On the eve of Independence from a colonial power, citing irreconcilable religious differences, no less, a sizeable part of what had historically been considered the Indian subcontinent broke away , to create its own destiny, in the modern world. The tragic realization of a casual poetic dream of a recent convert to a new religion, a recreational fantasy flavoured by religious separatism, it inherited all the blood feuds and communal hatred aggravated by the riots and mayhem that followed the schism of the erstwhile British Raj. The Partition ,instead of bringing the two newly independent peoples together as had been hoped by some of its proponents and by others who had no choice left but to go with it, quite inevitably became the deepest scar in the memories of those who lived to witness it. Its dark shadow hangs like a spectre on the subcontinent, scarring relations between the two nations even now.
Since Independence, India and Pakistan have always been having an acrimonious relationship. Four times has the fuse of war blown off between them embroiling them into military feuds . Only one of these wars was a full-scale conflict which, ended decisively in India’s favor. The others however did make up in embitterment for what they lacked in scope.
The Bone of the Contention
Well, reams of paper and barrels of ink have been spent to throw insight on this issue by many .Some blame the possession of Kashmir by India (disputed by Pakistan) as the one seemingly insurmountable barrier to their reconciliation. But with the bogey of partition and a long history of Muslim-Hindu hostility, India and Pakistan would have been rivals in love and war even if Kashmir hadn’t existed. Supposedly liberal thinkers blame the British for fanning religious violence to serve their own ends which led to the partition of the country and all the subsequent trouble, but beyond a few isolated instances where the British purposefully derived benefit by exploiting the Hindu-Muslim divide, there isn’t much evidence to support it. While there wasn’t a
Well, reams of paper and barrels of ink have been spent to throw insight on this issue by many .Some blame the possession of Kashmir by India (disputed by Pakistan) as the one seemingly insurmountable barrier to their reconciliation. But with the bogey of partition and a long history of Muslim-Hindu hostility, India and Pakistan would have been rivals in love and war even if Kashmir hadn’t existed. Supposedly liberal thinkers blame the British for fanning religious violence to serve their own ends which led to the partition of the country and all the subsequent trouble, but beyond a few isolated instances where the British purposefully derived benefit by exploiting the Hindu-Muslim divide, there isn’t much evidence to support it. While there wasn’t a
single opinion which held sway over the entire gamut of the British ruling class in India most, if not all, were in the favor of leaving behind a united country.
The Rival Forces
The British Indian army after Partition was broken up into Indian and Pakistani armies. This left two well trained, well armed professional armies facing each other when days earlier men belonging to both had fought side by side against the Axis forces in World War 2. The Indian army, as is well known, maintained its traditions of keeping away from politics and a firm chain of command with a civilian on the top was built up in India. The Pakistani army on the other hand, given the very weak and corrupt civilian institutions in Pakistan, soon fell pray to the temptation of political power and as early as 1956 General Ayub Khan became the ruler of the country.
The British Indian army after Partition was broken up into Indian and Pakistani armies. This left two well trained, well armed professional armies facing each other when days earlier men belonging to both had fought side by side against the Axis forces in World War 2. The Indian army, as is well known, maintained its traditions of keeping away from politics and a firm chain of command with a civilian on the top was built up in India. The Pakistani army on the other hand, given the very weak and corrupt civilian institutions in Pakistan, soon fell pray to the temptation of political power and as early as 1956 General Ayub Khan became the ruler of the country.
A walk through the Battlefields
1947 Kashmir Conflict: The first war between the two countries was fought when Pathan tribesmen aided by Pakistan army regulars invaded Kashmir when the Hindu ruler of a majority Muslim state dilly-dallied when asked by Jinnah to accede to Pakistan. The ruler, Raja Hari Singh panicked and signed the document of accession to India allowing India to send its troops to repel the invaders. Providence came to the aid of the defense of Kashmir by Indian troops as instead of marching onto Srinagar the tribesmen engaged in pillaging
and rape in the border towns they had captured, allowing Indian troops to bring in reinforcements and strengthen defenses around Srinagar. When the dust settled Indian troops occupied 2/3 of the state and were on the offensive in all sectors. Nehru however, as advised by Lord Mountbatten, intervened and thought that the UNO would be the best place to resolve the conflict and the price of his gross myopia and unrealistic idealism is still being paid till date
and rape in the border towns they had captured, allowing Indian troops to bring in reinforcements and strengthen defenses around Srinagar. When the dust settled Indian troops occupied 2/3 of the state and were on the offensive in all sectors. Nehru however, as advised by Lord Mountbatten, intervened and thought that the UNO would be the best place to resolve the conflict and the price of his gross myopia and unrealistic idealism is still being paid till date
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1965 Indo-Pak War: The war started when Pakistan, miffed by a recent declaration in the Indian parliament making Kashmir an integral part of India ,sent in paratroopers to rouse the population of Kashmir against Indian rule. Needless to say the all the paratroopers who landed in India were caught very easily and handed to the Indian army with the population of Kashmir helping in their capture. India then went on the offensive and captured some key posts in Kashmir near Haji Pir pass but it had seriously miscalculated the next Pakistani move.
1965 Indo-Pak War: The war started when Pakistan, miffed by a recent declaration in the Indian parliament making Kashmir an integral part of India ,sent in paratroopers to rouse the population of Kashmir against Indian rule. Needless to say the all the paratroopers who landed in India were caught very easily and handed to the Indian army with the population of Kashmir helping in their capture. India then went on the offensive and captured some key posts in Kashmir near Haji Pir pass but it had seriously miscalculated the next Pakistani move.
The only road linking India to Kashmir at the time passed very near to the Pakistani border at a town in Jammu called Akhnur. Pakistan launched a strong armored attack at exactly this place aiming to cut-off Indian
forces in Kashmir from the rest of India. Indian defenses near Akhnur were weak and in no position to hold off such a devastating attack and they rapidly fell back. Two things then stopped Pakistan from completing its objective which would have been disastrous for India. The Indian forces in order to decrease the pressure on their troops in Kashmir launched an attack in Punjab aiming to capture Lahore. This resulted in Pakistan moving some of its troop concentrations from Kashmir to defend the city of Lahore. Another thing which came to India’s rescue at Akhnoor was an inexplicable change of command of the Pakistani forces in Akhnur in the heat of the battle which delayed their offensive by 48 hours giving India vital time to beef up its defenses there. The war effectively ended in a stalemate with India on a higher plane having defied Pakistan’s objective to snatch Kashmir by waging war.
forces in Kashmir from the rest of India. Indian defenses near Akhnur were weak and in no position to hold off such a devastating attack and they rapidly fell back. Two things then stopped Pakistan from completing its objective which would have been disastrous for India. The Indian forces in order to decrease the pressure on their troops in Kashmir launched an attack in Punjab aiming to capture Lahore. This resulted in Pakistan moving some of its troop concentrations from Kashmir to defend the city of Lahore. Another thing which came to India’s rescue at Akhnoor was an inexplicable change of command of the Pakistani forces in Akhnur in the heat of the battle which delayed their offensive by 48 hours giving India vital time to beef up its defenses there. The war effectively ended in a stalemate with India on a higher plane having defied Pakistan’s objective to snatch Kashmir by waging war.
1971 Indo Pak War: The war began with Pakistan air force launching a preemptive strike against Indian air fields to knock out the Indian Air Force early in the battle. This objective wasn’t achieved because the Indians had prior intelligence of this raid and had dispersed their aircraft. In the West, Pakistan’s offensives at Longewala and Basantar were beaten back with the Pakistan army suffering heavily in men and equipment.
Even their offensive near Akhnur wasn’t successful because the Indian army having learnt from its mistakes had taken care to fortify that area. But in the east it was all over within days. The Indian army carried out a classic Blitzkrieg maneuver to strike at the heart of East Pakistan and managed to capture Dhaka in near about 2 weeks. India captured over 90,000 Pakistani troops which is a stupendous figure by any standards. The humiliating defeat in this war had an enormous amount of effect on the psyche of the Pakistani army. The ease of the Indian victory drove home the point that India was too strong militarily for Pakistan to take on. Never again in the future would they start a war with India relying instead on their penchant for irregular troops engaging in asymmetrical warfare.
1999 Kargil Conflict: Pakistani army learning a lesson from India’s occupation of the Siachen glacier in 1984, sent in irregulars supported by its own troops to occupy very high altitude Indian posts in an extended area along the Line of Control near the town of Kargil in Ladakh. They were able to do this because Indians routinely descended from the higher altitude posts in winter occupying them again in the summers. The Indian army, in trying to clear their land faced heavy reverses in the early battles demonstrating the extent of fortification achieved by the infiltrators. They then brought in long range artillery and air support with the help of which they slowly but surely started dislodging the entrenched Pakistani troops.
The Uncertain Future
An analysis of the wars shows that except in the case of the 1971 war which was indeed provoked by India, Pakistan has always been the instigator. The Pakistani attacks were always planned well at a tactical level, surprising the Indians and making initial progress but they have always failed to take into account the complete geo-physical ramifications of their doings as well as failing to ensure that their actions are strategically sound. The Indian army on the other hand took the initiative in 1971 and planned and executed a victory Manstein would have been proud of, but in the after war Shimla agreement, failed to press home their advantage. In 1947 and 1965 we fought well at a tactical level but india too lacked good strategic planning combined with a lack of political will, to ensure complete annihilation of their antagonist. Now with India and Pakistan going nuclear, total war has been effectively banished from the Indian sub-continent as long as complete lunatics don’t take over control in any of the countries. The future is expected to throw up only asymmetrical warfare scenarios a la Pakistan’s proxy war in Punjab and Kashmir.