He won the first PVC
Fauji beat
By Pritam Bhullar

YOU cannot think of the 1947 war without recalling the supreme sacrifice of Major Somnath Sharma of 4 Kumaon, who won the country’s first highest gallantry award — the Param Vir Chakra (posthumously) — on November 3, 1947.

Though the Indian troops began to land at the Srinagar airfield on October 27, 1947, threat to the airfield, which was the only link with their bases, continued to mount for the first 10 days. This was because of the tribals being in a much larger number than our troops. All our efforts were, therefore, geared towards saving the airfield at any cost.

The enemy was advancing along a ridge which drops into the valley. By entering the valley, the enemy could bring mortar fire on the airfield and deter our Dakotas, which were bringing reinforcements and supplies, from landing.

To save the airfield, the last defensible position at Badgam along the ridge was hurriedly occupied by a rifle company under the command of Major Sharma. This position was attacked by the tribals from all sides at about 2.30 p.m. Major Sharma’s wireless message was: "The enemy is only 50 yards from us. We are hopelessly outnumbered. I shall not withdraw one inch but fight to the last man, last round".

Major Sharma fell fighting along with his men. The company suffered heavy casualties. But the enemy advance was stopped. By then, reinforcements were rushed in and the tribals were forced to withdraw. They never attacked the airfield again.

Not only did Major Somnath Sharma save the country’s honour, but his pre-eminent act of valour in the face of the enemy stands out in the annals of military history.

Veterans’ advice

"We belong to the first batch of officers commissioned in free India on December 21, 1947. We, as professionals, consider it our duty to bring to the notice of our fellow citizens the deterioration in our defence apparatus. Our security and integrity as a continental nation is vital for India to rapidly develop and occupy its rightful place as one of the major powers of the world during the 21st century". Twentythree officers of the first batch, including six Lieut-Generals and four Maj-Generals have made this appeal to the nation in a pamphlet, which also contains their recommendations.

The pamphlet brings out what Pandit Nehru said when Sir Robert Lockhart, the first C-in-C of independent India, presented to him a paper on the proposed size and shape of the Army: "Rubbish, total rubbish. We don’t need a defence plan. Our policy is non-violence. We foresee no military threats. Scrap the Army. The police are good enough to meet our security needs".

In December, 1962, when the Army embarked upon rapid expansion after years of criminal neglect, Nehru wrote to Bertrand Russel that the danger of military mentality spreading in India and the power of the Army increasing bothered him. For the political leadership in this country, the pamphlet says that the Army has always been outside the national mainstream.

These officers have not spared the higher echelons of the military and have said that they should have educated their political masters to accept and implement defence policies. "Failure to do so should have prompted them to give up office", they say.

Chief’s gesture

It is very rare in India that anyone at the helm would relinquish his or her post voluntarily. But the Chief of the Army Staff, General V.P. Malik, has, by relinquishing the colonelcy of the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment the other day, set a new precedent. And the reason given by him for this is that he wants to devote full time and energy to his job as Chief of the Army Staff.

Normally, the senior-most officer in an armoured corps or infantry regiment is appointed as Colonel of the regiment. In other arms and services, this appointment is designated as Colonel Commandant because they have several regiments or different types of units in each corps.

An officer occupying this appointment is regarded as godfather by all ranks of the regiment as well as by the Army Headquarters to whom he is an adviser on all regimental matters. It is for this reason that he can approach the Chief of the Army Staff and Principal Staff Officers (PSOs) at the Army Headquarters on all regimental matters. And his advice on these matters is given full consideration.

A feeling is growing, especially in other arms and services, that this perky appointment, not having any direct responsibility, has become redundant and should be done away with. This is not correct because the Colonel or the Colonel Commandant of a regiment is its only spokesman at the higher level.

10 Dogra

"Heartiest congratulations on obtaining the first victory in offensive action launched by 11 Corps; very good show, keep it up". This was the message sent by the then General Officer Commanding (GOC) 11 Corps, Lt-Gen N.C. Rawlley (who retired as Vice-Chief of the Army Staff), to 10 Dogra which captured the Dera Baba Nanak (DBN) bridge on December 6, 1971. Thus went the unique honour of hoisting the first Indian Tricolour on Pakistani soil in the western sector in the 1971 war to 10 Dogra.

The DBN town lies on the Indo-Pak border in Gurdaspur district in Punjab. It is connected to several important towns in Punjab such as Ajnala, Batala and Gurdaspur by road. Across the border in the DBN enclave was located the important rail-cum-road double-decker bridge connecting a number of Indian towns with Sialkot and Narowal in Pakistan.

In a determined attack, 10 Dogra captured the eastern end of the strategic DBN bridge and lost seven soldiers, including Capt Devender Singh Ahlawat. Among the 25 wounded was the Commanding Officer, Lt-Col N.S. Sandhu (now a retired Brigadier). The enemy casualties were 30 killed and 19 wounded.

For displaying conspicuous bravery, 17 soldiers were given awards, which included two Maha Vir Chakras — one to Lt-Col Sandhu and the second one to Capt Ahlawat (posthumously) — and one Vir Chakra, which was won by a gunner, Capt J. Kumar. 10 Dogra was also awarded the Battle Honour of "Dera Baba Nanak" for this victory.

Art and art collectors

By Vimla Patil

KEKOO Gandhi, the doyen of modern art in India, is nearing his 80th birthday. Yet, some strong passion drives him inexorably to come to his Chemould Art Gallery in south Mumbai almost every day of the week. Here, Kekoo meets artists who are looking for a sale and those who are hunting for a good bargain in buying paintings. Connoisseurs still gather around him for old times’ sake for a debate on the merits of various artists. Some come to hear anecdotes and legends about great artists and collectors of modern Indian art and yet others come to see his personal collection or the work of young new artists.

To all those who come, Kekoo offers a smiling welcome and opens up his magical box of memories in which great names like Bendre, Gaitionde, Hebbar, Ara, Raza, Husain and others feature side by side with those of J.R.D. Tata, Rodabeh Sawhney, Homi Bhabha, Manu Thakkar, Sir Cowasji Jehangir, Langhammer, Holk Larsen and others. While the former are pioneering painters, the latter are the connoisseurs who collected the works of Indian painters.

"The earliest organised movement in this field began after Independence when the first All India Art Conference met in 1948," says Kekoo, "This was the first time that directors of art schools, representatives of all art societies and movements, the Calcutta Artists’ Group, Delhi’s Shilpi Chakra, Mumbai’s Progressive Art Group — all got together to recognise that in independent India, modern art would flourish on its own terms, and not as a reflection of the western art scenario, though many artists did show the influence of the western painters in their work. The Bombay Art Society was formed soon after and modern art came of age when its annual medal became an enviable honour for artists to win".

Kekoo’s own Chemould Art Gallery, housed in the Jehangir Art Gallery, was set up in the 60s and through the auspices of this institution, the work of many painters was sold. "The art collectors’ movement started with Manu Thakkar, who had a keen eye to choose the best works and he paid good prices to the artists. Though few have seen his collection of art in recent years, it is said that it is truly valuable and worthy of study. Among the better known celebrities who realised that modern art would one day become a treasure was the redoubtable Homi Bhabha, whose house in Mumbai’s Kemp’s Corner was the earliest venue for the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. In those early days, Bhabha bought the best paintings and later moved them to the new building of the TIFR, built on the southern tip of Mumbai island."

Tatas, who bought paintings for the Taj, till the baton of decorating the fine suites and public areas of the Taj group of hotels went into the hands of Elizabeth Kerkar, wife of the famous Ajit Kerkar, who was the head of the chain for several decades. "Rodabeh personally knew little about paintings but she came to the Chemould Gallery every Monday to check out what was good and what was going in the market. On one occasion, Clement Greenburg, the western expert on modern art, came to India on the tour to see for himself how the movement was catching up with the west and who were the internationally promising painters. To queries which Indian collectors made as to how one could recognise a good painting, his sarcastic answer was "You have to develop your own taste. If you don’t have this basic asset, you should not buy paintings’’.

"However, art as an investment was a concept introduced to India by Prakash Kejriwal of Calcutta. Neville Wadia, Pranlal Patel, Ushanath Sen, Rudy Von Leyden, Arjun Bulchandani, Emanuel Schlesinger, Navroz Vakil, Rasesh Mafatlal, Jal Cowasji of Air India, Sam Mahalaxmiwala of the Northcote Nursing Home — all these were the earliest collectors and their collections contain some of the finest early paintings of our best artists.

"Today, some of the outstanding modern paintings are in the collections of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre; Praful and Shilpa Shah of Garden Silk Mills, Vinod and Saryu Doshi of Premier Automobiles; Harsh Goenka; Mumsy Bharucha of Colour Chem; Jehangir Nicholson; Sadruddin Daya; Bakul Patel; Dilip and Shobha De and Tasneem Mehta who is the head of INTACH in Mumbai.

"By today’s standards, the collections belonging to some of the collectors are worth a fortune in art if not in money. However, hardly any of them have ever been offered for resale. The buying of paintings became a big business when Christi’s held their first auction at the Taj Mehal Hotel in the mid-eighties. Then came the Times of India’s auction during their 150th anniversary. Today, Christi’s and Sotheby’s regularly auction Indian art, specially modern Indian paintings which fetch good prices in the international market. In the recent Sotheby’s auction in London for example, Chester Bowles, who was ambassador to India many years ago, resold several paintings of Husain and B. Prabha for good prices. Art has become so popular today, that some painters in India can’t even have enough works for an exhibition. They have to paint on order and are busy all the year round, complying with the orders. New artists are shaping up well and some are doing excellent work.

"Today, modern art is an established area of investment. There are more and more galleries or museums in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta and these have become important venues for exhibitions. Many artists who went to Europe in the 60s and 70s, are now known and their work is recognised world-wide. Among these are Mohan Samant who lives in New York; Amba Das who is in Norway; Raza in Paris; F.N. Souza who travels between the U.K. and the U.S.; Praful Dave in Switzerland and Viswanadhan in Paris. The last mentioned artist showed his paintings recently in Gallery Chemould where Kekoo sits surrounded by canvases of famous as well as new artists. It is even now a meeting point for all those who discuss art, the merit of various paintings or a new movement. It is also a checking out venue for those who want to become art investors. "Society women in metro cities have now started selling paintings because they have contacts. They work from their homes. But most art is still sold by the artists themselves and the galleries which often do their best to encourage the right talent," says Kekoo.