Tithwal: a Model Border Village
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TITHWAL: A MODEL BORDER VILLAGE By Lt Gen SK Singh, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM (Retd) I was going through a news item of a virtual address by Raksha Mantri on 13 June 2020, wherein he is promising the people of great progress in the state of J&K in next five years in such a way that the people of POK will be envious and will seek to live with India. He further added, “The day it happens, our unanimous resolution of Parliament will also be fulfilled.” The article caught my attention due to the fact that it implies that the Government is rightly thinking on development of border areas, which have been neglected till now, and are far behind the development index of the valley, which used to pocket most of the funds and resources till now. Here I wish to share the experiences of the development done in one such village with the Sadbhavna funds of the Army, which could serve as a model. 2 Tithwal used to be an important tehsil in Muzaffarabad district in undevided Jammu and Kashmir. In the subsequent years after independence, this place has been a witness to many historic events which I intend recounting here. India became independent on 15 August 1947. Pakistani-backed regulars, irregulars and tribesmen crossed into the state of Jammu and Kashmir on October 22. In spite of a determined effort by the J&K state forces and by the initially inducted Indian troops, the enemy reached the outskirts of Srinagar on November 20, 1947. In a brilliant military operation under Deputy Brigade Commander 161 Brigade, Colonel Harbaksh Singh, the raiders were defeated in decisive battles outside Srinagar. Promoted to command 163 Brigade, Brig Harbaksh’s was one of the two brigades launched by General Thimmaya, then in command of Sri Division (later 19 division), on May 17, 1948, to clear the enemy out of the Jhelum valley, up to Muzaffarabad and Domel. The first by 161 Brigade under Brigadier L.P Sen on the Jhelum axis, and the second in a flanking move by his 163 Brigade over the Nasta Chun Pass to Tithwal and beyond. While 161 Brigade was held up near Uri, Brigadier Harbakhsh Singh's offensive, as discussed by General Birdwood in his book, A Continent Decides, was a triumph. "Pakistan’s situation was now grim, and had India only used air supply more aggressively to maintain the impetus of this outflanking success, her forces would so severely have threatened Muzaffarabad as to force a Pakistani withdrawal from the whole of the northern sector. Luckily for Pakistan, they paused". Tithwal fell on May 23, 1948. In six days, Brigadier Harbakhsh Singh had in a lightning move secured all territory starting from Handwara to the Kishanganga over the Nasta Chun Pass and Tithwal after fighting aggressive battles. 3 Tithwal sector has been a scene of fierce battles in all Indo-Pak conflicts, winning two Param Vir Chakras (PVCs), one by Lnk Karam Singh of 1 SIKH in 1948 and the other by CHM Piru Singh of 6 RAJ RIF in 1971. The village of Tithwal is located on the banks of Kishen Ganga River at the junction of Neelam Valley and Jura Valley, where the river turns towards Muzaffarabad in POK. Our battalion took over this sub sector in the summer of 1993 and was tasked to dominate the roads in Neelam and Jura valleys so as to prevent/hinder any infiltration attempts by terrorists supported by covering fire of Pak posts. The exchange of fire was very heavy along the entire front, and both sides were suffering casualties. The move in forward areas was restricted to hours of darkness. Any careless move or exposure was a target for the snipers on either side. Probably during one such movement, one of our soldier in the post on the bank of the river was shot dead by the enemy sniper from across the river. We could not even pull back the body during day time due to heavy enemy mortar and artillery fire, during which our post was totally destroyed. We had to wait till it became dark to establish contact with our post, during which the local population were extremely helpful with hot tea and meals for all of us. It was a bad day for us, wherein we had suffered physical and material casualties, for which we took our revenge in full a few days later by destroying a number of the enemy posts opposite us. I left the sector in mid 1995 f, carrying with me many lessons and memories, such as the loyalty and help of local population despite the peak of militancy in the valley and heavy exchange of fire on the Line of Control (LC). The people along the forward areas are Bakharwals and Paharis, very well built and hardy, and helpful towards the forces. They also exhibited a lot of contempt towards the Kashmiris of the valley. The normal local saying used to be, “Nothing is straight in valley, except Poplar trees. Golden principle in 4 valley- Respect Everyone, Trust None”. These people were literally the second class citizen for the J&K administration as compared to the valley, which took away most of the funds. As such, the infrastructure in these areas remained under-developed, and people were extremely poor. Most of the people earned their livelihood by working as porters for the Army. Concentrating our future developments along border areas would ensure that money would go to the poor, in addition to developing infrastructure in border areas, which would also facilitate military operations, if required. I returned back to the same area in 2005, as the General Officer Commanding of Kupwara Division. By this time the ceasefire agreement of 2003 had been implemented and peace prevailed along Line of Control (LC). However, the whole tehsil of Karnah was totally devastated by earthquakes in August 2005. Our formation did outstanding job in rescue and relief operations during and after the earthquakes. Our next task was to ensure protection to the people from the approaching cold, which was done by organizing tented camps. The reconstruction of Army as well as civil areas commenced during the summers of 2006. During this phase, we took up the task of restoring old glory to Tithwal with Sadbhavna funds allotted by Army, under the dynamic leadership of Tangdhar Commander, Brig (Later Lt Gen) Ravi Thogde. Firstly, road connectivity was provided to the village along a new alignment, and street lighting was done using solar lights, thus connecting Tithwal with rest of Karnah by a metalled road for the first time after independence. The damaged public structures like schools and hospital were replaced with modern pre fabricated structures and state of the art facilities. A stadium was created with sports facilities, which could be used as helipad. When the model village was ready, it was inaugurated by HE the President of India, in presence of the Hon’ble CM of J&K, Shri 5 Gulab Nabi Azad and COAS, Gen JJ Singh in end 2006. A ropeway bridge was constructed across the Kishen Ganga River, and Tithwal became a new crossing point between India and the POK, complete with all immigration and administrative setup. An interesting incident of constructing a wall to work as the 70 mm screen for an open air theatre comes to mind. While carrying out reconnaissance, one of the civilians shouted from across the river in POK, “Please site the screen in such a way that we in POK can also enjoy the Indian films”. We obliged, and it was interesting to see a large number of spectators from across the river in POK watching our films. The villages across in POK were quite envious, as they did not have electricity and facilities like Tithwal. Our most forward village turned into a mini township and a tourist spot, where I also visited with my wife and children and enjoyed our picnic on the banks of Kishen Ganga River. This indeed is the prize of peace along the borders. Wonder what the place would be in the midst of heavy exchange of fire these days! All those pre fabricated shelters would have been riddled with bullets and splinters and the children would be confined to their homes or bunkers in their backyards. It is the villager or the soldier who ultimately suffer due to mindless export of terrorism across the border. With the announcement of the Government intentions to ensure the developments in J&K in such a way that the people in POK will be envious, our Tithwal model, developed almost 15 years back, comes to our mind. It is reiterated that bulk of development funds now being allotted to the new UT of J&K must be utilized in border areas, and Armed Forces must be included as important stake holders. JAI HIND Disclaimer: Views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CENJOWS. .