'Saving Srinagar': The gallant Indian Brigadier and Lt Col who thwarted the invasion of J&K

Around 500 lightly-armed Indian soldiers were all that stood between Srinagar and the Pashtun lashkars, backed by the Pakistani Army with men and material, as they closed in on Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital on October 27, 1947. However, their courageous commander's decisive action stopped the invaders dead in their tracks.  

Lt Col Dewan Ranjit Rai, 34, a graduate of the Indian Military Academy's first course -- along with future Field Marshal S.H.F.J. 'Sam' Manekshaw, became the first officer to lead his men into conflict in free India as he held fast on the road to Srinagar, saving the city, and buying time for the build-up of further Indian forces. But, his heroism came at a cost.

He would join the state forces' Chief of Staff, Brig Rajinder Singh Jamwal, intrepid paratrooper, Brigadier Mohammad Usman, and many other gallants who ensured, with their lives, that Jammu and Kashmir stayed Indian.

Jammu and Kashmir tumbled into turmoil following the tribal invasion on October 22, amid vacillation by Maharaja Hari Singh who wanted independence. He finally signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, paving the way for India to help, but amid the Partition-related violence, it had only a small number of troops to spare from internal security.

Lt Col Rai, commander of 1 Sikh, the Sikh Regiment's first battalion, then deployed across the Gurgaon district, was ordered to reach Safdarjung airport in Delhi the next morning (October 27) with whatever troops he could muster, land in Srinagar, and secure its airfield. His headquarters and two companies were flown to Kashmir on 30 civilian-piloted Dakotas, with future Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik flying one.

Only told that there were thousands of tribals and he could abort the mission and return to Jammu if he deemed the enemy was close, he landed at Budgam airstrip with one company at around 9 a.m. on October 27 and by mid-day, his HQ and most of the battalion were in place.

However, Lt Col Rai did not stay at the airstrip but held a flag march through Srinagar and then led his men towards Baramulla, to set up a defensive line at Pattan. However, he encountered a well-armed and bigger enemy force, and despite beating back a number of attacks, his men had to withdraw to stop getting out-flanked.

It was amid this that Lt Col Rai was shot dead by a sniper.

The force fell back to the airstrip where his second-in-command, Major Sampuran Bachan Singh reformed them and advanced again to Pattan and assumed a defensive position. However, no further attack came as the 'spooked' enemy did not venture forward again.

On Lt Col Rai, Lt Gen L. P. Sen, who soon reached the Valley to command the 161 Brigade, held that on the whole, his actions were "bold, but certainly, not foolhardy."

"If, it was said by some at that time, he strayed from the orders given to him, it was extremely fortunate he did so, although it cost him his life. He deserves full credit for having had the initiative and the courage to do what he did. It was a sound move by a gallant soldier," he said in his memoirs.

While the day (October 27) the Indian soldiers landed in Kashmir and went into action is celebrated by the Army as "Infantry Day", Lt Col Rai became the first recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), with his citation reading that how on landing, he "appreciated that it was imperative to hold and oppose the raiders as far away as possible from the vital city of Srinagar and its adjacent airfield."

"As very little time was at his disposal, he personally conducted reconnaissance and operations at such personal risk that he was eventually killed. By his complete disregard of personal danger and his determined and inspired leadership, the raiders were stopped sufficiently far away to enable a build-up for the eventual decisive defeat," it read, adding that Lt Col Rai "gave his life in a successful endeavour to save Srinagar."

However, this was only made possible by the actions of Brig Jamwal, who was ordered by the Maharaja to "save the state till the last man and the last bullet", took on the invaders at Uri on October 23 with a small force, and disrupted their advance.

Though forced to withdraw, his force first destroyed the Uri bridge, and for the next three days, fought several rearguard actions along the Jhelum Valley Road, stopping the invaders from marching into an unprotected Srinagar. Severely injured near Baramulla on October 26, the Brigadier asked his men to leave him under a culvert and go. That was the last he was seen.

India also honoured him with an MVC.