In recent times, Bollywood has come out with a set of movies based on overt and covert conflicts with Pakistan. While Dhurandhar and Border II have made it big at the box office, Ikkis ran aground, perhaps because it converted what should have been an outstanding war movie into an anti-war whimper. But this story is not intended to be a critique or even a commentary on Ikkis but seeks to shed more light on the personality of the man who commanded the regiment ‘Ikkis-year-old’ Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal (Param Vir Chakra – Posthumous) fought as part of.
In the 1971 war, Arun’s regiment – the 17 ‘Poona’ Horse – was commanded by Lt Col (later Lt Gen) Hanut Singh. Born in Jasol to a soldier father, Hanut had the natural Rajput inclination to be a good cavalryman. It came as no surprise when he chose the Army as a profession and was part of the 1st Course of the Joint Services Wing – the precursor to the National Defence Academy (NDA) – during his training. Among his course-mates were three future service chiefs – Sunith Rodrigues (Army), Laxminarayan Ramdas (Navy) and Nirmal Suri (Air Force). It was in the academy that Hanut began to be noticed for his unusual personality – a loner with high personal discipline and a sense of moral values.
For the uninitiated, it was the cavalry regiments that were converted into armoured formations. In December 1952, Hanut was commissioned into one such regiment – the 17 Poona Horse. Earlier in the century, this unit had seen the raising of two squadrons of Rathore cavalry being funded by the ruler of Jodhpur. The Poona Horse was one of the last units to be Indianised, with few Indian officers available at the time of Independence. During Hanut’s early days with his parent unit, the regiment was not considered of high standard and was the butt of some uncharitable remarks by senior officers. Hearing this, Hanut appears to have made it his mission to take the regiment higher – an incredible leadership quality for a young officer in his early twenties.
Hanut modelled himself on the German General Staff, known for their high degree of professionalism and dedication to the art of war. He was also a bachelor, believing that marriage and a family would distract him from his path as a soldier. The impact of Hanut’s ways on his fellow officers, especially the younger officers coming into the unit, was profound.
In the book about the regiment Fakhr-e-Hind – The Story of the Poona Horse, Lt Gen Ajai Singh recalled, “…he (Hanut) took me to the Squadron and introduced me to all members of his troop, which I was to take over. Having done this at the garages itself, he gave me a programme for my training, which I was to commence from the next day; he also gave me a large bundle of books and précis which I was to read in my own time. I went through all this business-like activity in a state of total shock because, till then, such a serious approach to professional matters had neither been seen or heard during the few days I had spent in the Regiment.” Ajai Singh was one of several with a similar opinion.
Completing a Centurion Tank Gunnery Course in the United Kingdom in 1958 with distinction, Hanut was appointed an instructor at the Armoured Corps Centre and School, Ahmednagar, on his return. It was the first of multiple tenures he would have there. Called ‘Gurudev’ by the officers of his regiment, Hanut proceeded to rewrite tank gunnery training manuals and revise shooting techniques.
Until then, India’s armoured corps had essentially followed infantry-based tactical doctrines. Hanut, a mere captain, began to create a specialised doctrine for mobile warfare and then began putting it into practice, first with troops and squadrons, spreading that knowledge to other officers too. These techniques served India’s armoured units well in the wars of 1965 and 1971, which involved major tank battles.
In the 1965 conflict with Pakistan, the Poona Horse performed magnificently in the armoured battles of Phillora and Chawinda. Of course, they also had an outstanding commandant in Lt Col AB Tarapore, who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) for his stellar role. By the 1971 war, it was Hanut who was commandant.
Legends about Hanut’s role as a war leader in the Battle of Basantar abound. While one holds that he prayed before leading his unit through a minefield, another says that he switched off the radio communicating with the brigade commander to shut out pointless instructions and focus on the battle at hand. Regardless of the legends, the battle saw India victorious, and the Poona Horse was held in great respect, even by the vanquished foe who gave the regiment the title ‘Fakhr-e-Hind’. It was for this battle that Second Lt Khetarpal received a posthumous PVC and his commandant, Lt Col Hanut Singh, a Maha Vir Chakra (MVC).
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One story holds that Hanut never wore his MVC – perhaps a silent protest against the fact that his brigade commander in the battle had also been awarded the medal – a commander whose hesitation may have cost India a bigger and more decisive victory. Incidentally, the brigade commander was Brig. Arun Vaidya, later General and Chief of Army Staff. Hanut was never one to hold back on his beliefs merely in the face of seniority, regardless of the cost to his own career. That was probably his most unusual quality, in an army and society where people are ever eager to please their superiors.
Post the 1971 war, during Hanut’s tenure as a Brigade Commander, a discussion was held at the Corps HQ about the crossing of a water obstacle by an armoured formation. Amongst the various senior officers and formation commanders present were the Corps Commander, Lt ZC Bakshi, and the Army Commander, Lt Gen Inder Gill. While all present seemed to agree with an approach paper presented, Hanut alone stood up and said it was impractical. The audience was stunned, and it was then that the army commander said that he agreed with Hanut’s view. It is this quality – of standing up for his beliefs – that made Hanut truly special.
Across tenures at the Armoured Corps School, Hanut continued to rewrite India’s mechanised warfare strategy. He also had more than one tenure at Army Headquarters, in the Operations Directorate. In the early 1980s, he commanded 17 Mountain Division in Sikkim and followed that up with command of 1 Armoured Division, becoming one of the few officers to have commanded both an infantry and an armoured division. During his tenure at Sikkim, Hanut had separate run-ins both with his corps commander and with the governor of the state. The latter, among those with access to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, demanded special privileges, which Hanut declined, sticking to protocol.
During his tenure at Sikkim, when his division manned the border with China, he even empowered his Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) to open fire in case the situation warranted it. Needless to say, during his tenure there were no Chinese intrusions there.
The 1980s was the time the Army was making great leaps towards mechanisation, with Lt Gen (later General and COAS) K Sundarji being one of the key architects behind that transformation. With Sundarji as COAS, India witnessed the controversial and path-breaking Exercise Brasstacks, then the largest mobilisation of the army till then.
During this, Hanut commanded 2 Corps, an elite strike corps considered India’s sword arm. This was the acme of his career. He was then posted as Commandant of the Armoured Corps Centre and School, which proved to be his last appointment. Despite an outstanding career and a formidable combat record, promotion to army commander did not take place. Maybe the powers-that-be found his outspokenness too hot a virtue to handle. Eventually, it was his course-mate, Rodrigues, who made it to COAS. One wonders if the Kashmir militancy would have been better handled if it had been Hanut instead of Rodrigues as army chief in 1990.
The other distinct aspect of Hanut’s personality was his deep spiritual belief. Known as the ‘Saint Soldier’, he spent several hours in meditation each day. To the dismay of his rivals, this had no adverse impact on either his professionalism or his work. Unlike the generals of today who spend considerable time on biographies or in television studios, Hanut retired to the life of an ascetic at his guru’s ashram in Dehradun, also spending time in prayer in his native Jodhpur.
Hanut was a true soldier’s general, inspiring fierce loyalty in those who knew and served with him. Years after his retirement and more than a decade after his passing, that sense of loyalty remains alive. A movie on his life would be admirable, but it would be impossible to get the essence of his complex character right. A full account of his life and legacy would need volumes. Lt Gen Hanut Singh, PVSM, MVC, was a rare soldier – the Indian Army has never known his kind before or after.
(The author is a heritage explorer with a penchant for seeking obscure sites. A brand consultant by profession, he tweets @HiddenHeritage. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)
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