During the 1965 war, around the flat fields and irrigation canals of Khemkaran town, dust rose in clouds and the horizon appeared deceptively open. It was in this daunting landscape that India attempted to advance on 6 September, and was met with fierce
resistance by Pakistani artillery. Indian units were forced to pull back, regroup, and choose their ground. That ground was Asal Uttar, meaning true north.
The line that formed there did not possess depth in the classical sense. In fact, it was a thin line composed of tired men who dug their heels in and refused to look over their shoulders. But had it broken under sustained pressure, the defence of the Punjab plains
would have become nearly impossible. The Indian crews’ Sherman tanks were going up against the Pakistani Army’s M47 and M48 Patton tanks, which had an evident
technological advantage. 1965: Holding the Line at Asal Uttar describes how the Indian forces repelled Pakistan’s modern armoured division that had arrived with confidence, numbers, and a belief in its own invincibility.
The book is a meticulously detailed account of the battle by Brigadier Harash Vir Singh of Deccan Horse, one of the oldest and most storied cavalry regiments of the Indian Army. Constructed using restrained, dignified recollections from veterans, it records a crucial episode of India’s military history that holds many lessons for the ages to come.
Brigadier Harash Vir Singh, commissioned into the Deccan Horse—a regiment once commanded by his father—has served across the full spectrum of the Indian Army’s operational and institutional landscape. From developing pioneering training
simulators to commanding his regiment during Operation Parakram, his career reflects a rare blend of innovation, leadership, and deep systemic understanding.
Born into an army family (his father, Major General Verma, was a captain with 2 Rajput in 1962), film-maker and military historian Shiv Kunal Verma has worked with all three arms of the Indian armed forces over the last two and a half decades. From flying extensively with the IAF while making Salt of the Earth and Aakash Yodha to the filming of the Naval Dimension and the Kargil War, Verma has had a ringside view of matters military. His film on the National Defence Academy—The Standard Bearers—is considered a classic. He is the author of the highly acclaimed Northeast Trilogy (that documented the entire region
and its peoples) and The Long Road to Siachen: The Question Why. His acclaimed works include 1962: The War That Wasn’t and 1965: A Western Sunrise.