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Great General Lt. Gen. Harbakhsh Singh

Dalvinder Singh Grewal

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Jan 3, 2010
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Great General Lt. Gen. Harbakhsh Singh
Who, in 1965 war, refused to hand over Areas of Punjab beyond Beas to Pakistan
Dr. Dalvinder Singh Grewal
I had the opportunity to fight the wars of 1965 and 1971, as well as to meet the great generals who were instrumental in winning these wars. One of these special generals was Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh. He was tall, strong, smart, and charismatic. In the 1965 war, he was the General Officer Commanding of the Western Command of the Army, and his territory covered an area opposite almost the entire West Pakistan.

Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh
Lieutenant General Harbakhsh Singh was known as a soldier’s general because on the one hand, he fought in front of the soldiers and on the other hand, he instilled so much enthusiasm in the soldiers that victory was assured even during the most difficult situations. He was a battle-hardened General. He fought in the North-West Frontier Province; was seriously wounded while fighting the Japanese in Malaya during World War II; fought the Battle of Sheltang, and in 1947 saved Srinagar from Pakistani invaders and recaptured Tithwal from the Pakistani army.
During the war with China in 1962, when Lieutenant General BM Kaul fell ill and the jawans became disillusioned after the initial defeat, General Harbakhsh Singh was sent to Tezpur to take charge of the 4 Corps. General Harbakhsh restored confidence in the defeated soldiers and commanders and began to boost their morale. As General Kaul returned and took over 4 Corps, General Harbakhsh Singh was appointed Corps Commander of 33 Corps. From there he was promoted to the rank of Army Commander of the Western Command.
You must have seen the photo of General Harbakhsh Singh in the popular Uri sector in Kashmir. At that time, the whole of Jammu and Kashmir was under Western command. The Northern Command was later formed from the area of Western Command. The forces under General Harbakhsh Singh surrounded all the guerrilla forces of the Pakistan Gibraltar Force with the help of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and stopped Pakistan's Operation Grand Slam in the Chhamb-Akhnoor sector. Within hours of the tripartite attack across the international border, an Indian division was knocking on the gates of Lahore, about which Shastri Ji had said: “We will walk over to Lahore”.
The most important aspect of this war was that when the division of Pakistani Patton tanks started advancing towards the Khemkaran area, there was a danger that the Indian Centurion tanks would not be able to face them and the battle would be lost. In view of this fear, Army Chief General JN Chaudhary ordered General Harbakhsh Singh to withdraw his troops behind the line of Beas River. This meant that areas like Khemkaran, Tarn Taran, Goindwal, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur were to be ceded to Pakistan without a fight.
In his book 'In the Line of Duty: A Soldier Remembers’ General Harbakhsh Singh writes: 'Late on the night of September 9, the Chief of Army Staff called me ... ‘To save the whole army from the division, I must move my army back to the Beas river line’. Moving back from Beas would mean sacrificing key areas of Punjab, including Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts, which would be far worse than the 1962 defeat at the hands of China. '
This was also confirmed by Capt. Amarinder Singh, who was the ADC of General Harbakhsh Singh at the time and who had received a call from the Army Chief. Capt Amarinder Singh writes: "At 2.30 am, Army Chief General JN Chaudhary called the General and spoke. ‘Move back 11 corpse from Beas line.” General Harbakhsh Singh refused to implement the order. “
Refusing to obey the verbal orders of his army chief is considered a heinous crime but General Harbakhsh Singh preferred his country before himself. The result was in India's favor. The result was in India's favor. In the battle of ‘Asal Uttar’, the famous M-47 Patton tanks of the Pakistan Armoured Division, were annihilated by a single Indian regiment of Centurion tanks aided by a handful of infantry. A tank cemetery of American Patton can still be seen in the Khemkaran sector.
Writing about the 1965 war, Major General DK Palit confirmed that” “In fact, such an order was issued by the Army Chief, but "Harbakhsh was stubborn and refused to comply." He told Chaudhry that he would not accept a verbal order on such an important issue. No written order from the Army Chief ever came since by the time it could reach he had already won the field. It was one of the great strategic victories of the war when the Centurions and 106 mm cannons led by Harbakhsh wreaked havoc with Pakistani Patton tanks in this battle of Khemkaran. '

Well-known defense analyst and columnist Inder Malhotra wrote that General Chaudhry "panicked and ordered Harbakhsh to withdraw his troops behind Beas, and Harbakhsh Singh refused."
Thus remaining steadfast in the face of adversity, showing exceptional leadership and battle skills General Harbakhsh Singh defeat a much stronger force at a critical juncture and saved Punjab north of Beas from going to Pakistan. He was a true national hero and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the President among many other awards already showered on him.
 

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