The Metaphor Of ‘Barhe Chalo’

Today, if the Indian Armed Forces are considered a beacon of India’s constitutionality, fidelity, and unity, then the credit is owed in no small measure to a precocious young boy called ‘Chimma’ in Kodagu district (Karnataka) who rose to be India’s first native Commander-in-Chief and later Field Marshal, K.M. Cariappa OBE.

Gallant and chivalrous Kodava warriors or Coorgis (as Anglicised during British Raj) have exceptional martial traditions dating back to the Puranic times of Chandra Varma (a Lunar dynasty warrior). Coorgis make amongst the finest combatants in the Indian Armed Forces, who still ritually worship their swords and guns.

Therefore, it was only befitting that K.M. Cariappa joined the fiery Rajput Regiment whose own timeless traditions of the love of battle, fearlessness, honour and nobility in the profession-of-arms, dates to thousands of years of unmatched valour. Folklore and recorded history are replete with countless instances of such a warrior lot paying the ‘ultimate price’ to uphold the highest codes of soldiering and chivalry.

To this sacred fount and measure of antiquity was born yet another Paltan in 1942 that was hand-raised and commanded by the then Lt. Col. K.M. Cariappa, The 17th Rajput Battalion. True to the civilisational ethos of the land and prevailing recruitment patterns then, it was composed of a 50:50 ratio of Hindu Rajputs and Punjabi Musalmaans. The tragic Partition of 1947 undid this hallowed secularity as the Musalman companies became part of Pakistan’s Punjab Regiment.

It was politics of the time and especially the small-spirited, illiberal, and divisive ‘two-nation theory’ that differentiated an ignoble neighbour from the inclusive, unifying, and secular dream of ‘unity in diversity’ that was the grandness called ‘India’.

But as professional soldiers of an avowedly apolitical institution that needed to seed, nurture, and perpetuate the dignity and grandeur of the ‘Idea of India’, Kipper (as Cariappa was nicknamed by the Britishers) probably knew that when the opportune time would come, he would keep his own tryst with the mellifluous ‘Idea of India’ and make sure that the institution of the Armed Forces personified that very best of India.

He inculcated, shaped, and drilled an institutional culture that has withstood the vagaries of time and circumstances to ensure the highest respect in the national imagination.

At Independence, India and its independent Armed Forces were young and brimming with dreams. But the wounded land had many societal fault lines that were susceptible to be fractured if not addressed in earnest.

The visionary knew that he had to insulate the Armed Forces from the pernicious and exploitative eyes of the political class and therefore insisted, “Army is there to serve the Government of the day, and we should make sure that it does not get mixed up with party politics”, a wise counsel for a partisan Armed Forces spells doom for any nation (as happening across the Line-of-Control).

The prophetic visionary also knew about the possible threat to diminish and divide the lofty ‘Idea of India’ and so pointed that, “A Soldier is above politics and should not believe in caste or creed” – the latter two, the favourite preoccupations and appropriations of reckless politicians.

The boilerplate of the Indian Armed Forces, as firm constitutionalists, restrained and dignified ‘Officer and a Gentleman’ was weaved into the institution’s DNA. The Armed Forces and the nation were served better for Field Marshal Cariappa’s cautionary wisdom and acquitted themselves magnificently, whenever there was a call to honour.

I had the personal honour to join Field Marshal’s own battalion, 17th Rajput Battalion, just before the 1965 Indo-Pak war broke-out. The illustrious Paltan had more than justified their heritage with the steely, ‘joshilaay’ and dare-devil performance in the fierce battle. Naturally born to fight, the doughty Rajput warriors of the 17th Rajput Battalion further enhanced their fearsome reputation in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

Even though the Field Marshal had retired as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee by 1953, somewhere in the hardwired consciousness of the 17th Rajput battalion lurked the hand, spirit, and halo of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, always churning a potent combination of immense pride, elan, and above all, an onerous sense of responsibility to live up to his name.

Whilst in ‘Uniform’, the sagacious leader-of-leaders had taken steps that were clearly ahead of the times, as the prescient man knew that unless the project of national integration as besetting the ‘Idea of India’ were taken, the curse of divisiveness and polarisation were inevitable.

Besides sharpening the functional ‘bite’ by expanding the Parachute battalions into a full-fledged Regiment, he introduced the concept of ‘All India’/‘All Class’ recruitment with the Brigade of Guards, he introduced National Cadet Corps as also the formation of Territorial Army as a second line of Defence, in an otherwise pacifist nation.

The ‘Pucca Saheb’ may have been anglicised in demeanour and bearing, but he was a first-class patriot who always spoke-up for the welfare of his beloved institution, Veterans and frequently made dash to the ‘forward areas’.

During one such visit to the 17th Rajput Battalion he coined a new insistence for the raring Paltan: ‘Barhe Chalo’, and the mood of the Rajput troops was immediately electrified with such a pithy but powerful nudge that they immediately suffixed the same into their own identity and the Paltan proudly calls itself 17th Rajput battalion (Barhe Chalo), a timeless imprint bestowed by its founding father.

The hardy but simple Rajput soldiers gave their own colloquial and innocently earthy moniker to their grand soldier and affectionately called him ‘Junglee Laat’ and have since then, never rested on their laurels, as they have always kept moving forward, regardless, as committed in the sacred covenant of Barhe Chalo!

But the Field Marshal had inadvertently seeded an even bigger responsibility when he suggested that his own Paltan 17 Rajput battalion (Barhe Chalo) be selected as one of the 13 Indian Army battalions for trial amalgamation of other castes, religions, and ethnicities, Muslims, Jats, Ahirs, Brahmins, Bengalis etc.

Many so-called ‘purists’ were dismayed but clearly Field Marshal Cariappa foresaw what a lot many, couldn’t, and given that the moral mandate was from their revered Junglee Laat, the Barhe Chalo Paltan took to the task and overcame expected resistance, when all other battalions conveyed their concerns with the experiment.

The already formidable Paltan became even more accomplished. It was also a moment of collective pride, that after forty years of the Field Marshal having commanded the redoubtable 17th Rajput Battalion (Barhe Chalo), myself as the Commanding Officer along with the paltan’s Second-in-Command (2IC) and later Commanding Officer himself, Col H.S. Gill had undertaken this successful experiment.

That diversity only enriches an environment (as in the case of the Paltan) is a message that cannot be overstated, ever. The metaphor of ‘Barhe Chalo’ was decoded not only in the context of raw and unrestrained courage but also in terms of evolving and progressing with time, as all things must.

Today, as a multi-composition Paltan, 17th Rajput battalion (Barhe Chalo) shines in whatever task, whichever formation and wherever it goes – the spirit and metaphor of ‘Barhe Chalo’ is a gentle reminder to remain progressive, professional, and forward-looking.

The civilisational and constitutional ‘Idea of India’ requires the wounds of the past to heal and to march ahead, confidently and ramrod straight – just as 17th Rajput battalion (Barhe Chalo) had the unique honour of marching in the Republic Day Parade in 2022, as a singular battalion contingent.

On April 15, the 17th Rajput Battalion (Barhe Chalo), celebrates its 81st Raising Day somewhere in the North-Western sector along the Line-of-Control, defending India and its constitutional spirit and that of the profound metaphor of ‘Barhe Chalo’, as it has done so steadfastly, for the last 81 years!

Lt General Bhopinder Singh (Retd), is the Former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. Views expressed are the writer’s own.