Most actions of the 1971 Indo- Pak War were focused on the Eastern Theater. The Western Theater comprising of West Pakistan was the scene of notable actions, especially in the Battles of Longewala, Chhamb, Hussainiwala and Fazilka, but most significantly in the Shakargarh Bulge. It was here, along the line of the Basantar Nala, that some of the most dramatic events of the war played out.
The Shakargarh Bulge is like a tongue protruding from Pakistan into India and provides it with a perfect launch pad for an offensive into India. To overcome this vulnerability, India launched an offensive into the Shakargarh Bulge with 1 Corps, its prime offensive formation. Facing it was Pakistan’s own 1 Corps which had occupied a formidable defence of the area.
The Shakargarh Bulge where the Indian offensive was launched
1 Corps launched its offensive on 05 December 71, with 54 Infantry Division with 16 Independent Armoured Brigade on the left and 36 Infantry Division with 2 Independent Armoured Brigade on the right. Yet the move was unduly cautious and advanced just 8 kilometers in 11 days. On night 14/15 December 6, the two Divisions reached the line of the Basantar Nala, a small tributary of the Ravi River and set about crossing it and establishing a lodgement on the other side.
As is the norm, infantry crosses the minefield and obstacle on foot, and establishes a lodgement on the other side. A lane is then cleared in the minefield, by the Engineers over which tanks cross to join up with the infantry on the other side. On night 14/15 December, the Indians had contacted the Basantar Nala and after bitter fighting, the infantry succeeded in getting across the Nala. 47 Infantry Brigade, (the leading brigade of 54 Infantry Division) crossed the Basantar and established a bridgehead in an area known as the Lalial Reserve Forest, only to be furiously counter attacked by Pakistanis tanks and Infantry. The attack was barely held back by the infantry, but the situation was critical and the brigade commander asked for tanks to be immediately sent in to support them.
Indian troops in defence —- and on the offensive.
47 Brigade was supported by 17 Poona Horse, one of the most illustrious Cavalry regiments of the Army, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Hanut Singh (Later Lieutenant General), a deeply religious man. The minefield lane had not been made, but seeing the gravity of the situation, he himself led his tanks, moving cautiously in a single file across the minefield. Not a single tank came over a mine as they traversed the minefield, crossed the Basantar Nala and joined up with the infantry on the other side. Folk lore has it that the very next day, another Armoured Personnel Carrier, tried to cross using the same tank treads only to hit a mine and be disabled.
By early morning of 16 December, Poona Horse had established itself across the Basantar with a Squadron in the Lalial Reserve Forest, B Squadron in the area of Ghazipur, A squadron in Reserve behind the Basantar. The Indian crossing of the Basantar had raised alarm bells amongst the Pakistani defenders, and at 0515 hours – 13 Lancers – an old and illustrious Pakistani Armoured Regiment known as ‘The Spearheads’ – was tasked to counter attack the Indian bridgehead. The first attack, launched by a squadron of Patton tanks came in around 7.30 a m . It was daylight by then and their movements were detected as they formed up and then launched the attack. Indian tanks, artillery and anti-tank weapons opened up and the enemy attack was repulsed with heavy casualties. They withdrew leaving behind eight burning tanks. But an hour or so later, the rest of the regiment reformed and launched another ferocious attack under cover of a smokescreen with two full squadrons. This attack was launched in the direction of Jarpal which was held with just two troops of B squadron of 17 Horse. As the attack came dangerously close, the Squadron Commander radioed for help. His radio transmission was heard by Second Lieutenant Arun Khetrapal, a young officer who had not even done his basic training course after being commissioned. He moved with his troop of three tanks at high speed towards the advancing enemy. On the way he encountered enemy strongpoints and anti-tank guns which he engaged and destroyed. One of his tanks was destroyed and another developed a mechanical problem, but he continued, interposing himself in the path of the enemy counter attack, firing rapidly and keeping them at bay. The enemy attack faltered and ten enemy tanks were destroyed, four by Arun Khetrapal himself. But in the firefight his own tank was hit and caught fire. Ordered to withdraw, he refused, saying that his gun was still firing. He hit one more tank, but then his tank too was hit by an enemy tank barely 200 yards which killed the gallant officer instantly.
2 Lt Khetrapal : A Pakistani Patton emits smoke as it is hit
The enemy counter attack, though perilously close to success, was halted with over 22 tanks destroyed. Another counter attack, this time by another Regiment, 31 Cavalry, was launched in the evening, but it did not close in and merely adopted a blocking position ahead of the Indian bridgehead. The next day, on 17 Dec, the last day of the war, Pakistan launched another attack, this time with 35 Frontier Force, a newly raised Infantry Battalion. The attack, led personally by the Commanding Officer Lt Col Akram Raja was launched in daylight, without adequate artillery or armour support and doomed to failure. The attacking battalion was mowed down by Indian fire, but still managed to advance to almost 50 meters from the Indian positions, before the Commanding officer himself was killed and the attack broken virtually as the cease fire came about at 0830 hours that morning. Over 80 bodies lay on the battlefield in what was a futile last ditch effort to clear the Indian bridgehead. Lt Col Akram Raja was awarded the Hilal-i- Jurrat, and significantly the award was based on the citation written by none other than the Commanding officer of the Indian Battalion opposing him, one of the few such instances when the adversary himself respected the courage of his opponent. Courage was a plenty in this battle. Two Indian officers received the Param Vir Chakra (Lt Khetrapal and Major Hoshiar Singh for his dogged defence of the bridgehead against repeated enemy attacks)
Memorial for Col Raja written by his Indian Counterpart
The guns came silent on the Western Front at 0830 hours on 17 December when Mrs Gandhi declared a unilateral ceasefire. (The Pakistani Eastern Command had already surrendered a day earlier on 16 December.). Pakistan, which had hoped for successes in the Western front to compensate for their total loss in the East, suffered grievous losses in this sector as well. At the end of the war, India held on to over six hundred square kilometers of territory in this sector, which had been captured with heavy losses on both sides. 43 Pakistani tanks were destroyed with 10 captured with 15 destroyed or damaged on the Indian side. 222 Pakistani soldiers were killed, 900 wounded and 60 taken prisoner, with the Indians suffering similar losses of 169 killed, over 500 wounded and 17 taken prisoner or reported missing. There was no dearth of gallantry, all right.
And there is a tailpiece to the story.
Thirty years later in 2001, Lt Khetrapal’s father, Brig M L Khetrapal, now 81 years old, decided to visit his birthplace in Sargodha, Pakistan. At the airport itself, he was met by a certain Brig Khwaja Mohammed Naser, who took it upon himself to be his host and guide. Brig Naser went out of his way to ensure that Brig Khetrapal had a very satisfying and nostalgic visit to his old home in Sargodha and then insisted that he stay with him as his personal guest at his home.
Brig Khetrapal was overwhelmed by the kindness and courtesy bestowed upon him by the entire family. He was treated with utmost respect and deference and then on the night before his departure, Brig Khwaja came up to him and confided.
“Sir, there is something I wanted to tell you for many years, but could not get the opportunity. I am the man who killed your son, Arun.”
“On that night of 16 December 71, I was leading the counter attack of 13 LANCERS against the Indian bridgehead at Basantar. Your son was on the opposite side, standing like a rock. In the battle, tank casualties were high. Finally it was just the two of us in our tanks facing each other just 200 meters apart. We both fired simultaneously. Yet it was destined that I was to live and he was to die.”
“It was only later, when your son became a national hero, that I realized who was the brave opponent facing me and how young he was. We were both soldiers doing our duty for our nations. I salute your son for what he did. I salute you too, Sir, because seeing you, I know where he received the values that made him such a courageous young man.”
Brig Khetrapal was shaken. To be faced with the man who killed his son would have hurt, but he was a soldier himself and realized that what Brig Khwaja had done was a soldier’s act in the line of duty. He sat silent for a while, then walked up to his son’s opponent, shook hands and embraced him lightly. No words were spoken, none were really needed.
The next day photographs were taken, and Brig Khetrapal was escorted and seen off at Lahore Airport by his gracious host. Two weeks later, the photographs of his visit reached him at his Delhi address, along with a personal note from Brig Khwaja.
“With warmest regards to Brig M L Khetrapal, father of Shaheed 2 Lt Arun Khetrapal, PVC who stood like a unsurmountable rock between the victory and failure of the counter attack by the SPEARHEADS–13 LANCERS on 16 Dec 1971——”
–Brig Khwaja Mohammed Naser, 13 LANCERS.