Kashmir Singh Katoch

Kashmir Singh Katoch
Born 1915
Sri Nagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Occupation Army personnel
Civil servant
Years active Since 1936
Known for Kashmir conflict
Parent(s) Janak Singh
Awards Padma Bhushan
Military Cross

Kashmir Singh Katoch (born 1915) is an Indian army personnel and a former military advisor to Hari Singh, the last ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir during the pre-Indian independence period.[1] When Pakistan invaded Kashmir in 1947 after the India-Pakistan partition, Hari Singh requested Louis Mountbatten, the then Governor-General of India, for help and it was Katoch who was deputed by the Indian government to advise and assist the ruler.[2][3] These events led to the accession of Kashmir to the Dominion of India.[4]

Katoch was born in 1915 in Sri Nagar to Janak Singh, a former Prime Minister of the state of Kashmir, and did his military training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, to complete the course in 1936.[5] After training at Surrey Regiment, he joined the Frontier Force Rifles and participated in World War II; the service earned him a Military Cross. He became a Lieutenant Colonel of the British Army at the age of 31. After the Indian independence, he was deputed at the Kashmir State Forces and it was during this time, he was appointed as the military advisor to Hari Singh.[1] The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1965, for his contributions to civil service.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Independence Day and Kashmir". The Nation. 14 August 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  2. "Maharaja Hari Singh's Letter to Mountbatten". Jammu Kashmir.com. 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  3. Maj Gen Afsir Karim (24 October 2013). Kashmir The Troubled Frontiers. Lancer Publishers LLC. pp. 225–. ISBN 978-1-935501-76-3.
  4. "Kashmir: The origins of the dispute". BBC News. 16 January 2002. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  5. Brigadier Samir Bhattacharya (19 December 2013). NOTHING BUT!: Book Three: What Price Freedom. Partridge Publishing. pp. 30–. ISBN 978-1-4828-1625-9.
  6. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.


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