Writer: Lieutenant Colonel Tanveer Jilani, retired
When first under fire an’ you’re wishful to duck, Don’t look nor take ’eed at the man that is struck, Be thankful you’re livin’, and trust to your luck And march to your front like a soldier. Front, front, front like a soldier …
(The Young British Soldier by Rudyard Kipling)
A legendary structure strikes the eye while plying from Chakdara to Timargara, a sentinel watch tower christened Churchill's Piquet in honour of Winston Churchill. He was the British premier, soldier and an author extraordinaire, who led his nation and allies in the darkest hour of their history, and overcame the rising tides of fascism and Nazism. He realised a comprehensive victory in the Second World War.
Commissioned in February 1895, Churchill entered the 4th Queen's Own Hussars as a 2nd lieutenant. In 1896, he moved to India with his regiment and stayed for 19 months, joining expeditions to Hyderabad and the erstwhile North West Frontier Province. Eager to participate in action, Churchill volunteered to join the Malakand Field Force, engaged in a campaign against a tribal uprising in Swat Valley, which concluded with a victory for the British Indian Army in August 1897. Major General Sir Bindon Blood accepted his services as a war-correspondent of the Daily Pioneer, since he had earlier experience of covering the Cuban War for the Daily Graphic. His dispatches from the battlefront attracted such wide attention, that on arriving back at Bangalore in October 1897, he penned down The Story of the Malakand Field Force in early 1898.
During the first week of September 1896, Churchill joined the Field Force. By then, fighting in the Swat Valley was nearly over, and move towards the Mohmands in the Nawagai Valley was imminent. Churchill’s Piquet at Chakdara was actually a signal tower providing communications through heliograph equipment. He mentions Chakdara Fort and the signal tower in these words, “On the further side is the fort, a Lilliputian Gibraltar, consists of the fortified knoll, an enclosure for horses, protected by a loopholed wall and barbed wire, and the signal tower is a detached post around 200 yards up the cliff”. Referring to the defence of Chakdara Fort from 26 July to 2 August 1897, Churchill mentions, “Then out of the darkness began a fusillade, which did not stop until 2nd of August”. 11 Bengal Lancers, 45 Sikhs, 24 Punjab and Dir Levies defended the small garrison; he notes “they had been continually fighting for 96 hours and men fell asleep at the loopholes and in service of the f ield guns”. Admiring the fierce nature of opposing Pathans, he showered praise on them; “I remark with pleasure, as an agreeable trait in the character of the Pathans, the immunity, dictated by a rude spirit of chivalry”.
The casus belli of the uprising was a paradigm shift in British Indian government policy in these frontiers, from holding line of mountains, to extend and consolidate influence through a Forward Policy, aimed at obtaining the frontier regions of Gilgit, Chitral, Jelalabad, Kandahar (sic). In Malakand, a local cleric, Fakir Saidullah alias the Mad Mullah, exploited mass resentment and declared to expel the Firangi (foreigners) from their native lands. The British nonetheless, came out victorious, thanks to the then state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment, coupled with training and discipline of troops, enforced by leadership of the officers.
Pakistan Army, engaged in War on Terror operations for two decades in the western frontiers of the erstwhile British Raj, can draw lessons in multifarious fields, to consolidate victory earned through immeasurable sacrifices. An all-inclusive pragmatic policy, pursued f irmly is the answer to the recent insurgence of terrorism. Churchill’s advice to the then British Indian Government, seems very relevant; “Dynamite in the hands of a child is not more dangerous than a strong policy weakly carried out”.
Although Churchill did visit Chakdara Fort, it cannot be established with certainty whether 2nd Lieutenant Winston Churchill actually stayed at Churchill’s Piquet, since no authentic written reference exists to this effect.
Albeit, what is certain is his praise for the bravery and sacrifice of British Indian soldiers against worst odds, and overwhelming numerical strength of their opponents. Naming the signal tower as Churchill’s Piquet is befitting tribute, not to a British Premier of the Second World War, but to a subaltern of the Malakand Field Force during the tribal uprising. Lieutenant Churchill fought alongside the nameless soldiers of the British Indian Army, displayed resolve to have his name mentioned in despatches, and subsequently immortalised the soldiers’ courage sacrifices, and valour for eternity.
