Hanut Tales: How General Hanut Singh Handled The Chinese in Sikkim

There is much talk of the Chinese intrusion in Doklam plateau in Bhutan since June 2017, where Indian soldiers and the Chinamen stand nose to nose and toe to toe with neither side willing to budge.

'Tis an old bullying habit of the Chinese. They push countries that they perceive are weaker. They are blatant, boorish and couldn't care about international norms and such like things. These are to be called upon only when it suits the Chinaman.

So in 1982, Maj General Hanut Singh, MVC, the doyen of armoured warfare in the South Asian region and hero of 1971 war Battle of Basantar, was posted by Indian Army MS Branch to command 17 Mountain Division in Sikkim. The armour general protested and demanded that he be given command of an armoured division, as it rightfully and logically be done in view of his deep insight of armoured warfare and the opportunity to pass it on to his subordinates. However, the DNA of all MS Branches across all armies, is such that they are given to convoluted line of thought and Indian Army MS Branch is no exception to the lot. So they informed the good general that he was being posted to command 17 Mountain Division so that he could improve his service profile. In summer of 1982 General Hanut Singhji took over the division and I was posted as his ADC in autumn the same year.

The Chinaman then was no different than he is now. At will and at different geographical locations, he would intrude into our territory sending the troops and commanders on ground into a tiffy and the staff would be running around like headless chicken in trying to manage the intrusion. North and East Sikkim was their playground. The Sino Indian border at Sikkim is  supposed to be a settled and delineated one, however the Chinaman was not given to respect such niceties, being a bully.

This sort of situation prevailed till warrior Hanut of the armoured corps, the one who had been sent by MS Branch to improve his profile, arrived as GOC 17 Mountain Division.

On taking over, General Hanut Singhji visited all Brigades and forward posts of his formation and took stock of the situation on the ground.Those days most journeys to forward brigades was in a Jonga and move to forward posts on ponies or on foot. For some very good reasons 33 Corps at Sukna, was tightfisted in allotting helicopters for movement of GOC 17 Mountain Division. You will get a good hint if you read my earlier post on General Hanut 'The Call'.

As the general would mention later in his conversations, after his familiarisation recce, he asked of the Corps Commander as to what were the instructions in case the Chinese were to intrude. He did not get a clear reply. When General Hanut persisted, the Corps Commander told him,  ' Hanut, you are a mature person, handle the situation in a mature manner.' or words to that effect.

With instructions received Gen Hanut decided to take things in hand and resolve the prevailing situation pertaining to Chinese intrusions. In those days and as it remains to date, the drill on a Chinese intrusion happening was well laid down and very passive. It involved  a small officer led unarmed  body of troops, usually section or platoon strength, moving towards the Chinese,  and unfurling a banner with Chinese characters printed on it which read that you are in Indian territory and requested to go back.

Meanwhile, the only Chinese language interpreter in the brigade would come huffing and puffing and try to speak to the Chinese in the language they understood. The Chinese on the other hand would be nonchalant. Carrying on with what they were doing, map reading or even having their lunch while we stood there with our banners, watching.

General Hanut Singh the warrior, introduced a new language to the Chinaman, Hindi. In those days there used to be three mountain brigades deployed in Sikkim in defense of the State, under 17 Mountain Division. General Hanut visited all Brigades personally and held a Sainik Sammelan or durbar in each brigade. He insisted that maximum troops be present for his address and he addressed the gathering in hindi as such.

The General informed the gathering that the boundary of Sikkim is as what is our understanding of the boundary. In case the Chinaman has a doubt then he can talk to Delhi but he should certainly not violate the border as we understand, hold and defend. He then went on to lay down a new drill in case the Chinese were to intrude.

As per the new drill, in case of a Chinese intrusion, the unit or formation concerned, would tactically deploy a company or more in vicinity of the Chinese and warn them thrice in hindi that they have intruded into Indian territory. In case the Chinese did not withdraw, the senior officer present should order opening fire on the Chinese till such time they vacated Indian territory. The General also empowered NCOs to order opening fire in case a situation was developing that warranted opening fire.

General Hanut laid down one caveat while giving out these instructions to his command. He said under no circumstance, will the enemy be allowed to open fire first because our hesitation in opening fire on earlier occasions, had always resulted in high casualties to our troops. 17 Mountain Division will fire first and inflict maximum damage on the enemy in case our territory was violated. He also went on to state that in case the Chinese opened fire first and inflicted casualties on our troops and it was established that the senior officer present had hesitated in ordering fire, he would court martial that person for cowardice. Brigade commanders were authorized to order opening up of Artillery fire. General Hanut was not going to wait for instructions from a dithering and hesitant political and military hierarchy.

And thus kameraden in that year 1982 new orders for dealing with Chinese intrusions were personally given out by the GOC General Hanut Singh to his command. I had the privilege of being present in each of the three durbars that the General addressed in the Mountain Brigades. His staff was also instructed accordingly so that the entire formation was on one wavelength and the GOC's intent was clear to all.

The message went out loud and clear to the Chinese that a new General has arrived who has a different take on their activities. It also manifested in greater confidence and changed body language of our units and troops and the shrewd Chinaman was quick to note that. In the year plus that General Hanut spent as GOC 17 Mountain Division before moving to take over 1 Armoured Division at Ambala, there were no Chinese intrusions. The Chinaman had got the message that a warrior has arrived.

General Hanut's decision to personally address the troops of the three brigades, is an example of leadership of the highest order. He gave out some very tough instructions, the officers and men heard him loud and clear and there was no doubt in their mind as to how intrusions will be dealt from now on. Responsibility and accountability at all levels was clearly laid down. The General was ultimately accountable for everything. For once clear rules of engagement had been laid down by a Commanding General and the results were there to be seen.

The steely resolve that we get to see in the personality of this great warrior, is that what had carried his Regiment The Poona Horse across an uncleared minefield at Basantar in December 1971 and the subsequent destruction of Pak 8 Armoured brigade by The Poona Horse. That same steely resolve we were to witness in the grey mountains of Sikkim.

Indian army and schools of instruction  would do well to study the personality and teachings of this great warrior. They would learn much and their leaders would be better leaders, imbibed with the spirit of Hanut Steel.