Captain who acted as a saviour in 1947
AFTER the Shimla Agreement in June 1972, the HQ, 1 Corps, which had captured a vast Pakistani territory in the Shakargarh area, established itself in Samba on a hillock dominating the area. It was the time for rehabilitation of people living along the borders whose lands and houses had been damaged or destroyed due to enemy action, or as a result of deployment and movement of our forces during the offensive. As I was dealing with the matter, I had to interact with the civil administration of Gurdaspur and Jammu on a regular basis for granting compensation, and ex gratia.
Kanwar Surinder Singh Bedi, Commissioner, Jalandhar division, who had done a commendable job both during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, was awarded the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. To commemorate the victorious operations, he invited the Corps staff for a civic reception at Gurdaspur. The Corps Commander, Lt Gen KK Singh, MVC, deputed the Chief of Staff, Maj Gen Jaswant Singh, and a few other officers to receive the honours on his behalf. After the formal address and exchange of mementoes, Kanwar Bedi hosted us to a dinner, enthralling us with ghazals, thumri and khayal of Begum Akhtar.
On our way back, Gen Jaswant asked the driver to turn in on a small road at Mukerian. After some enquiring about, we landed at a cloth shop where an old man, wrapped in a thick blanket, was sitting along with two young men, probably his sons. As they met, the General, calling him Chachaji, touched the old man’s feet. Recognising the guest, he raised his voice, “Vekho kaun aaya hai, saada rakha Jaswant aaya hai (See who’s here, our saviour Jaswant has come).” After exchanging pleasantries, recounting the horrors of Partition, and a cup of tea, we parted and returned to Samba.
The next day, as usual, while I took a voluminous stock of papers to the Chief of Staff for his signatures, I asked him about the previous night’s meeting. The General told me that in 1947, he was a Captain who had come home on leave to Sialkot when the Hindu-Muslim riots broke out. He tried to prevail upon the Muslim brethren not to harm any Hindu or Sikh as they had lived in harmony. While the elderly among them agreed, there were some youth who were bent upon causing damage to lives and property.
That’s when Capt Jaswant stood in the middle of the village and taking out his pistol warned them of dire consequences if any person was harmed. This worked and the youth withdrew, assuring safe passage for the Hindus and Sikhs. Capt Jaswant then arranged a few military and civilian trucks and evacuated all the Hindu and Sikh families safely to India.
I observed that the General, much early in his career, had adopted a principle of three Cs — commitment, compassion and conciliation. While commanding 7 Punjab during the 1965 war, he captured a bridge over Ichhogil canal. As a Brigade Commander in 1968 in Mizoram, he was instrumental in establishing jhooms (habitations) as a protection from the militants, as also to earn livelihood through agriculture, cattle and fish breeding, etc. As GOC during the 1971 war, he ordered that no civilian property would be damaged or plundered. Now, as the Chief of Staff, he was liberal in granting compensation and ex gratia to the affected citizens. Even later, as a Corps Commander, he provided succour to the marooned during floods in Mathura in 1978-79.
Sadly, he died in harness as the Vice Chief of Army Staff in 1980 at the age of 55, leaving behind a legacy of goodwill and exemplary leadership.
