In less than forty-eight hours of capturing Haji Pir Pass, Bharat had captured the critical Pakistan-controlled border ‘posts’ such as Bedori (13,000 ft), Burfi Pathri, Kutthanar ki Galli, and Safikh.

After 1947, Poonch in Jammu was not well connected by road with Uri (in Kashmir). Immediately, post this skirmish, the Bharatiya army began the construction. It seized around thirty Pakistani posts and linked these two frontier towns, Poonch and Uri with one another.

Now, Bharat was well-prepared to conquer the attackers, and hence, Pakistan was left with only two options. To admit the defeat of their guerrilla operation or to execute a full-fledged war against Bharat. It selected the latter.

Also Read: 1965 Indo-Pak-Conflict from ceasefire to capture of Haji Pir Pass

Espionage and Bribery:

The soldiers were laying their lives and enduring the utmost risks, irrespective of their family background and religious faith. But, their enormous sacrifices were negotiated when one or a few of them would stoop down to compromising it for personal gains.

Around 1958, Pakistan got hold of Bharat’s military plans with all their details!!!

A Bharatiya Brigadier had apparently been bribed for an amount, surely not as gigantic as national security. But, in order to support the extravagant lifestyle of his wife (it is believed), he took to encashing the entire offensive and defensive operational plans.

The Brigadier, who had been Bharat’s director of military operations, was paid Rs. 20,000 ($4,000 at the then exchange rate).

This information was revealed by none other than Gauhar Ayub Khan, the twenty-eight-year-old daughter of Field Marshal Ayub Khan!!!

Thus, Pakistan was in a win-win situation, having seized the crucial blueprint of Bharat’s military plans, updated defense mechanisms, and armaments, along with financial support from the United States and the good topography. But the most significant thing was that God was clearly not on Pakistan’s side.

Chhamb-Jaurian Sector Invasion:

Pakistan attacked Jammu’s Chhamb-Jaurian sector with Patton variety ninety armored tanks and an infantry brigade during the nights of August 31st and September 1st.

Pakistan’s army launched its attack, and this area was left unguarded mainly by Bharatiya, as indicated by their secret war plan. No Bharatiya soldiers were found to defend it, and the Pakistan army advanced comparatively smoothly.

Bharatiya troops withdrew to the River Munnawar Tawi. If Pakistan had successfully proceeded further, it would have reached Akhnoor and conquered the region of Rajouri and Poonch, which had road connectivity with the rest of Bharat.

The next day, Pakistani tanks rolled further into Bharatiya territory towards Jurian. Bharat’s army withdrew further, and the Pakistani army advanced across the Munnawar Tawi River, seizing more territory.

Regaining Lost Ground:

Bharat had become the victim of the foul game and distrust of his own officer, but within four days, they ferociously retaliated and recaptured some territory, pushing back the Pakistani army across the river Munnawar Tawi.

The same day Bharat blasted and assaulted with fervor, not only the Sialkot region on the border of Jammu but also the far-away Lahore sector and stalled the Pakistani army’s annihilating spree. They were left to defend their territory and could no longer continue their march on Chamb and Akhnoor.

The Battle of Sialkot:

Bharatiya tanks entered Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It is considered the biggest tank battle, which went on for fifteen days. During the Battle of Phillaurah, sixty-six Pakistani tanks were dismantled, and Bharat lost only six.

It was considered the biggest tank battle since World War 2.

At the early dawn of September 6th, a small group of Bharatiya forces began bombarding the Pakistani bridge on the river Tawi at Jesser. The Pakistani commander ordered the destruction of the bridge. They presumed that the Bharatiya army was planning a full-fledged attack there and thus sent an additional brigade with armaments.

But, this was the Bharatiya army’s strategy to allure and mislead them. The Bharatiya army attacked Pasrur-Chawinda-Phillaurah instead.

The Pakistani commander instructed them to rush from Jassur to where the attack was. It baffled the Pakistani army, and this was not enough as the worst was to follow.

Brigadier Ismail, the commander of the Sialkot division, continued to issue contradictory orders.

The next morning, the Bharatiya infantry formed a foothold to protect their men on Pakistani soil. The 1st Armored Division began marching into Pakistan. The Pakistani army was staggered and offered no opposition. Yet the Bharatiyas did not encash their internal disorder and cautiously marched ahead. They refused to take any risks as they thought they could be misdirected and trapped in an ambush.

This ambiguity was ascertained when the Bharatiya army marched from Pasrur to Phillaurah (both in Pakistan). A squadron commander of the Pakistani armored regiment named Major Mohammad Ahmed and his troop hid in the grove and opened fire at the Bharatiya tanks while they passed by.

The following units of the Bharatiya force, en route to Chawinda in Pakistan, halted there as soon as they heard about the pitfall. Meanwhile, more Pakistani armored units reached the spot in Chawinda and fired at the Bharatiya soldiers.

But overall, Bharat obtained colossal success in this sector as the Bharatiya army conquered 268 sq. km of Pakistani territory in Sialkot. While Bharat refrained from capturing Sialkot town, it conquered most of the territory leading to the town, and the army was just five to six kilometers away from reaching it. Although it acquired notable spots like Alhar Railway Station.

Battle of Asal Uttar:

After pushing back the Pakistani army in the dry lands of the River Munnawar Tawi, the Bharatiya troops evacuated from Kasur and hid themselves in the sugarcane fields near Khemkaran-Asal Uttar. When the Pakistani army marched to the area, feeling elated that they had vanquished the stretch without much aversion, the Bharatiya troops trapped them between themselves and a stream.

The Bharatiya army assassinated a Pakistani General Officer commanding as well as the Artillery commanders. They also captured 97 Pakistani tanks, 14 officers, and several men.

The Security Council of the United Nations advocated a ceasefire between the two neighbors on the 23rd of September 1965. At the time, Bharat held around a thousand square kilometers of Pakistani territory. It included the land in the Lahore region as well as the area around the border of Rajasthan.

Role of General J N Chaudhary:

The credit for this victory in the adverse situation can be attributed to the then COAS (Chief of Army Staff) General J N Chaudhary.

Jayant Nath Chaudhary was born into an aristocratic Bengali family in 1908.

He was appointed as the COAS in November 1962, post the debacle of the Indo-Sino war.

General Chaudhari is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Border Security Force.

In the aftermath of the 1965 war, he proposed a paramilitary force to patrol the Bharat-Pakistani border in peacetime and would be relieved by the army when war was imminent.

For his services to the nation, he was presented with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian honor by the President of Bharat.

Flawed Assumptions and Consequences:

General Chaudhari’s contemporary of Pakistan’s Chief of Army was General Muhammad Musa. He has penned down two books, namely ‘My Version’ and ‘Jawan to General’.

In his book ‘My Version,’ General Musa shared his views about the Bharat-Pakistan war of 1965, and he especially narrated that “Pakistan gained nothing from the 1965 war and that, on the contrary, failed to achieve its objectives.”

In fact, Pakistan had to bear huge losses of warfare artillery, arms, and ammunition.

It lost twenty aircraft, two hundred tanks, and 3,800 troops.

Even though Pakistan had been blessed with American artillery and defense aid, it did not gain its perspective and failed to achieve its goal. As Gauhar Ayub Khan pointed out in her book, “Pakistan failed as it based its entire strategy on the pre-assumption that the people of Jammu Kashmir, whom they had banked on, were on their side. The Kashmiri leaders, on whom Pakistan had relied, had assured Pakistan that the Kashmiris would start a revolt against Bharat as soon as a few thousand Pakistani commandos had infiltrated the state.

Gauhar Khan had further added that Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, had received the assurance from the pro-Pakistan leaders from Kashmir and had conveyed it to Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

Ayub Khan, on this assurance, had moved forward and had launched Operation Gibraltar.

Later, Gauhar Khan confessed to the news agencies of Pakistan that the assumption “led to a big disaster and resulted in (the) killing and capture of Pakistanis after the Indians closed their entry and exit points at Kargil and other areas.”

The Pakistani commandos were given the assurance that they simply had to ‘march into Kashmir and occupy the land effortlessly’ (the entire Bharat).

They lived in the dream world of ‘hans ke lenge Hindusthan!!’

The powerful retaliation by Bharat was out of their sight and out of their mind.

The Pakistan commandos who had ‘managed’ to reach the Valley and were stranded there sent dismaying messages back home about the prevalent atmosphere in Jammu-Kashmir. They informed about the wrong analysis of the mindset and loyalty of Jammu and Kashmir towards Pakistan.

Lt. Kamal Matinuddin, the then Brigade Major of Pakistan in Khem Karan, acknowledged Gauhar Khan’s views and observations.

He vehemently criticized the Sade-e-Kashmir radio station, based in Murree in the Punjab region of Pakistan, for broadcasting doctored achievements in IOK… (They meant IOK – Indian-Occupied Kashmir!!!). But, as history stands, what Pakistan meant by ‘IOK’ is the IOK – India’s Own Kashmir, as Cyril Redcliff had given this region to Bharat while dividing the nation.

And, history never lies.

(Does one need to speak about the POK – Yes, it is the POK, The Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

And, again, history never lies.

Lt. General Matinuddin further mentioned that Field Marshal Ayub Khan was beaming with confidence as they had received high-tech weapons as part of a deal with the United States to join hands in the US-sponsored anti-Soviet Military pacts.

Post Pandit Nehru’s death, Bharat was governed by a small and simple-framed man – Lal Bahadur Shashtriji. His simplistic persona was illusive, and in the eyes of Pakistani Military leadership, he appeared as a weak leader. But, this myth was soon shattered as he was the man of steely will and led Bharat on a victorious path.

Jammu-Kashmir remained the battlefield and the major cause behind the attack. The important battles were fought in Jammu & Kashmir.

Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq was elected as the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 1964. He became the first chief minister of the state in 1965 when the J&K Constitution was amended (Sixth Constitution of J&K Amendment Act, 1965) by the then Congress government, and the position of Prime Minister was replaced with the Chief Minister. He died in office following a heart attack on December 12, 1971.

Conclusion:

In retrospect, the 1965 India-Pakistan War was marked by bravery, miscalculations, and enduring sacrifices. From the critical role of Haji Pir Pass to the decisive battles of Sialkot and Asal Uttar, this conflict reshaped history. The war’s legacy reminds us of the cost of misconceptions and the valor of those who defended their nations.