Aslam Khan (Pakistani brigadier)

Indian defence of the Kashmir Valley 27 October 1947 – 17 November 1947

While in the Pakistan Army, Aslam Khan is said to have gone on leave around 21 October 1947. On his way to Srinagar, at Lohar Gali, he ran into the Pashtun tribal invasion being led by Khurshid Anwar. He decided to join the invasion force and became the second-in-command.[8] Aslam Khan described himself as a deserter of the Pakistani Army to a reporter.[9] Scholar Andrew Whitehead remarks, "this is unlikely to be the full story",[10] and Indian sources allege that such army officers were seconded to the invasion force by the Pakistan Army.[11]

Following the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India, Indian troops were airlifted on 27 October to repel the invasion. The 1st Sikh regiment of the Indian Army, under the command of Lt. Col. Dewan Ranjit Rai, proceeded to Baramula immediately upon landing. Aslam Khan's "accurate handling of captured mortars" broke their first stand. Col. Ranjit Rai was killed.[12][13] The 1st Sikhs withdrew to Patan where they set up a defensive position. As more troops were flown in each day, the Indians renewed their attack and beat back the invading tribes beyond Uri by 7 November. The Kashmir Valley was secured.

In the Gilgit Agency at the north of Jammu and Kashmir, the Gilgit Scouts under the command of Major William Brown rebelled on 1 November 1947 and imprisoned the State's governor Brigadier Ghansara Singh. The Muslim troops of the Bunji garrison under the command of Mirza Hassan Khan joined them, and the non-Muslims were eliminated. On 16 November, Pakistan sent a Political Agent Khan Mohammad Alam Khan to take control, bringing Gilgit under the effective control of Pakistan.[14]

On 10 January 1948, Aslam Khan arrived in Gilgit to take command of the Gilgit Scouts. He presented the credentials the Azad Kashmir government.[15] Writer F. M. Khan states:

He was very shrewd and intelligent officer. He was blunt and direct in his approach. In his first meeting with the political agent at the Agency House, he had made it very clear that he [would] not tolerate any interference from the political agent in the military matters. Sardar Alam and Major Brown looked at each other; their dreams had been shattered.[15]

The British High Commission in India immediately connected the name Aslam Khan with the erstwhile second-in-command of the tribal invasion.[16]

Areas of control 25 November 1947 – 6 February 1948

Aslam Khan, apparently promoted to the rank of Lt. Col, used the nom de guerre 'Colonel Pasha', which kept his identity somewhat clouded. On 31 November he assembled all the officers of the 'Azad forces' (the Gilgit Scouts, the rebels from the Bunji garrison and other local recruits), and pointed out that their primary task was to capture and consolidate Skardu in Baltistan (part of the Ladakh Wazarat). He asked for volunteers to lead the expedition, but none came forward.[17] He then divided the available forces into three groups:[18][19]

• Ibex Force, consisting of 400 men under the command of Major Ehsan Khan, from the 6th Jammu and Kashmir Infantry. It was tasked with capturing Skardu. It was supposed to "hop, like an ibex of this area".
• Tiger Force, consisting of 400 men under the command of Captain Mirza Hassan Khan, also from the 6th Jammu and Kashmir Infantry. It was tasked with attacking Gurais via Bunji and Kamri, and advance to Bandipora, with the "growling noise of a tiger".
• Eskimo Force, a force of equal strength under Lieutenant Shah Khan of Gilgit Scouts. It was tasked with advancing through the Deosai Plateau and attack Drass, Kargil and the Zojila Pass.

Indian Spring Offensive 19 May 1948 – 14 August 1948

Scholar Ahmad Hasan Dani states:

... Col. Pasha knew the significance of his strategy very well. He had deployed the Eskimo Force in this direction with the sole purpose of closing the Zojila route before summer set in and to achieve that end it was he who alone knew how best to use the soldiers fighting in different sectors.[20]

With the Zojila Pass cut off, India's link with Leh would be severed and the entire Ladakh Wazarat fall into the rebels' hands. These results were substantially achieved by 19 May 1948. India was able to save Leh only by raising a local militia, Ladakh Scouts, and constructing an emergency airstrip for receiving armaments.

At this stage, Aslam Khan sent a wireless message to his commander in Rawalpindi. General Douglas Gracey, the Commander-in-Chief, was "bewildered" and ordered him to report back at his office. Once returned, he was appointed as the private secretary to General Gracey, away from the land of adventure.[1]

Meanwhile, his father Brigadier Rehmatullah Khan was in prison in Kashmir, regarded as an "enemy agent".[3] He was repatriated to Pakistan on 2 December 1948, as part of a prisoner exchange. Major Daler Singh Bajwa, Aslam Khan's dancing partner in the 1945 victory celebrations, gave him a send off.[21] The property of Rehmatullah Khan was seized by the State as evacuee property. The family's two cars were later used by Sheikh Abdullah and D. P. Dhar.[22]

Aslam Khan was promoted to the one-star rank of Brigadier at an age of 36. He was not promoted further, and retired in 1963.[1]

His younger brother Asghar Khan rose to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, retiring in 1965.