New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) There are soldiers who become legends because of the battles they fight. Then there are those whose legacy lives on in every battle fought by others. Brigadier Basant K. Ponwar belonged to that rare second category.
For an entire generation of police officers, commandos and young military leaders, he was more than an instructor. He was the man who changed the way India understood jungle warfare. Long before the tide turned against Left Wing Extremism, when vast stretches of central India were considered almost impenetrable, and the Maoists dictated the rhythm of the conflict, Brigadier Ponwar realised that conventional thinking would never produce unconventional victories.
His philosophy was disarmingly simple.
“Fight a guerrilla like a guerrilla.”
It was not merely a slogan. It became a doctrine.
It demanded that the security forces abandon predictable patterns and instead learn to think, move and survive as their adversary did. It meant travelling light, mastering the terrain, operating in small teams, relying on intelligence rather than brute force and treating every inch of the jungle with respect. To Brigadier Ponwar, the forest was not an obstacle to be crossed; it was a battlefield that had to be understood.
Those ideas would go on to reshape India’s approach to the counter-insurgency.
When he established the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College (CTJWC) at Kanker (Chhattisgarh), he was not merely setting up another training institution. He was laying the foundation for a new way of fighting a war that had already consumed thousands of lives.
The jungles of Bastar do not forgive mistakes.
A moment’s lapse in concentration, a poorly chosen route or an inability to read the terrain can prove fatal. Brigadier Ponwar knew this better than most. Every exercise he designed, every patrol he supervised and every lesson he taught had one purpose: to ensure that the men who entered those forests returned home alive.
For him, training was never about passing a course.
It was about saving lives.
Thousands of personnel from the CRPF, state police forces, specialised anti-Naxal units, Greyhounds, C-60, District Reserve Guard and other security organisations passed through the gates of CTJWC. They came from different states, spoke different languages and wore different uniforms. But they left with something that united them—a common doctrine shaped by Brigadier Ponwar’s experience, discipline, and uncompromising standards.
Many of the officers who would later lead successful operations across Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Odisha and Jharkhand may never have realised that the instincts guiding their decisions had been forged on the training grounds of Kanker.
His influence travelled with them.
Every silent patrol.
Every successful ambush.
Every life saved because a young officer remembered a lesson learnt, years earlier.
That became Brigadier Ponwar’s unseen battlefield.
The story of India’s campaign against Maoist insurgency is often narrated through dramatic encounters, surrendered leaders and decisive operations. Those stories deserve to be told. But behind every successful operation stands an invisible army of trainers who prepare others for the day when theory meets reality.
Brigadier Ponwar was one of the finest among them.
He believed that realism in training was an act of compassion. If a trainee struggled during an exercise, he would learn. If he made the same mistake during an operation, someone might not return home. That philosophy demanded high standards, relentless discipline and physical endurance, but it also reflected something deeply human—a profound respect for the lives of those he trained.
There is perhaps no greater tribute that can be paid to an instructor than this: generations of soldiers and policemen walked into danger carrying lessons that had once been taught by him.
As India gradually regained control over regions that had remained trapped in decades of violence, many factors contributed to that success – better intelligence, improved coordination between agencies, courageous leadership, technological advances and the extraordinary sacrifice of countless security personnel. Yet beneath all these achievements lay another truth.
Victories are not won only on the battlefield.
They are first won on the training ground.
That was Brigadier Ponwar’s battlefield.
He rarely sought the spotlight. His greatest satisfaction lay not in personal recognition but in watching others succeed. The medals earned by those he trained, the operations they completed and, most importantly, the lives they brought back safely became the quiet measure of his own success.
History often celebrates the commanders who lead from the front.
It should also remember the teacher who prepared them to do so.
Brigadier Basant K. Ponwar did more than train men for war. He gave them the confidence to confront fear, the wisdom to respect the jungle and the discipline to survive it. In doing so, he left behind something far greater than an institution.
He left behind a way of thinking – A doctrine. A generation of jungle warriors. And a legacy that will continue to echo through India’s forests long after the sound of gunfire has faded.
(The writer is an author and columnist)
–IANS
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