Maj Gen. Raj Mehta (retd)

The early morning call on September 30, 2022 came from Baramula, Kashmir. The caller was a local and the subject was Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan. “Jenaab, jo insaan apne buzurg walid ki beinteha izzat karta hai woh Inshaallah fauji zimmewarian muqammal karega. Jab aap unse mukhatib hue toh unhen hamari duayen pahunchayen” (An officer who can care for his aged soldier father can perform any task allotted to him. Do convey our best wishes to him).

The caller was referring to General Chauhan aiding his aged father at the national war memorial at India Gate before assuming office as the new CDS. Though General Chauhan commanded the Baramula-headquartered 19 (Dagger) Division back in 2015-2016, the awaam still cherishes the memories. The residents of the ancient frontier town on the Muzaffarabad-Uri-Baramula-Srinagar highway also remember the charismatic first Indian GOC, Maj Gen. (later Army Chief) K S Thimayya. The General saved Kashmir for India in 1947-1948 along with the fledgling yet brilliantly led Indian Air Force.

He was ably supported by Air Commodore ‘Baba’ Mehar Singh and Air Vice Marshal (later IAF Chief) Subroto Mukherjee. The Indian Air Force at that time had only three DC-3 Dakotas so it pressed into service 12 war-surplus DC-3s with India’s private airlines. Sqn Ldr K L Bhatia and Lt Col Dewan Ranjit Rai, the commanding officer 1 Sikh, decided to land troops on the dusty, unpaved airstrip in Srinagar on the morning of October 27, 1947. Lt Col Rai wasted no time in rushing to Baramula, halting the Kabaili advance the next evening. But this came at the cost of the lives of Lt Col Rai and 17 soldiers. The delay in the Kabaili advance gave the IAF time to ferry more troops and weapons. The Army-IAF synergy created by the Air HQ and HQ Delhi and East Pakistan Command (today’s Western Command) saved Kashmir for India.

We can sometimes be unreasonabl