  Day Sixteen

  Death of A War & Birth of A Nation

  The Homecoming

  Back To The Present

  Map (The map visually encapsulates the entire operation)

  FOREWORD

  Major Mukul Deva has written this book in the style of a raconteur talking in a fireside manner. Mrs.Jane Himmeth Singh, the widow of Lt.Gen. Himmeth Singh has been of great help to the author providing resources and encouragement for writing this book. The author discussed the operations of 4 GUARDS erstwhile I RAJPUT in the Bangladesh war of 1971, four decades earlier with its surviving officers who had taken part in that war. They recalled their own experience in that war and acts of gallantry and supreme sacrifice made by their comrades in that lightening war. They also recalled various personal and humorous incidents which showed the bonhomie and team spirit among the officers of the battalion. This must have been forged and promoted by their then Commanding Officer, Lt.Col.Himmeth Singh. Such camaraderie among Officers in a unit can be a battle winning factor. The author got a lot of material from a CD among the papers of late Colonel Pyara Lal recording the interview he had with Himmeth Singh soon after that war. With all this material he has put together a day by day account of the battalion’s operations starting from Agartala across a most difficult riverine terrain and reaching the outskirts of Dhaka. The battalion led the advance of 4 Corps which culminated in the improvised heliborne operation across the formidable Meghna River to Dhaka. This hastened the surrender of 92,000 Pakistani soldiers at Dhaka and the birth of a new Nation. The gripping account of these operations brings to life the horrors of war and how surmounting all odds, the Indian Army won a most decisive victory in the country's history of thousands of years. Despite being flush with modern weapons holding various well prepared strong points on the border, the Pakistan Army was trounced and lost the will to fight.

  The day by day account graphically brings out the gripping record of the battalion in that war. Starting with millions of refugees pouring into India with horrible stories of atrocities and genocide. 4 GUARDS was involved in that war from Day One when 4 GUARDS took part in the battle against Pakistan's heavily defended position at Akhaura to the end of that war. This book provides a good and detailed insight to the India's major thrust from Agartala to Dhaka. Throughout these operations Himmeth Singh led his battalion from the front, proving to be an excellent battlefield commander. I had the privilege of knowing Himmeth for many years serving at different places. He was a few years junior to me. I remember him when he was a young officer doing the Junior Commander's tactical course at the Infantry School Mhow now called War College. Later he did the staff course at Defence Services Staff College at Wellington. I was an instructor at both these institutions and he was with me in my syndicate. He was the best student at these courses befitting his earlier record of having won the Sword of Honour at the Indian Military Academy. He combined professional excellence with all the qualities of an officer and a gentleman. In 1982, Himmeth was the Corps Commander at Bhatinda when I was the Western Army Commander. I can vouch for the contribution made by him in the training and preparation for war of his Corps under his leadership. I took premature retirement from the Army in 1983. A few years later Himmeth was ap
pointed Commandant of the prestigious National Defence College. I had just returned from being Ambassador in Kathmandu and Himmeth invited me to address the college on Indo Nepal relations. I found him very popular and much respected by students of that College. That was my last interaction with him. After reading this book my esteem for him has gone higher for his achievement in command of 4 GUARD in battle. His battalion was rightly chosen to provide a guard of honour for the then Eastern Army Commander, Lt.Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora, on his arrival at Dhaka for taking the surrender of Pakistani Commander in East Pakistan (Bangladesh). It was also in the fitness of things that he should be commanding the Parade at Dhaka at which the President of newly liberated Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman took the salute. These recognitions and the gallantry awards given to the personnel of the Battalion were in the fitness of things. However I feel that giving its Commanding Officer, Lt.Col. Himmeth Singh only a Mention in Dispatches was an inadequate recognition of his outstanding record in that war.

  This book also highlights the plight of the war widows of the Battalion. The nation owes a debt to these widows who suffered the trauma of losing their husbands who sacrificed their lives for the Nation. During this war I was the Deputy Adjutant General at Army Headquarters on the staff of the then Army Chief, General S. H. F. J. Manekshaw dealing with man power planning for war and other personnel matters including pension for war widows. We worked out a generous scheme for war widows and war orphans of the Army. Apart from lump sum grants the widows became entitled to the full pay of their martyred husband till the latter's deemed date of retirement and full pension for the rest of their lives. A special provision was also made that the children of the soldiers killed in the war will be entitled to free education at any school including free boarding, school uniform and textbooks. When I briefed the three Chiefs of Staff regarding the new pension code, Gen.Manekshaw cracked a joke saying that at this rate Army wives will be happy to have their husbands dead rather than alive. Besides pension, State Government chipped in to provide other concessions like petrol pumps and gas agencies for widows and also monetary grants. I am mentioning this because there is a reference in this book to some widows of the battalion in a difficult pecuniary condition.

  This book is a captivating record of success by a battalion under good leadership in war. It is inspirational for young Army Officers and it affords a good glimpse of the achievements of a successful battalion in war.

  New Delhi,      Lt. Gen. (Retd) S.K.Sinha, PVSM

  15th June 2014    (Former Governor of Assam and J & K)

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  It would have been impossible to complete this book without the unstinted help and support of Mrs Jane Himmeth Singh, who not only provided the resources and material but also constant encouragement. The manner in which she so diligently gathered and safeguarded all the materials and photographs used here amply highlight that this book is a labour of love, and her way of acknowledging her husband.

  My special thanks also to the following:

  Major Chandrakant, whose amazing, almost photographic, memory was able to provide minute details of the battalion’s action. His insights as the then acting second-in-command were especially invaluable. He was remarkably diligent in locating and recording interviews of veterans and widows of the martyrs. In several places he even carried out interviews on my behalf, and so I ended up seeing the war and the people through his eyes.

  Ms Bhawna Adhikari, wife of Colonel Rajesh Adhikari, of 4 Guards, who was not only a great source of encouragement but also an active participant in this project. She even made the trip to Bangladesh with Mrs Himmeth and Major Chandrakant and travelled the route that the battalion had taken during the war of liberation.

  The veterans of 4 Guards (1 Rajput) who helped me restructure the confusing mass of information in the two years that it took to put this book together. I would like to especially commend the war widows, who took out the time and made the effort to travel long distances at such short notices to provide forgotten details that enrich this book.

  Though I never had the pleasure of meeting him, Late Colonel Pyarelal, the Secretary of USI (United Service Institution of India), Delhi, also deserves a special mention. The recordings he had made of his conversations with General Himmeth Singh provided invaluable insights into the thoughts, considerations and fears that occupied Himmeth’s mind during those tumultuous days when he led his men through the 1971 Indo-Pak war. They helped to generate a more complete and clearer picture of this enigmatic man. This wealth of information was very nearly lost. In fact, it only saw the light of day when the ever-perseverant Major Chandrakant went looking for them after the demise of Colonel Pyarelal. He found them in an old, abandoned briefcase. These recordings, which Himmeth’s son, Mrityunja, later painstakingly transcribed, provided not just a detailed account of the strike of the Garud across Bangladesh, but also a bird’s eye view of Himmeth’s own thoughts and feelings.

  Lieutenant General Shamsher Mehta (Retd.) for the war photos that he had, and those he obtained from the ever-obliging Mr Jayant Ulal, war correspondent of Stern magazine, Germany. Meeting the General, who, despite the passage of years, has lost none of the elan and josh that makes an Indian Army officer stand apart, was inspiring, to say the least.

  Major Rajendra Mohan for introducing us to his Bangladeshi friends, like Mr Amin Bhai, who not only organized our trip to Bangladesh, but also provided constant support.

  Major General J.P. Singh of the 31 Armoured Division, Brigadiers Bhanot and P. K. Singh of the Rajput Regimental Centre, and Honorary Captain Patiram Pal of 4 Guards for helping us gather the war veterans and widows, and interviewing them.

  Major General Ravi Nair, Military Attache at the Indian High Commission in Dacca, who organized an evening at his home for us to meet the Bangladeshi citizens who had been victimised during the war.

  Last, but not the least, to Gautam Padmanabhan, Vipin Vijay, Karthik Venkatesh, Shatrughan Pandey and Rahul Tanwar at Westland India for making this book possible.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  This book is not the story of the 1971 Indo-Pak War — of who won or who lost. It is the story of a few good men. The men of the 4th battalion of The Brigade of Guards, which was originally raised as the 2/15 BNI (Bengal Native Infantry) on 15 September 1798 at Sasaram, Bihar, and then re-designated on 26 January 1950 by General K.M. Cariappa, the then Commander–in-Chief of the Indian Army, as 4 Guards (1 Rajput).

  These were not extraordinary men; they were simple, ordinary men like you and me. Men who laugh when happy, cry when sad, and bleed when hurt. But, like soldiers the world over, more often than not, their cries go unheard. These were and are men with families, which wait for them when they leave home for distant frontiers. And very often, wait in vain.

  These were men who, when caught up in extraordinary circumstances, displayed exemplary courage and unfaltering devotion to duty. When the push came to a shove, they unfailingly rose to the occasion, with complete disregard for life and limb. That is what made them extraordinary, and inspired me to tell this tale.

  It is hard for someone who has not been in battle, who has not seen blood and mangled bones, who has not been assaulted by the stench of death, who has not had a comrade die in their arms, to understand what wars can do to a man. Hence this book — to let you know what these brave men endure … for you … so that the nation stays secure.

  While narrating this story, I have at all times maintained factual accuracy, and have not taken any artistic liberties. However, since I was not present at the actual scene, and four decades have gone by, at times reality may have been clouded in the fog of battle, and in the fading memories of those who narrated these stories to me.

  The Garud Strikes is my humble tribute to the forgotten brave hearts of 4 Guards (1 Rajput). To dwell on the lives of those who were martyred and those (parents, widows and orphans) they left behind; whose pain and loss is often not recognized. I would like them to know that t
hey are alive in our hearts, that their sacrifice matters, and that the nation cares. And to remind India that it needs to care.

  This book is also my humble tribute to the Indian Army, the organization that nurtured me and reinforced the values that my mother had bred in me. That gave me the discipline, focus and adaptability one needs to succeed. That taught me to keep going, no matter how adverse the situation, or how grim the odds. That conditioned me to make success a habit.

  I must also stress that neither have any classified or official records been used in the writing of this book, nor have any serving officers, JCOs (Junior Commissioned Officers) or ORs (Other Ranks) been interviewed. I have relied solely on material available in the public domain (the Internet, books, newspaper and magazine articles), and the interviews of the veterans who took part in this campaign, their widows and orphans.

  I have tried to use only those stories that have been verified by at least two independent sources, and have used the best known and most clearly remembered facts.

  Despite that, or perhaps because of that, there may be instances and incidents where the purist military historian may take issue or find fault with. To my mind, that is okay, since my endeavour is not to delve into strategy, tactics, who was right and who was wrong, but merely to tell the story of a battalion of men at war. A war that none of them wanted. A war thrust upon India by our ever-so-friendly (and oh-so-shortsighted) neighbour to the northwest. A war fought for the sake of yet another neighbour in distress. None of these brave hearts of the Indian Armed Forces were there of their own free will or for personal fame or glory. Many of them did not come back. Many came back, but maimed or with a limb missing. All of them returned with emotional baggage and trauma that they carry to this day, though most would deny that vociferously. I could sense this deep-seated turmoil and see the scars as they narrated their stories. Not many had healed. It took just a few questions for the scab of time to be torn away and the pain to erupt.