The valiant civilian
Ram Chander was born to Faqir Chand in 1921 in Kot Kishan Chand, Jalandhar, Punjab. He joined the 14 Field Company Engineers of the Madras Engineering Group in May 1947. He was a civilian in the Indian Army and a washer-man by profession.
The suzerainty of UK over the Indian states lapsed after Independence. Lord Listowel, the Secretary of State for India made it clear to the princes of Indian states that they should accede to India or Pakistan. The Maharaja of Kashmir was toying with the idea of Independence. The population of Kashmir had Muslim majority and Jinnah strongly wanted Kashmir to accede to Pakistan. The Maharaja of Kashmir did not comply with the demand of Jinnah and Pakistan decided to launch military action.
Hari Singh, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, was already facing an uprising in Poonch. On 22 October 1947, Pakistan’s Pashtun tribal militias and irregular Pakistan forces crossed the border to take the capital city of Srinagar, but upon reaching Baramulla, they took to plunder. Maharaja Hari Singh made a plea to India for assistance and help was offered subject to his signing of an Instrument of Accession to India. The war was initially fought by the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces. Following the accession of the State to India on 26 October 1947, Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar, the state capital.
Civilian Dhobi Ram Chander was part of a convoy proceeding to Jammu under the command of Lieutenant F.D. W. Fallon on 18 December 1947. When the convoy reached Bhambla, it was ambushed by the enemy who had created a roadblock by removing the decking on a bridge. Ram Chander helped the convoy commander to replace the decking while the bridge was under continuous fire. On Lieutenant Fallon being wounded, he took the officer’s rifle and helped in holding the enemy. He provided cover fire to Lieutenant Fallon’s vehicle when it got over the bridge and was responsible for inflicting five to six casualties on the enemy.
However, the convoy commander was forced to abandon his vehicle due to heavy firing and in the process both he and the convoy commander got separated from the rest of the convoy. He helped Lieutenant Fallon, who was in a state of collapse due to loss of blood, to the nearest post which was eight miles away. He refused to leave him and acted as an advance scout to see that the way was clear. His devotion to the officer was far beyond the call of duty. His calmness and courage under fire were unequalled by any of the enrolled personnel in the convoy.
He was awarded Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) for his courage in escorting the wounded officer to the next Post which was 13 kms away. Ram Chander, displayed outstanding skills in negotiating the almost impassable snow-covered slopes swept by Medium Machine Gun (MMG) fire. By a superb physical effort, he got the wounded man, bundled him up in his blanket and brought him to safety.
His tale of courage is as old as the history of Independent India. While it is rare for a civilian to be decorated for gallantry in war, it is not so rare for the government to forget such tales and leave them in the lurch.
The Punjab government is yet to fulfil its promise of allotting 10 acres of land to late Ram Chander (now to his family) who was awarded the MVC in the 1947 operations against Pakistani intruders. He is one of the only two civilians to have been awarded the MVC.
Ram Chander unsuccessfully struggled for the next 50 years to get his dues from the government. After he passed away in 1998, his widow, Tara Devi continued to make several representations to the state government and even met the Jalandhar District Commissioner but to no avail.
Tara Devi, in 2016 along with her son Mukesh attended the Triennial convention of the War Decorated India, at Chandigarh, an association of gallantry award winners. She lived in penury and managed her affairs with a monthly financial assistance of just Rs 5,000 that is given to spouses of MVC awardees.
Brigadier Suresh Chandra Sharma (retd.)