THE GARUD STRIKES

by Mukul Deva

  Gurdev and Mukund, both mortar platoon men, hunkered down in a fold of land, trying to take cover as best possible.

  ‘When the firing finally eased off, we started moving again,’ Mukund’s voice had gone soft. ‘But Gurdev did not get up. I nudged him, but he did not move. That is when I realized he had been hit.’

  ‘Did you know him well?’ I asked, when it became obvious that he was not going to say any more.

  ‘Of course, I did. We were from the same village,’ Mukund nodded, still pensive. ‘I even met his family later, after the war. He didn’t have any children, which is good, but his wife went through a very bad time afterwards. She, too, died a little later. I am not sure exactly when, but I remember it was not too long after the war.’

  This time it was I who felt the compelling need for silence. Excusing myself, I walked out for a breath of fresh air. I was contemplating the Army widow’s legacy. Finally I knew I had to get back. To the war that was still alive in the handful of men waiting for me in that room.

  Granthi eventually managed to extricate his men and get back on track. He eventually found his way back to Methikhanda and linked up with Paunchy in the early morning. By now Paunchy was fuming.

  ‘Although, as it turned out, in a way, Delta Company getting lost and blundering into the Pakistani defences turned out to be a real boon,’ Glucose’s smile was a strange blend of pleasure and pain. ‘The Pakistanis had been hearing our choppers coming back again and again. They couldn’t have really known how many choppers there were or how many sorties we eventually carried out. That’s why when Granthi blundered into their defences, they simply assumed that we had gotten a brigade across the Meghna and this was a deliberate attempt by us to probe their defences.’

  ‘Precisely!’ expressed Paunchy as he thumped the arm of his chair firmly. ‘It didn’t help that they were already pretty spooked by now. So deep had the siege mentality set in, and so used to had they become to finding our troops suddenly emerge in their rear, that Granthi’s walking into their defences seriously sent the wind up their sails.’

  The dawn of 10th December 1971 saw 4 Guards firming up at Methikanda. They were still doing so, when, at about 1000 hours, a chopper landed on the roof of a school building in Methikhanda and out came the Corps Commander Lieutenant General Sagat, 57 Mountain Division Commander Major General Gonsalves and Brigadier Mishra, the 311 Mountain Brigade Commander.

  They arrived like the proverbial three kings from the Orient. However, instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they had brought along a big pile of oranges.

  ‘Usually, the arrival of so much brass cannot be anything other than a pain, but not when one is in the field, in the thick of a war,’ Naik Hoshiar Singh, who had been Himmeth’s radio operator throughout the sixteen days, spoke up all of a sudden, taking me by surprise. A rather taciturn man, he had been silent all this while. ‘We were quite thrilled to see our senior commanders out there in the front lines with us. It made us realize that they cared for us,’ he said further.

  Glucose gave a big nod, and said, ‘The first thing they asked us was if we needed any help.’

  Fortunately, the Pakistanis had failed to contest the fly-in across the Meghna or the landing at Raipura. In fact, during the entire operation, 4 Guards encountered no opposition from the enemy barring Delta Company, and its unfortunate encounter when it blundered into the main Pakistani defences at Bhairab Bazar. Other than this and some aching hands caused by some seriously enthusiastic locals, it had been smooth sailing till then.

  Perhaps the Pakistanis had been deluded about the importance of the heliborne operation. Or perhaps they had been too caught up in dealing with the holding attack that was launched by the balance of 311 Mountain Brigade on Ashuganj and Bhairab Bazar which lies contiguous to Ashuganj, but on the western banks of the Meghna.

  This holding attack launched in conjunction with the heliborne operation may have led Pakistani GOC 14 Infantry Division to believe that Sagat would continue to try and attempt a surface crossing of the Meghna, somewhere in the vicinity of Ashuganj. This in turn would have made it imperative for the Pakistanis to try and deny the Indian forces the general area of Bhairab Bazar. So that is where the Pakistanis concentrated their forces.

  ‘Consequently, we were in pretty good shape. Well, as good as could be expected, considering we had been in non-stop contact with the enemy for nine continuous days now,’ said Glucose. ‘Nonetheless, like he mentioned,’ he nodded towards Hoshiar Singh, ‘seeing our top brass with us at the front line, and this gesture on their part, went down very well with the men. Not everyone may have gotten an orange, but everyone certainly felt great.’

  The guardsmen’s morale, which was already high, soared. They showed their appreciation by giving a return gift of a handful of bananas to the brass. Bangladeshi bananas are quite delicious, and bearing this priceless gift, the generals departed after giving 4 Guards their latest orders—to advance and secure Narsinghdi. And hold it open for the balance of the brigade and an artillery battery to be heli-landed.

  ‘Along with the oranges, Sagat had also gotten maps of the Dacca area,’ Paunchy said with a wry smile. ‘On these maps, the routes to Dacca had been clearly marked. This was the first indicator we got that Dacca would most likely be our next objective.’

  Himmeth had gone to see the generals off to their chopper when he remembered something critical and told the corps commander: ‘And since you did ask, sir, we could do with some wireless batteries. We’ve just run out of the last set.’

  An hour after Sagat left, the required wireless batteries were air delivered to the guards.

  ‘It was these little things that made so much of a difference,’ Glucose remarked. ‘That let us know the brass genuinely cared for us and worried about our needs.’

  It was Sagat’s free roaming over the complete theatre of operations, I read Colonel Pyarelal’s notes later than night, and his uncanny ability to be there, at the point of decision, that not only made him endearing, but also helped make him the right one to guide us to victory.

  Himmeth was aware of the value of keeping the enemy under pressure. That was also possibly the best way to keep Indian casualties down. Thus, it was imperative that the momentum of operations be maintained at all costs.

  Eager to hit Narsinghdi at the earliest, the guards kicked off.

  The move was a sight to behold. Every possible type of vehicle (manual and powered) that the guardsmen could lay their hands on had been put to use. However, of these there were not too many and the bulk of the battleload fell on a willing stream of Mukti Bahini porters. The porters took the guardsmen forward in relays, leap-frogging from one village to the other. They were a merry bunch, chanting and singing songs as they moved. Since the porters changed with every village, so did the song. What did remain constant were the cries of Joy Bangla, Joy Hindustan, Joy Mujib-ur-Rehman or Joy Indira Gandhi. The cries came at regular intervals. The atmosphere was more like a wedding procession than an Army advancing to wage war on the enemy.

  The wedding procession came to an abrupt halt when the leading platoon of Bravo Company encountered the enemy at the rail bridge, which spanned one of the many minor rivers. Once again, the thunder of guns shattered the countryside.

  The platoon firmed in and maintained contact with the Pakistanis, who made several attempts to dislodge the platoon, but failed.

  By evening, the remainder of Bravo Company had built up on this platoon and they kept the enemy under constant pressure. This prevented the Pakistanis from destroying the bridge, which was a vital objective since it would make life easier for the administrative echelons to keep up with the striking forces.

  Meanwhile, Charlie Company had moved north towards Bhairab Bazar. They deployed along the Meghna south of Bhairab Bazar and covered 19 Punjab, as it crossed the river in a bewildering variety of country boats and ferries.

  DAY ELEVEN

  11 DECEMBER 1971

  A fter successfully helping 19
Punjab cross the Meghna, Charlie Company again returned to Methikanda, and on 11 December 1971, along with the rest of the battalion, advanced on Narsingdi. Barring minor skirmishes, 4 Guards advanced unchecked.

  ‘By now we were accompanied by several hundred locals, who helped carry the ammunition of the heavy mortar troop accompanying us, as well as the 81 mm mortar ammunition,’ Maneck added.

  By now the Pakistanis were playing to form, and most of them had already fled Narsinghdi.

  ‘At Narsingdi, a fairly large industrial town, we received a heroes’ welcome, and were served with sweets and fruit,’ Granthi paused, then grimaced. ‘However, things turned ugly when some irate citizens captured a handful of Razakars and executed them. By the time we came to know, it was too late to stop them.’

  ‘And have no doubts about it, the people were very miffed with the Pakistani Army. They had been badly brutalized all these years, and were aching to take revenge,’ Tuffy elaborated.

  With the railway bridge now in the hands of Bravo Company, and with Charlie Company securing the East Pakistan Roadways bus stand and the fire station next to it, the battalion’s transport problems were now largely resolved.

  The other companies, meanwhile, had moved to secure the landing ground for the rest of the brigade to fetch up.

  Paunchy had just driven up to the landing ground, where 10 Bihar and the Brigade HQ was landing, in a commandeered tuk-tuk (auto rickshaw), when a small aircraft swept in and landed in the field close by. Paunchy was delighted to see Major Bhargava jump out. The duo had not met since the days of the aerial recon over Akhaura that Bhargava had so merrily taken the Guards officers on.

  ‘Boss, I need some petrol,’ was Bhargava’s demand.

  Paunchy should have, by now, gotten used to Bhargava’s eccentric requests, but he couldn’t help laughing. ‘You’ve run out?’ Bhargava replied with a sheepish nod. ‘That thing runs on petrol?’ Paunchy indicated towards the aircraft. A Bhargava-special grin this time. ‘Well, I don’t have any, but you take this tuk-tuk and go with my man to town. Tuffy is there. He will give you all the petrol you need,’ was Paunchy’s offer.

  Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Bhargava returned laden with some jerrycans and topped up his aircraft. A merry wave later, he was off.

  He had barely cleared off when Group Captain Chandan landed in the next chopper, saw Paunchy, and waved him over. ‘I need some transport. I need to do some recon. I have to find a landing ground for our Caribou.’

  ‘The tuk-tuk was becoming very popular,’ Paunchy grinned. ‘In fact, the very next day, our GOC, General Gonsalves, used it as his flag car.’

  Minutes later, Chandan had headed off in the tuk-tuk, with a couple of Alpha Company men as escorts.

  ‘The area was far from clear,’ Paunchy explained. ‘There were pockets of Pakistanis holding out here and there. Not to mention the stragglers and runaways who were trying to fall back to their rear positions. But things were very fluid and crazy by now. Everyone was improvising on a minute-to-minute basis, even though it was quite risky.’

  Paunchy had no idea how prophectic these words would soon prove to be. Done with the landing ground, he returned to his company, which was scouring Narsinghdi town.

  Most of the Pakistani defenders had managed to extricate themselves and had fled Narsinghdi. However, a handful of them had taken shelter in a powerhouse located to the west of the town.

  ‘It was an electricity sub-station and about sixteen or seventeen of them had gone to ground in it,’ said Paunchy, the Alpha Company Commander. The powerhouse fell in his beat, and thus also the task of clearing it.

  Protected by a triple layer of barbed wire, the powerhouse was an easily defensible position. The bunkers in it were solid concrete; possibly fortified to ensure it could be held against the Mukti Bahini for extended durations.

  An intial probe to jitter the enemy out met with no success. Then Paunchy’s men tried to lob grenades and scare the Pakistanis into coming out. That was going on when a Pakistani grenade landed about ten feet away from Paunchy.

  ‘It should have taken care of a few of us, but fortunately the damn thing didn’t explode,’ Paunchy said. Realizing these half-measures were not working, Paunchy decided to organize a proper attack on the sub-station.

  The first attack by a platoon was beaten back with heavy casualties before they could get past the barbed wire fence.

  Alpha Company re-grouped. By now, someone had managed to locate a wire cutter and though under fire, the guardsmen were able to cut a hole in the fence.

  ‘The bunker in front was giving us hell,’ Paunchy explained. ‘So I asked Guardsman Imam Singh to neutralize it.’

  Imam Singh was a simple soul from Bihar.

  ‘What do I do with it?’ he asked, holding up the grenade handed to him.

  ‘You throw it in that bunker,’ Paunchy pointed out. ‘After pulling out the pin,’ he added by way of explanation. Then, just to ensure he had covered the final relevant detail, Paunchy added, ‘Pull the pin out just before you throw it into that bunker.’

  Without hesitation, Imam Singh marched across to the bunker and tossed the grenade inside. And he pulled out the pin just before doing so.

  That sorted out the first problem for Alpha Company.

  ‘Such men are remarkable. We may jest about them, but it is men like Imam Singh on whose shoulders victories are won,’ Paunchy’s tone was filled with pride. Then came sorrow. ‘I can never forget how he died.’

  Paunchy was holding open the gap in the barbed wire fence and helping his men through it one by one. Imam was halfway through the fence when Paunchy felt his body shudder.

  ‘There was a gurgle and I felt my hand on his shoulder go wet. That is when I realized he had been hit. I pulled him back, but by then he was already gone.’

  Removing his body from the gap, Paunchy helped the next man through and then followed him into the breech. The Pakistanis greeted them with a steady stream of fire. One of the bullets hit the ground next to Paunchy, and ricocheted up, striking him in the leg.

  ‘Luckily it was not a direct hit, or else it would definitely have shattered the bone. As a matter of fact, all I felt initially was a pinch and some discomfort. I only realized I had been shot when I touched my leg and my hand came away all bloody,’ he said.

  By now, light was fading and visibility had dropped. So Himmeth ordered Alpha Company to stand down for the time being. Paunchy pulled back.

  The RMO, Captain Sutradhar, aware that Paunchy was not likely to be the most patient of patients, gave him a morphine shot as soon as he reached the medical aid post.

  Immediately, on receipt of confirmation that 4 Guards had secured Narsinghdi, HQ 311 Mountain Brigade and 10 Bihar commenced their fly-in across the Meghna. This time, the landing ground was just south of Narsinghdi.

  One of the first to land was the Commander Brigadier Mishra. Within minutes of his arrival, Mishra began to assess the situation with Himmeth.

  DAY TWELVE

  12 DECEMBER 1971

  T uffy and Charlie Company began the day with an operation to clear the powerhouse that had eluded all attempts by Alpha Company. It was only when they scored a direct rocket launcher hit on the sub-station that the 13 EPCAF men holding it finally gave up. With that, the last pocket of resistance at Narsinghdi was eliminated.

  Meanwhile, Mishra and Himmeth had assessed the situation, and both commanders again decided to exploit the situation and continue the dash for Dacca. Accordingly, Mishra ordered Himmeth to marshal his unit together and resume advance on Dacca as soon as possible.

  Yet again, the guardsmen responded rapidly. By the time the remainder of 311 Mountain Brigade, including 65 Mountain Regiment, had been heli-landed across the Meghna, the battalion was ready and resumed its onward push to Dacca. Following closely behind was the rest of the brigade.

  ‘We were feeling really kicked that Mishra had once again chosen our unit to lead the brigade advance,’ Glucose beamed proudly.<
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  At 1000 hours, on 12 December 1971, Alpha Company moved out in civil transport. The battalion HQ followed at 1300 hours. This time, however, they moved without Paunchy, who had been given yet another morphine shot to keep him happily sedated and then backloaded for treatment to Agartala.

  The advance to Bulta, a small town on the east bank of Lakhiya river, about twelve kilometres short of Dacca, took place without any enemy interference. Noting the lack of enemy resistance, Mishra ordered 4 Guards to keep moving and push on to Barpa, another small town on the eastern banks of the Lakhiya river, a mere eight miles from Dacca; clearly, the end was near.

  Operations were by now flowing so fast that it was becoming well nigh impossible to keep track of which Indian Army unit was where. If it was confusing on ground, it was becoming impossible for the Indian Air Force to identify friend and foe from the air.

  Perhaps that is why, while advancing on Barpa with his company, Tuffy Marwah found himself under attack from the Indian Air Force. The strafing was pretty accurate, and they even managed to knock off the heel of his ammunition boot. Luckily, there were no other casualties.

  Paunchy had, meanwhile, reached the ADS at Agartala, and was being treated for his wound. A Pakistani soldier, who had been shot in the ankle, occupied the bed next to him.

  ‘While talking to him, I learnt that he was from 12 ‘Azad’ Kashmir. He had been shot at the Arhand road block,’ Paunchy said. He did not mention to him that it was his company that had been doing the shooting. ‘It was pretty strange to be lying next to a guy whom one had been shooting at a couple of days ago,’ said Paunchy with an inexplicable expression on his face. ‘We spent one day together at the ADS. I learnt from him that he was very surprised and touched by the treatment being given to him by our forces.’