Gen Zorawar Singh Left Legacy Of Model Mountain Warfare Strategy: Senior Army Officer

NEW DELHI : From conquering Ladakh to launching his audacious campaigns in Tibet, legendary warrior General Zorawar Singh has left behind a legacy of model mountain warfare strategy, a senior Army officer said on Sunday.
Colonel of the Regiment of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles & Ladakh Scouts, Lt Gen M P Singh, said this in his keynote address delivered at an event held at the Manekshaw Centre at Delhi Cantonment.
The occasion was the unveiling of a book on the legendary military general’s life and legacy. On April 11 last year, at a symposium hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles regiment and think-tank Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) at this very venue, it was announced that a “chair of excellence” has been established in his honour at the Delhi-based defence think-tank.
The book, titled ‘Snow Lion: A Military Biography of General Zorawar Singh’, which chronicles his life, operational tactics, victories and mountain warfare, is the result of the establishment of the ‘chair of excellence’.
Authored by Lt Gen G S Katoch (retd), it also contains some critical leadership lessons, Lt Gen Singh said.
The “chair of excellence” was established by the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles regiment.
Gen Zorawar was a “great Indian warrior”, and his life was nothing short of a notable embodiment of great vision and courage, Lt Gen Singh said.
“His exemplary military services across the difficult mountainous terrain of Ladakh, Baltistan and western Tibet are proof of his strategic foresight, acumen and his high-altitude warfare genius,” he said in his address.
“From conquering Ladakh to manoeuvering advancements into Baltistan and later launching his audacious campaigns in Tibet, time and again, Gen Zorawar Singh proved his knowledge of high terrain. His yet-to-match understanding of operational art, leaving us a model mountain warfare strategy in inheritance,” the general officer said.
He emphasised that the Himalayas were seen as the greatest difficulty by the outsiders, but General Zorawar Singh transformed it “to our strength”. The legendary warrior showcased to the world that sustained operations in the world’s highest mountains are “not only possible, but achievable and sustainable”.
His life reminds the Army that valour is timeless, and that the Himalayas are “not our obstacle, but our greatest strength”, Lt Gen Singh said.
He said the new book bridges history with military insight, and will contribute to resurrect, relive and re-cultivate the life and legacy of General Zorawar Singh.
Later, a panel discussion, helmed by the author, was also held at the event. A “master of high-altitude warfare” who led multiple historic campaigns into the Tibet region, and a courageous warrior with “strategic brilliance” and “military genius” is how senior army officers and military historians described his legacy.
The military general was born in 1786 in Kehlur in Bilaspur, which falls in today’s Himachal Pradesh. His campaigns in Tibet took place in the first half of the 19th century. (Agencies)