Page 8 - Seniors Today - Vol1 Issue 3

Cover Story
The Zoji-La Breakthrough
The month of September marks the movements that led to the Zoji-La Breakthrough
and the Defence of Ladakh in 1948. The first war article by India’s first war
correspondent, the late Sati Sahni, tells the story
JAMMU & KASHMIR
1947-48
It is rarely given to individuals to be an eye-
witness over a tumultuous period in the
history of a region’s people. If the person has
had the good fortune of being present or has
participated in most of the events, he should
not only take pride but at some stage or other,
depending on circumstances, decide to share
them with others. I had the rare opportunity
and a privilege given to very few, to have
been a witness to all the four major wars
of independent India as an accredited war
correspondent.
Reporting from the front is a specialised
kind of job. Firstly you are to co-relate a
particular incident or a battle in a correct
perspective. Then there are constraints of
opportunity, intensity of battle, difficult means
of communication, time, space etc. In this
situation, most of the time one has to exercise
his/her judgment in leaving out matters from
reporting which over a period seem to have their
own importance.
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The background
The indecision by Maharaja Hari Singh, ruler
of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, on the issue
of aligning with India was mainly due to the
pending lapse of the British Paramountcy. The
decision to partition India led to the collapse
of this important administrative instrument.
The division of forces was to be on the basis of
the formula of 2/3 (India) : 1/3 (Pakistan). The
Indian Independence Act 1947 had provided
that a state could conclude a “standstill
agreement” with either of the dominions or
both. Accordingly the Prime Minister of Jammu
& Kashmir at that time, MC Mahajan, had
telegraphed Karachi and New Delhi requesting
for continuance of existing arrangements under
this agreement. The Pakistan government
agreed telegraphically to the standstill
agreement with J&K, but it had other plans.
It must be remembered that the main road to
the Kashmir valley was through now what is
Pakistan.
Soon after Pakistan came into existence it
formulated plans to force the Maharaja to