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| Poonch Rajouri Link up | | | Ashutosh Khanna | 11/24/2016 9:56:29 PM |
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The Poonch region of Jammu And Kashmir State is located in the south-western foothills of Pir Panchal range. The terrain of this region varies from sub- tropic to temperate zone. Due to its natural beauty, Poonch is also known as 'Mini Kashmir'. The total area of the district Poonch is 1.14 lac hectares. The projected population of 2011 Ad was 4, 76,420. The district comprises of four tehsils namely Haveli, Mandi, Surankote and Mendhar and six developmental blocks namely Poonch, Mandi, Surankote, Bufliaz, Mendhar and Balakote. The total numbers of villages are 178, while there are 191 panchayats with 65000 families. The places of tourist interests are Sawjian, Loran, Behramgala and the valley of seven lakesand Noori Chambb ( a waterfall) which was named after Mughal Queen Noor Jahan, who visited this place ample of times while going from Lahore to Srinagar during summers.
The altitude of Poonch varies from 2900 feet to 15560 feet above the sea level. Tata kuti, the largest peek of PirPanchal range which has an altitude of 15560 feet is located in Poonch region. The other important peaks of Poonch are Ganga Choti(12013 feet), Rattan Pir(8500 feet), KhutGhali(13080 feet), Dharali Pass(13460 feet), ChittaPaani pass (14549 feet), ChotiGhali(14090 feet), ChourGhali(13460 feet), Haji Pir(8600 feet), NeeliDheri(7200 feet), and Neel Kanth(1200 feet) above the sea level.
"Here Poonch means Rajouri also, because prior to 1968, Rajouri was a part of Poonch district and boundaries of this district was upto Bhamla. India got Independence on 15th of August 1947, whereas Poonch was liberated from the clutches of Pak Raiders on 22nd of November 1948, at 3 p.m. at village Danani Peer.Being an ancient town, Poonch has seen a lot of Jors and Jolts. The temple of Ram Kund situated at village Narol of tehsil Mendhar depicts that sometimes Pandavas have also visited this area. The name of Poonch is related with Ravanas Grandfather, 'Maharishi Pulist', who penanced for a long time on the bank of river Mandi, which was named as 'Pulist Nadi' and the same river passes through the Poonch city called 'Pulist Nagri', which later on became Prontus, Proons and at last became Poonch. In Kashmiri dialect, even today it is called 'Proons'. It has been an old saying that, Poonch even existed prior to the visit of Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang. As Poonch was an independent princely state and at that time its capital was 'Loharkot', presently village Loran. It was in 850 A.D that Poonch got the status of an independent state and Raja Naar became its 1st king. According to Kalhanas, Raj Tarangni, a metrical legendary and historical chronicle of the north-western Indian subcontinent, particularly the kings of Kashmir, when Mehmood Ghaznavi invaded this state in 1020 A.D. Raja Tarlochan pal gave him a befitting defeat. In 1856, the Mughal emperor Jahangir appointed Siraj-ud-din, king Shahbaz khan, Raja Rustam Khan and Raja Bahadur Khan as kings one after another to rule this area up to 1792. According to Nargis Das Nargis's history, "DuggarDesh", Wazir Ru-Ullah Sangu and his son Raja Aamir khan and his Grandson Raja Mir Baaz Khan also ruled over this princely state. Then, comes Maharaja Ghulab Singh who with the consent of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh captured a huge area of Poonch and in this way from 1819-1850, the whole area remained under the supervision of Khalsa Darbar Lahore. After that Raja Moti Singh son of Raja Dhyaan Singh who was the then P.M. of Khalsa Darbar at that time gave Poonch a status of an Independent state. In this way from 1850-1947, the Dogra rulers ruled over this state but soon after the partition, half of the tehsil of Poonch and two other tehsils namely 'Bagh' and 'Sudhnutti' went under the illegal occupation of Pakistan.
The period from 1850-1947 is known as "The Golden Period of Poonch". Under the reign of Raja Baldev Singh, Raja Sukhdev Singh, Raja JagatDev Singh and Raja Rattan Dev Singh massive construction took place and the historic theatre, where cultural shows for the entertainment of royal families were conducted at present known as 'Town Hall of Poonch' was renovated. The ancient 'Mandi Hall' and 'Court Buildings' were constructed on the patterns of Mubarakh Mandi Jammu, where as the 'Fountain Park' (Fawara Bagh) was given the shape of Shalimar Bagh Srinagar, along with them 'Gate Way of Poonch' (Bagh Deodi) and 'Baggi Khana' (Horse Stable) were also constructed. The royal palaces of this princely state i.e. Baldev Mahal, Moti Mahal, Joginder Mahal, and Sheesh Mahal shows the aesthetic sense of above said rulers.
India got Independence on 15th august 1947 but after the partition Poonch was immediately surrounded by the Pak raiders. At that time, J&K state force under the command of Brig. Krishan Singh was deployed at Poonch, which fought bravely to stop the enemy but because of less in number, J&K state state force failed to protect Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Uri, Jhangar and Rajouri with the result one after another all these areas went under the illegal occupation of Pakistan and simultaneously, Pak raiders cordoned the Poonch Town. Being less in number the Poonch Brigade succeeded in saving the Poonch town. On 26th October, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh announced the '' Accession of J&K WITH India'' with the result the Indian union decided that at any cost they will liberate Leh, Srinagar, Baramulla, Uri, Poonch and Rajouri from the enemies. The Indian army immediately swung into action and on 27th October 1947 the first Batallion of Sikh Regiment was airlifted from Gurugram to Srinagar at 9:30 am and from there war against tribals was launched.
The involvement of Indian Army in Poonch which happened decades ago, for the local people, it was nothing short of serendipity. In october, 1947, it appeared that the Indian Army may not get involved in Poonch as the Kashmir valley was a more lucrative proposition. Moreover, the central Indian leadership did not know whom to deal with in Poonch, as it was a separate state leaderless and directionless, the people of Poonch waited for a saviour. After the Instrument of Accession was signed by Maharaja Hari Singh on 26th October 1947, Pandit Nehru realised the strategic and geographical value of Poonch. By the time our leadership decided to help the beleaguered Poonch state forces, almost three fourth of the Poonch state was occupied by the Pak raiders. However, destiny willed otherwise and Poonch had its saviour. Lt. Col Pritam Singh, military cross, moved from uri through Haji Pir Pass, crossed the Chanjjal Nullah and reached Poonch on 21st Nov.1947 at the head of a column of 1st Kumaon(Para). It is an irony, that no Indian Historian has extrapolated the significance of 21st Nov, 1947, for the nation. If on the fateful day, had Lt.Col Pritam Singh not reached Poonch, it would have fallen to Pak army and the history of complete J&K would have been different. The neglect of this area had reached such an impasse. Lt .Col Pritam, a brilliant tactician and a brave soldier single handedly changed the course of Poonch history and of the state of J&K.
It was evening and the sun was about to set, few in Poonch would have realised that for them the sun was about to rise. What about the feelings of Pritam, who as a lone ranger had stood on the brink of precipice. It could justifiably be a feeling of chagrin mixed with remorse and justifiable indignation at the political dispensation. Despite years of planning and a number of round table conferences, did the partition almost catch us unaware? We were not even sure, what was to be defended and what was perhaps historically ours? It goes to the credit of his indefatigable spirit that he left these feelings behind and got down to work like a soldier with precision and alacrity. Pritam who had by now been prom oted to the rank of Brigadier and vested with the command of Poonch Brigade at once saw and appreciated the odds arrayed against his force. He had no choice but to take over as the administrator of Poonch. He began with organising the defences of the town with the help of 1st kumaon (Para) unit and available state forces. This was tough, as there were continuous attacks by the tribals and the Pak army. The lines of communication to Poonch were also cut off from the rest of the state.
Pritam also had a stream of refugees who had swollen to almost 50,000.
He had virtually no stocks of ration and other essential commodities. Pritam acted swiftly, he appreciated the requirement of opening the line of communication and with the help of local civil labour built a temporary airstrip. This brought in the IAF Decotas with the much needed supplies. It also ensured the evacuation of refugees. Pritam thereafter organised raids across the border for much needed food grains. This was a master tactician at his best. He was alone commanding a beleaguered and Garrison bereft of any resources. He had to rally everyone with him and at the same time make them work. Such an example is unparallel in the history. How and why the local population rallied behind Pritam simply speaks of his personality and leadership. Let us not , forget, that Pritam was working in an unknown territory,
On the other side of district Poonch, Nowshera and Jhangar were also under severe attack by Pak Army, where Brigadier Usmaan was fighting bravely to protect the above said areas. Once again on 25th of December 1947, Jhangar was recaptured by the Pak forces , there Brig. Usmaan took a pledge to liberate Jhangar from the hands of the Pak army. But the need of the hour was to concentrate on Nowshera which was also under the threat of enemy. As a result of this, Brigadier Usmaan got succeded in saving Nowshera after which the people of Nowshera gave him the title of ''The Lion Of Nowshera''. As a professional army men, again Brig. Usmaan meticulously planned an attack to recapture Jhangar with the help of Para Brigade on 18th of March 1948, where also he got succeded in recapturing Jhangar but during the fight on 3rd of July, he attained Martyrdom.
It is pertinent to mention here that, Brig. Usmaan's last rites were performed in the premises of Jamia Milia Islamia university in the capital of India with full state honours and he was also conferred Mahavir chakra (Posthumously). Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, the then defence minister S.Baldev Singh, Sher-e -Kashmir Sheikh Mohd Abdullah and field marshal K.M. Kariappa attended the funeral. '
'After liberating Jha-ngar, Nowshera, Rajouri and Bhimber Gali, the grounds for final link up was prepared, when Col. Pandit of southern task force, who started from Rajouri after clearing the land mines by the enemy and Col. Chandan Singh of Poonch Garrison shook hands at 3.pm. place Danani Peer and established the final up of Poonch with the rest of the country''. |
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