New Delhi : Author Lt Col (retd) Kulvinder Singh on Monday said that ‘Battle of Longewala’ is different from what has been portrayed in the famous Bollywood flick ‘Border’. At the media brief at JW Marriot, Aerocity, war veteran Lt Col (retd) Kulvinder Singh, who is the author of of the book "Guns of Longewala", discussed the crucial aspects of the war and the key role played by the Artillery and Infantry in the historic victory.
The war veteran further said that "there was an intelligence failure as the enemy was sitting right across our border and we had no clue." Following are the excerpts from the interview:
Q. Being a war hero of the historic 1971 Longewala war, now when you look back, what comes to your mind?
Answer - What comes to mind is the fact that the Indian Army is very strong and we have the best cooperation. We do not believe in any religion. For us, the Nation always comes first. The major reason behind our success in all the wars is the cooperation between all the forces.
Q. Despite the fact that Pakistan forces were numerically stronger than us, we won the war in three days. How should history remember the 1971 war and the role of the Artillery and 185 Light Regiment?
Answer - Pakistan came with a very big plan but there were a lot of flaws in it. First the armoured brigade including tanks and vehicles etc. do not move unless they have air cover. So, the big blunder that they did was that they were overconfident. Before the air cover that was required, they thought that they would run over our posts and reach Jaisalmer. But, unfortunately their tanks and vehicles were hit by our Air Force and then they hit a barbed wire at the night thinking that it was a minefield. But in the meanwhile, we were very fast in giving them a reaction. And, I got the order to run and we were having a race against time. And I then took my battery and deployed in unconventional manner. And before the enemy could realise, we were bombarding them. It took them by surprise because they never thought that artillery regiment was in that area. So, before the Indian Air force came we were bombarding them heavily. So, then the Air Force came and started hitting them and when they returned for refuelling, we took over (Artillery regiment) and we were hitting them. So the artillery regime was constantly there, hitting the enemy and dominating the battle.
Q3. Why is the role of artillery and infantry regiment not talked about when talking about the 1971 Longewala war?
Answer - This is because of the fact that there were 12 infantry divisions and I was part of it and their role was to go offensive. We were going offensive towards Rahimyar Khan and were sitting at Tanot (near Tanot Mandir). So we were advancing and we had no idea that Pakistan was going to attack. I would say that there was an intelligence failure because enemy was sitting right on our border and we had no clue. Thereafter, when the enemy came, we immediately reacted. We got control and defeated them. When ultimately the border movie came and hit the theatres everyone started talking about this war. The movie missed several things as they wanted to show heavy odds against our infantry because in the end it's just a movie that only cares about the box office collection. But I would also like to applaud J P Datta who was the director of the movie who did a fantastic job despite missing several crucial things. But as far as the Nation and Indian Army is concerned we should know the facts.
Q4. At a time when geopolitical shifts are taking place while the whole strategy of warfare is also evolving, where do you see India?
Answer: India at the moment is in a very strong position. Our army has been equipped with modern gadgets and our Air force is also doing great by getting new aircrafts with new technologies. The morale of the Indian military is very high. A few days back I spoke to the former Naval Chief who told me about how the Indian Navy is transforming and getting stronger. Personally I feel Pakistan has no courage to attack as. They can play small games here and there but they cannot go for a full fledged war.
Q: Where do you see the India-Pakistan relations?
Answer: India-Pakistan relations are based on hatred. The new generation which is coming up now feels that partition was wrong. I also meet youngsters and feel that they also share the same opinion. If we had been together we could have been much stronger. So the need of the hour is to forget about the religion and think about the nation first.
Q. What are your views on the Agnipath scheme?
Answer - There are some good points and some weak points. Good points are that once after the training some people are retained and some are left out but ultimately even those who come out are well trained and disciplined. Not just the government sector but even in the private industry, such disciplined people are assets and they hire such people. At the same time, those who do not get hired may be disappointed and there may not be enough money for them.
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