Infantry is the unit of armed forces that fights on foot.
October 27th is marked as Infantry Day in India.
Why is Infantry Day marked on October 27?
The year was 1947. All 560+ princely states had decided to join either Pakistan or India. These princely states covered about 23% of the total population and 40% of India’s area. The rest was under British, Portugese, and Dutch occupation.
The only state remaining was Jammu and Kashmir. At about 218,600 square kilometers, it was easily the largest Indian princely state.
Maharaja Hari Singh, the Dogra king whose ancestors had received the Kashmir Riyasat from the British after the defeat of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was in a strange space. Kashmir was also the only state which was Muslim majority, ruled by a non-muslim.
In October, the Maharaja finally made up his mind and signed the accession document to India.
However, by this time, some other things were happening.
In Punjab, a reverse migration had started from Pakistan to India. From October to February, thousands of people who had moved to Pakistan to be in the holy land (Pakistan means holy land), were coming back.
In the mountainous region of Kashmir, units of Pakistani army disguised themselves as Kabailis (कबाईली). Kabaili means a person from a Kabila – a tribe / community. North West Frontier Province and Afghanistan are both dominated by kabilas or small tribes. This means that Kabailis are civilians.
As the Instrument of Accession was signed, an armed attack on foot was launched by the so-called Kabailis. The only way to counter this attack would be on foot.
At this important time, the Indian Army’s Infantry unit started its action in Kashmir on October 27th. It was because of this decisive, key action that Jammu and Kashmir’s Instrument of Accession to India could be brought into effect.
Pakistan continued its attack in the valley from October 1947 to November 1948 – more than a year. The Indian army fought valiantly throughout this entire period. Because of the nature of the attack, this set of battles was fought, for the most part, by the Infantry units.
As many as 5 Param Vir Chakras correspond to this period in the Jammu Kashmir region.
Major Somnath Sharma (posthumous)
Naik Jadunath Singh (posthumous)
Second Lieutenant Rama Raghoba Rane
Company Havildar Major Piru Singh (posthumous)
Lance Naik Karam Singh
To mark this important action, Infantry Day is marked on October 27th every year in India.