Brigadier Ghansara Singh, who was Governor of Gilgit at the time of partition of the country in August 1947, exposed here [Srinagar] to-day [January 9] in detail British collusion with Pakistan in capturing Gilgit. Ghansara Singh was appointed by the Jammu and Kashmir Government to take over charge of Gilgit from the British Government to which Gilgit had been leased by Kashmir for 60 years. After termination of British rule in India the Brigadier flew to Gilgit on July 31, 1947 but was taken prisoner in a mutiny jointly sponsored by British officers and some Muslim officers. Eleven months later he was sent to Pakistan from where he was sent to India in exchange of prisoners after another three months. Brigadier Ghansara Singh, who is 79 and leads a very active life in Jammu, fully supported the view expressed in the book “Slender was the Thread” by Lt.-Gen. Sen that what happened in Gilgit in 1947 prior to and during the tribal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir strengthened the inference that British officers were involved in Pakistan’s plan and that the loss of Gilgit was the result of “piratical action.” Giving first hand details of the still untold story of that piratical action in Gilgit, Brigadier Ghansara Singh told Pressmen here to-day he was appointed Governor of Gilgit just about a month before partition.
