Ranjith Singh is an army intelligence officer. He is in this
job for past 18 years. He is very patriotic, who loves his
country first, than anything else. Always in front to do
anything for his motherland. And so, he loves his job.
His other interest is his family. His second love. His
wife and two children. Khanu, his wife is a beautiful young
woman from Amritsar, Punjab. Theirs was a love marriage
eventually blessed with two kids, a happy family.
However, today Ranjith Singh lies on his cot as the sun
rises to say good morning. He is ready to get up, somewhat
awake but still asleep. He is dreaming. In his dream, he
sees his beautiful wife and his two lovely children. They are
stretching their arms towards him, asking him to help them.
It seems they are being carried by someone. Ranjith Singh
crawls on his bed. He wants to help them. He opens his
eyes and sees the morning light. Where is his wife who was
asking for his assistance? And his two children who wanted
to get on to their father’s arm? Even they are gone.
***
THE CENTER FOLD
What exactly is Captain Ranjith’s mission? How did he
lose his wife and children? Where are they? What happened
to them?
It began like this.
The year was March 1971 that was sparked by the Bangladesh
liberation conflict between the traditionally dominant West
Pakistan and the East Pakistan. India expressed full support
to the struggle for independence by the people of East
Pakistan. A war seemed inevitable. So, the government
wanted to make sure whether they were going to involve
in this adventurism and how?
Pakistan was initially a part of India. In the year 1947,
at the time of independence from the British rule, it was
separated and was carved into an independent Islamic country.
Since then, this neighbour of India has been cultivating hatred
against India. Though, it needs to be understood that it was
Pakistan which wanted to separate from the mainland to be
formed into a new Muslim country, India never wanted that
to happen. But unfortunately, the line was drawn and thus
two nations were formed. What emerged next were constant
fights between the two countries that resulted in war in the
year 1947 at the time of independence and later in 1965.
Both the times, Pakistan lost the war to India. The wars
resulted in a lot of destruction in terms of human life and
property. But the conflict continued and again in 1971, some
kind of dangerous and threatening activity was detected from
the Pakistani side.
In the 1947 war, few areas of Kashmir went into the
hands of Pakistan, which they called Azad Kashmir or
Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Due to this, the people of
Kashmir were separated. The people and their kins found
themselves parted between the two borders of the country.
This also put them in an abyss of emotional hardship. Later
that year, as per the agreement between the countries, people
were allowed to cross the new border - the line of control
- to meet their near and dear ones.
At one such instance in 1965, Ranjith Singh and his
family which hailed from Punjab visited Muzaffarabad, a
town in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Ranjith Singh’s wife
Khanu had a family marriage to attend there. Ranjith Singh
dropped his family there and returned to Kashmir on the
Indian side for an official call on an immediate reporting
basis due to emergency. Then suddenly Pakistan attacked
India. Khanu and his two kids got trapped there. Ranjith
couldn’t do anything immediately as he was in the middle
of a war. Even after the war got over, he could never find
his lost family. The border was closed and people were not
allowed to cross either side. He couldn’t even communicate
with them through any other means. Diplomatic relations
between the two countries were not good either. Therefore,
the embassy also could not do much to find the family of
this army man. Ranjith never heard from his family after
that. They were lost for him. And he was lost for them.
***
A DIALOGUE FROM THE BOOK
“Okay officers, let’s get moving. As you people are
aware, we are in support of the ongoing Bangladesh liberation
war in East Pakistan. President Yahya Khan has already
rejected the claim of Sheikh Mujibur Rehaman, the leader of
Bangladesh to form the government there. It seems he will
call the military to disarm Bangladesh. Lots of movement
is taking place against this. And our Prime Minister has
expressed full support of our Government to the struggle
for independence by the people of East Pakistan. We share
vast borders with them and we would not like to have two
Pakistan on our West as well as East. It is dangerous. So,
Pakistan has got enough reason to camp their armies on our
border. This is something that we can deal with, since it
is a face-to-face and direct action. But dealing with indirect
action is not easy,” says Puri, as Ranjith and Rajan listen
attentively.
WAGAH BORDER
Wagah is a road in Punjab, and the only border road
crossing between the two countries, India and Pakistan. It
lies between the cities of Amritsar and Lahore in Pakistan.
Wagah itself was a village. It got divided during the
partition in the year 1947. The eastern half of the village
lies in India, while the western half is in Pakistan. It has
one gate on both sides and the rest of the area is fenced
***
THE WAR
Pakistan attacked several places along the Indian border,
but the Indian army successfully held their positions. The
Indian army quickly responded to the Pakistan army’s
movements and made some initial gains, including capture
of around 5,500 square miles of Pakistan territory in Punjab
and Sindh sectors. This was later ceded by India in the
Shimla Agreement of 1972.
The land war or the battle of Longewala in Rajasthan
is worth mentioning. The intelligence report of Ranjith was
ignored as the time was up. In the night, Pakistan attacked
with about two thousand infantry division and more than
forty tank regiments. The mere one hundred sixty eight
Indian soldiers stood their ground, though they were given
the option to opt out. It was a brave act but they were lucky
to have a natural defence of high sand dune and the post
totally fenced up. In the night, it was not visible. It was
very easy to attack the enemy from the upper ground. The
situation was very much in the favour of the Indian side
with an airstrip close by. They striked Pakistan battalions
by the morning, which suffered huge casualties. The battle
of Longewala was won and it was a mark in the Indian
history that cannot be erased in long years to come.
***
© sreekumar nair- pustak mahal
