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| The Indo-Pak War 1965: Indian Attack Initiatives |
The War of Rann of
Kutch
Skirmishes at the Rann of Kutch flared up almost accidentally in
the spring of 1965, and India and Pakistan found themselves drawn into the first
of their two undeclared wars.
The dispute goes back to the days of the British rule in India. The Rann was the bone of contention between the princely state Kutch and British Indian province of Sind.
When British India was partitioned, the issue was inherited by India, to whom Kutch acceded, and Pakistan, whom Sind joined, involving some 3,500 miles of territory leading to frequent border incidents, from January 1965 onwards.
By all accounts the Indian forces were badly mashed in the Kutch area by the Pakistan army.
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Pakistani Heroes infront of the captured Fort of Rann of Kutch |
It was at the Common Wealth conference
at Britain, that the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson successfully persuaded
both India and Pakistan to sign an agreement on June 30 to resolve the dispute.
Failing to do so bilaterally, a tribunal was set up which announced its verdict
on February 19,1965 by giving 350 sq. miles in Northern part to Pakistan and the
rest of Rann area to India.
The War in Kashmir The application of articles 356 and
357 of the Indian constitution to the Kashmir state, which enabled the President
of India to establish President rule in Kashmir and legislate there, were
efforts to amalgamate Kashmir completely into the Indian union. But he was arrested and the Kashmir
legislative assembly adopted the constitutional amendments bill on March 30,
providing:
a) the Sardar-i-Riyasat would
henceforth be known as Governor and would be appointed by President of India
instead of being elected by the local assembly.
b) the Prime Minister would be styled
as Chief Minister, as in the states of the Indian union.
The Kashmiri people called for an all
out war against the Indian imperialism and claimed to establish a National
Government of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Having spill-over effect, the
Azad Kashmir become increasingly restive. The Indian army made a series of new
moves across the cease-fire line with her regular armed forces.
Events in
Kashmir were also moving towards a climax. The Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur
Shastri added more fuel to the fire by taking steps to absorb Kashmir further
into the body politic of India and said Kashmir problem occupied a secondary
place to successful relations between India and Pakistan.
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Indian tanks captured during the battle of Chawinda |
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| Indian tanks left abandoned after they retreated beaten badly in Chawinda Sector |
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An indian post office which the indian army abandoned in Chamb-Jauriyaan |
The Lahore Offensive
At 3:00
a.m. on September 6, without a formal declaration of war, Indians crossed the
international border of West Pakistan and launched a three-pronged offensive
against Lahore, Sialkot and Rajasthan. There was a fierce tank battle on the
plains of Punjab. The domestic Indo-Pak conflict transformed into an
international conflict and raised super power concerns.
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Headlines on an International news paper |
The U.S. suspended military supplies
to both sides during the Indo-Pak war. Both the Soviet Union and the United
States took a united stand to curtail the conflict within the boundaries of
Indo-Pakistan from escalating into a global conflict. China had threatened to
intervene and offered military support on behalf of Pakistan Beacause India was
the offender and Pakistan, the Defender. It was the fear of India being crashed
by Pakistan and also the chance of china also getting in the War that both the
Soviet Union and the United States pressured the UN to arrange for an immediate
ceasefire, to keep China away from this conflict. In there opinion if China also
attacked, India would be History.
The main diplomatic effort to stop the
fighting was conducted under the United Nations auspices and a cease-fire came
into effect on September 23, 1965.
The Soviet Union which remained
neutral when India and Pakistan went to war in September 1965, played the broker
afterward at Tashkent.
A Soviet Government communiqu�,
formally announced on December 8 that the Indian Prime Minister Shastri and the
Pakistani President Ayub would meet at Tashkent on January 4, 1966.
The Tashkent conference lasted from
January 4 to January 10. The Soviet Premier Kosygin earned the praise as a peace
maker. The main achievement of the conference was to withdraw, not later than
February 25, 1966, all armed personal to the position held before August 5,
1964. The world saw that how an Army, Half
the size of the offender, gave a greater-in-size army a Memorable Thrashing and
the so called Bharati Forces were screwed off. The Indian General who quoted
"I WILL HAVE TWO PEGs OF SCOTCH
WHISKY TODAY AT 6-PM AT LAHORE GYMKHANA CLUB" while Indian Army attacked Pakistan, was shown by the
Pakistan Military that No bloody Indian Soldier can even touch our Motherland.
Even his generation will get a nightmare of this defeat.
