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I
was thinking of proceeding to Uri as the office there was due for inspection
when Ghulam Mohammed dropped in. He used to be the staff car driver of the
Director’s office. I used to think that he was somewhat stand-offish. He,
however, became very attached to me after I got his pension authorization in
three days time from Kapurthala – the seat of our audit office. More about him
later.
He asked me whether I was thinking of going
out of station, if so, he said, he would come along to drive my car. In those days
we at the field level had no official vehicle. We were left to our own devices
– either one’s own vehicle or use of public transport. Since Ghulam offered to
come with me I thought he would be a great help. I rushed the plan as we had to
take Inner Line permits for everyone, including Ghulam, a thorough-bred
Kashmiri. to enter Uri. It was not open to the public.
Along
with Gjulam and Ramesh, my PA, we left for Uri one very fine morning. It was a
well built road and the journey was pretty smooth. As we reached the check
point I had to stop the vehicle. I kept it at the extreme left from where I
could see the man waving the flag for vehicles to move on. Soon I found the man
looking at me and waving his flag. I started off and was cruising at a decent
speed. Even despite the noise of the car we could hear the Jhelum River going
down a gorge in frothy turbulence. Soon we reached Chandanwari and got into the
guest house. Seeing a garage right in front with its gate open invitingly I put
the car in and the PA tried to shut the heavy doors but couldn’t as there was
nothing to hold them together.
Having
refreshed ourselves, all three of us walked to the office. It was around one
kilometer away and the road was along the river. After about 500 metres there
was a bend to the left and right in front was the Haji Peer Pass at a fairly
high elevation. I understand it is more than 8000 ft high. Hajo Peer, as is well known, was captured by
Indian force at great cost of lives in rge 1965 War but was returned to
Pakistan under the Tashkent Agreement. We had won back our own territory which
was illegally seized by Pakistan, hence where was the question of returning it;
but such are the inexplicable ways of the politicians.
Uri
at one time was important as it connected Kashmir through the Jhelum Valley
Road to Rawalpindi. It also connected Kashmir with Poonch. Nonetheless, it was
like a one-horse town. Across the river the mountains were in illegal occupation
of Pakistan.
After
about three hours I finished the inspection and we commenced our walk back to
the Chandanwri rest house. It was pleasantly cool and one felt like walking.
Arriving at the rest house I checked the car and was happy to find it safely in
its shelter.
Next
morning we commenced our drive back for Srinagar. This time it was Ghulam who
was driving. It was uneventful until we came close to the checkpost around 50
yards from which two jawans vigorously waved us down. They led us close to the
checkpost which, in fact was functioning from a tent. They said they looked for
my car all through the previous day; they even had gone to neighbouring
villages as they couldn’t locate it in Uri. They said I had gone past the check
post without getting the necessary clearance. They asked us to wait till the
Captain who was manning the post was free.
While
waiting outside the checkpost I surveyed the surroundings. Kashmir’s beauty was
really unmatched. In the midst of this beauty there was this ugliness of the
guards who were manning the post. They were rough and harsh with the passengers
in a bus who apparently did not have the permit to go out of Uri. Some of them
were pulled out of the bus roughly, thrashed and were, quite clearly, left high
and dry. The army was Indian and it was also of the Kashmiris and hence perhaps
those who defaulted could be treated more sensitively. But there was a flip
side. The Army had to to be rough as this was also the route for infiltration
from Pakistan.
Soon
we were called in. As I entered the Captain, who was a young handsome Sikh
asked where we had disappeared in Uri. He also said that his boys went all over
but couldn’t find the car – a prominent looking car of flashy red colour. I
handed to him the permits and gave our identities saying that I was in Uri on Central
government business and that the car was in the garage of Chandanwari rest
house where we spent the night. He seemed to be amazed and perhaps a trifle
foxed. He asked again about the car and whether the garage was locked. I gave
him the facts. It was then that he seemed to go ballistic and let loose a
barrage of choicest Punjabi expletives directed at his soldiers.
While
he asked me to push off he held back the guards for perhaps some more slamming
in the privacy of his tent.It was an anticlimax for the Army boys who perhaps
never expected a dressing down and that the table would be turned on them. Of
course, we were not privy to how actually things panned out for them.
*Photo from internet
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