Location – Srinagar (Kashmir).
Time – The War of 1965
The enemies were moving forward at a fast pace.Kashmir needed urgent military help.
Srinagar received a message from the Army Office of Delhi that under any circumstances Srinagar airport should not be captured by the enemy. If the enemy wins the city, it will do ,but the airport should not fall in enemy hands.We are sending troops by airplane.
Srinagar- But there is a heap of snow everywhere at the airport. Landing a plane will be extremely difficult.
Employ laborers instantly. Regardless of how much wages you have to pay for this work, as many laborers as you have to employ make arrangements.
Workers are not available. ….
And at this time the heads of the army remembered the Sangh .
It was eleven o’clock in the night. A military jeep halted
in front of the Sangh office.
One of the officers came down.
The meeting of key volunteers was going on in the office. Premnath Dogra and Arjun were the ones who were sitting.
The army officer gave message of the serious situation. Then he asked – Will you be able to do the job of removing the piles of ice at the airport?
Arjun said – sure!
How many people do you need ?
At least half a hundred, so that all the snow is removed in three to four hours.
Arjun said – we will give six hundred volunteers.
So many will be available at night.
The military official said with surprise.
You just arrange vehicles to take us. We will be ready in 45 minutes.
The method of this organization was amazing, at the appointed time all 600 volunteers gathered together at the office and went together.
Message was sent to Delhi – the removal of ice has started. Let the airplanes come anytime.
“What ? How did you get the workers so soon?”
Yes, but they are not laborers, all are members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
RSS Swayamsevak were at work all the night. On the morning of October 27, 329 soldiers of the Sikh Regiment landed in Srinagar and they embraced the swayam sevaks with great love. Then such eight airplanes descended.
All of them had ample amounts of arms. The volunteers also helped to take the weapons and put them on the premises.
Airport escaped from enemy occupation, strategic advantage of this was immense.
The task of widening the air strip was to be done instantly, so without resting the volunteers started working again.
Reference Book:
Na phool chadhe na deep jale.
*Namaste Sada Vatsley Matrubhumi …*
This story has been making the rounds on WhatsApp as well. At no point of time was Srinagar at risk of falling to Pakistan in the 1965 war.
The 1947-48 conflict in J&K was a different story. Tribal militia and Pakistan Army irregulars did indeed reach the outskirts of Srinagar. But even in that scenario, I have not read any mention of the RSS clearing the Srinagar airport.
So my request to Zach is to not post something that is not borne out by independent records.
JT and Zach, can this story be further studied? Can you ask the RSS officially for a comment. I would also be curious to hear Kushal’s perspectives.
I didn’t post it as the truth; I posted it for verification hence my question mark.
Lol – read the whole story wondering why Brown Pundits is posting RSS Whatsapp forwards … missed the question mark!
1965 war was fought in the month of September. There is no snowfall in September, even in Kashmir valley.
The article is full of factual errors. Archetypal of a Whatsapp message churned out by BJP’s IT cell.
Sometimes I just wonder how thoroughly the social media space in India has been completely captured by BJP, RSS, and all assorted Hindu right wing groups. Left/Centrist views are conspicuous by their absence on social media platform in India.
It’s patently obvious that this story is BS. But besides that, I wonder if the RSS has any presence in Srinagar? A Sangh office in that city (and one that advertises itself as such) would seem to be a massive red flag. (At least today; maybe that was more likely in 1965)
Since I don’t partake of social media, can someone here tell us if this story is being spread in English, or in Hindi too?
If this was indeed spread by BJP IT cell than they are stupider than I thought. There are many real examples of RSS making sacrifices for the country, why invent something so absurd that anyone can tell that is a badly fabricated story?
Which makes me wonder if this is a false flag social post to dent the right wing’s credibility?
A lot of “educated” people believe this blindly. You give way to much credit to the critical reading skills of most people. The valourising of the RSS through fake social media content like this is an ongoing project, and a rather successful one.
The interesting question now is, are other mainstream political formations creating fake news like this or is it a tactic being monopolized by Hindu and Muslim identitarians exclusively.
What is history but a fable agreed upon! 🙂
A brief google search on the “reference” book on question – “Na phool chadhe na deep jale” tells us that this is indeed an account of 1947-48 war from the perspective of an RSS hand.
The man whom India owes most in saving Kashmir is Brigadier Rajinder Singh. Another hero, from India’s perspective at least, was Dewan Ranjit Rai.
Their actions are well documented in history. Even BP’s old posts tells the story much more accurately than these RSS posts.
https://www.brownpundits.com/2018/02/18/1947-48-kashmir-war/
It would probably have been better if Kashmir had *not* been saved?
“It would probably have been better if Kashmir had *not* been saved?”
Better for who ?
Perhaps yes, Had India not got Kashmir , it would have left it alone , making its peace with Jammu and Ladakh (Bhutto when foreign minster was effectively given the same deal by Swaran Singh, which he rejected) .
On RSS they were hardly a force before the emergency and were mostly looked down upon. The emergency and the rise of Deoras (perhaps one of the least known RSS guy as well as perhaps the reason why RSS is the Juggernaut its today) gave the RSS the legitimacy and the power it needed.
This is a story that could only make sense from the 1948 war, not the 1965 war and even then I don’t recall any mention of snow in Srinagar when the tribal raiders got there.. you need to stay away from Whatsapp forwards..
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/27-october-1947-the-spectacular-rescue-of-kashmir/
re #1965War try https://independentindian.com/life-of-mk-roy-19152012-indian-aristocrat-diplomat-birth-centenary-concludes-7-nov-2016/india-pakistan-diplomacy-during-the-1965-war-the-mk-roy-files/
yes the RSS had a role thwarting the raiders in 1947 apparently…