PARATROOPS IN SIND

Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 252, 26 October 1942, Page 6

PARATROOPS IN SIND

FUNITIVE RAID ON DACOIT3. EXPERIENCE FOR JUNGLE WARFARE. Parachute troops have been used opcrationally for the first time in India as part of a remarkabie punitive expeditlon against the jungle stronghold of the Ilurs of Sind„ whose campaign of murder and daeoity is being ruthelessly stamped out by a composite force commanded by Major-General R. Richardson, who came down from the North-West Frontier a few weeks ago to adminis- ' ter martial law (a special correspon- i dent of the Times reported in July.) j Socres of prisoners have been ' rounded up. They probably include | some murderers, who will swell the 1 niimber of hangings, which now i reaches 27, after trial by military i tribunals; though it is possible that' many of the ringleaders, alarmed by the unwonted air aetivity over the area before the net was cast, succeed- 1 ed in stealing away. But at leasti they have been smoked out of their most notorious lairs, hidden in swamps, and almost impenetrable bush. Nests of shelters made of reeds and grass, which were known as hiding places of the Hurs, have been burned down, and patrols have been left to guard the approaches. The whole operation, moreover, was carried out in extraordinary difflcult conditions and may be regarded as valuafole practice for jungle warfare elsewhere in which the British forces so far have been ta a marked disadvantage. UNSAVOURY LEADER. The orimes for which the Hurs have to pay are many. Nor are they confined to the pillaging of villages or the holding up of train and bus and the savage massacre of passengers. By extensive sabotage of publie works, such as telephones and canals, they have held an intolerable threat to the normal traffic on the Karachi-Lahore railway. German and Japanese propaganda is making much of these Hur "patriots," though it is clear that the bandits themselves do not see beyond a fanatical campaign of intimidation for the release of Pir Pagaro, a murderer and pervert, who as spiritual leader of the Hur seot is the evil genius of a large criniinal element among his followers. I have spent nearly a week in the jungle with advanced headquarters and have seen a good deal of this complicated operation. The area to foe combed lay in the Nara valley some way to the north of Hyderabad. To the east beyond a belt of jungle lies the Sind desert in which Hur bands have been able to assemble or disperse. A charaeteristic is the rapidity with which they break up after their depredations and their skill in concealing the identity of their leaders from the ordinary followers. There is no doubt that Pir Pagaro has introdueed some measure of military training into his organi.sation. The Kingri Pirs, of whom Pir Parago is a descendant, have been traeed back to the eighth eentury. With their secret sign, blue-black clothes, and ramifications among the population, the'militant section of the- Hurs may best be likened to a medieval cult of assassins with a spy system that has a touch of magic afcout it. It has been the object of recent military movements to clear the desert of Hurs, and to drive them into the jungle region aroun'd, the Markhi Dhund, or honey swamp, in which they would traditionally feel safe.

STRANGER THAN FICTION. With the co-operation of British police offieers of long experienct, and of the civil administration, General Richardson and his staff had pre-p-ared a plan to close in on a jungle "box," as it were, from all sides, with as varied a force as ever kept company together. If the story of the Hurs is stranger than fiction, it was equalled in some respects by the body of men, with its blend of ancient and modern, that set out to hunt them. A strong detachment, drawn from an Indian parachute unit and led by a British officer, dropped on the edge of the desert with the mission of beating westwards through the jungle and of linking up with the first camel column of police sweeping fuom the

north, and then with a force of Punjabis coming eastwards, after crossing the Nara in assault boats. The Hur may be no fighter, but parachute troops had the experience of flying and jumping in full war equipment — a doctor among them — with no greater mishap than a sprained ankle. From brigade headquarters, upon an island of sand arising above a wilderness of forest, we watched transports fly over in two waves soon after dawn, and not long afterwards, away on the horizon, smoke and flames leapt up as the Plur nests were fired. Meanwhile platoons of frontier constabulary and of Crown representative police from Khairpur were beating southwards on camel and on foot, often having to cut their way through the jungle. FOREST SWAMPS. At the southern extfemity of the area, from a place named Sanghar, the rest of the infantry set out in motor transport. Reconnaissance by air had not revealed the true thickness of the forest or its hidden swamps; the Hurs knew what paths there were, but no accurate largescale map existed of the area of some 300 square miles. By day the temperature approached 120deg. in the shade in our compound, and conditions were far worse for the units who spent days and nights in a jungle alive with mosquitoes, snakes and crocodiles. It is surprising that there were so few casualties from the heat or from fever. All the British senior offieers had spent years in frontier stations, But many of the junior leaders had arrived only recently from home. Everything considered, the expeditlon fully achieved its purpose. Now the Hurs are on the run, and as the inhabitants lose their fear, information is coming in far more freely. It is known that during ihis period of liberty Pir Pagaro drew up a blaek list, and for a time murders followed it in almost precise order.