Page 365 - Leadership in the Indian Army

of barely 75 metres, was that of Major Nissar himself. At this stage, his own
tank suffered a fourth hit, killing the radio operator and severely wounding
Arun and the gunner. The driver, Prayag Singh, showing great presence of

mind, reversed his tank behind cover and evacuated the gunner to another
tank. Though he was himself wounded, he tried to pull Arun out of the tank
with the help of the crew of another tank. In the process, the gallant officer
breathed his last.
Arun Khetarpal’s sacrifice was more than an act of personal courage and
valour. It was a manifestation of ‘the PH spirit’, which Hanut had
inculcated amongst his officers. Twenty years later, when Hanut wrote the

book Fakhr-e-Hind , he dedicated it to ‘The PH Spirit’, which, according to
him, is ‘an intangible compendium of many qualities that defies description,
but infuses every Poona Horseman and guides and sustains him both in
peace and in war’. In simpler terms, it is a rare combination of
comradeship, loyalty and total dedication to the profession of arms. Arun’s
refusal to abandon his tank, at grave personal risk, on the grounds that the

CO had forbidden it, is a manifestation of the fierce sense of loyalty which
Hanut commanded from his subordinates. It is this sort of mutual trust and
loyalty that wins battles, and the ability to inspire it is the true hallmark of a
leader, which Hanut undeniably was.
Another oft-repeated tale about the Battle of Basantar concerns Hanut’s
habit of daily meditation. It is said that during the thick of the battle, Hanut
did not answer when the brigade commander Brigadier A.S. Vaidya called

him on the radio. When Vaidya questioned him about it later, Hanut is
reported to have said that he was doing his ‘puja’. The story is only partly
true. Hanut did switch off his radio set to HQ 16 Independent Armoured
Brigade, but this was because his unit was placed under command of 47
Infantry Brigade for the bridgehead operation. Also, he did not want any
distraction or interference during the tank battle, where the rapidly changing

situation required his undivided attention. According to Hanut, Vaidya did
not call him during the battle, and only learned about the action much later,
from the After Action Report.
Even before the operations commenced, Hanut had anticipated that his
regiment would be involved in a major battle with Pakistani armour as soon
as they crossed the Basantar river. Accordingly, he had rehearsed his unit
with a map and a sand model. An aspect that he repeatedly stressed was that

once they beat back the inevitable counter-attack, the enemy would be in