Slender Was the Thread: Kashmir Confrontation 1947-48

by L.P. Sen

A factual account of the role of the famous 161 Indian Infantry Brigade in saving Kashmir from the ravages of the rapacious Pathan tribesmen. The unforgettable story is told here by the Commander of this brigade, with a wealth of detail matched by depth of perception. The story is worth reading again and again, because, as time has shown, the Kashmir confrontation is not over yet.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, War, India, Military History, Pakistan

300 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Manas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slender Was the Thread is the account by the Brigade Commander of the 161st Brigade, a Brigade created piecemeal by the Indian government with troops at hand, and tasked with the job of securing the Kashmir Valley in 1947, when murderous and rapacious tribesmen, supported and aided by Pakistan, invaded the valley with an aim to present India with a fait accompli .

The account as stated in the foreword, is narrated so as to be understandable by the common man and not steeped in Military jargon, and is amply supported by maps of the area. The situation that the Indian forces faced in Kashmir was truly inviting disaster, and that the Indian forces managed to save Srinagar and retain a part of the valley is undoubtedly due to the sacrifice of the brave warriors, and partly because of good fortune.

The pages detailing the Battle of Shalateng, and anecdotes about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel are the highlights of the book. Revealing, also are the attitude described of the Army Headquarters, New Delhi, led by Britishers, just post independence, who declined every request for more troops by the commanders in Kashmir and who, most probably, sabotaged the drive towards Domel by the 161st Brigade, the area which still is under illegal occupation by Pakistan.

[Rishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a mess British have left India and Asia with... Our borders with Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, and China will take, God knows how, many lifetimes to resolve; will they even be resolved is another question mark?

[Ajitabh Pandey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent account of the 1947-48 war in Kashmir written by then Brigadier L P Sen, who was commanding the 161 Infantry Brigade responsible for the defence of the Kashmir valley.
Brigadier Sen has written this book from his point of view of how he and his brigade fought the war with infiltrators who were many times more in numbers and were well armed.
He has also criticised his superiors for taking few incorrect decisions owing to which Indian Army was not able to retake the entire Kashmir valley and the result of which is Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. However, we must remember that this book is from his account and the decisions which he took and which were conveyed to him. We need to be able to understand the other point of views and circumstances which resulted in those tough decisions.
A very well written book, a must read.

[Shwetadri Shekhar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Gives the first hand perspective of the sucess of the 161st Brigade in Kashmir while facing overwhelming odds against the tribals whom the newly formed Al Bakistan let loose . The peril the British and before that Maharaja Ranjit Singh kept at bay for centuries.

Also describes the chaos of partition and how the new republic tried to cope with that and fight the war.

The book shades light on some important characters like Sheikh Abdullah, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, D.P.Dhar and obviously Sardar Patel.

Somehow Nehru chacha is missing in the whole story.😂

If you are fan of military stories then it this book is an excellent read.

[A Sinha · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there was an option of 6-stars , I would have given this book ! Nail biting , page after page from the word go !!! Beats almost all thrillers !! I will reread it for sure again and again

[Akhilesh Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read to understand the origins of Kashmir border dispute.

[Shubham Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read, a must for those interested in wars

[Ambar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slender Was the Thread is a high octane action packed narration of a small group of a few thousand troops of the 161st Infantry Brigade holding back hordes upon hordes of enemy infiltrators from razing to the ground the entire area of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh, told by its commander Bogie Sen. It reads like the plot of a great action novel and happens to be true at the same time, highlighting as the narrative progresses, the many blunders made by Indian leadership in 1947-48, and the many challenges faced by a greatly outnumbered force with no knowledge or experience of local terrain, holding 6000 sq miles of territory with absolutely no supply lines or communication route to its parent force for 6 months. The action starts from the defence of Srinagar airstrip, and progresses to the Battle of Shataleng, retaking of Baramula, defence of Uri, and ends at the partially successful Spring offensive, and the frustrating loss of Kazinag and Haji Pir owing to poor leadership at the 11th hour.
What makes this retelling of the 48 conflict special, as opposed to the many other narrations abound, is the complete eyes on the ground picture given by Sen. This is the definitive account of 47-48, and its lessons to be taken away by Army HQ and South Block.

[SANTOSH REDDY · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book written by a man who played a pivotal role during the J&K operations of 1947-48 gives an account of the origin of Kashmir issue which has taxed Indian defence establishment for the past 68 years.If the 161 infantry Brigade had been given more resources/personnel,support from the government ,it would have easily captured the present POK region.This would have helped the Indian defence establishment to plan a non Pakistan centric defence policy which inturn would have helped India during 1962 Indo China war.But these if s and buts don t have any value in history .This book clearly shows that failure in crisis like (1947 J& K ) was due to lack of proper planning at the highest level(the Nehru government's and its decision to opt for UN mediation) and also at the command level (use of air support,mobilisation of armed forces from south India which was relatively peaceful).

[Roshan Shah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boring but feels like true. If true then Kashmir crisis could have been avoided. And it was deliberate that, the British hindered Indian troop formation in Kashmir and their conspiracy behind our backs to serve J&K to Pakistan. To an extent this bad head start affected not only Kashmir crisis, but even North-East crisis. Severely Crippling Indian border security.
China factor is mentioned in the last chapter. And it is evidently well known that Pakistan and China share an ill-intended relation with each other to compromise Indian border security.
First Hand evidence of Kashmir confrontation. Brilliantly authored with sketch maps to simplify the presentation. :)