BARA PIND -JARPAL-CHARGE OF PAKISTANS HEAVY BRIGADE
Inspiration to write this article.
Preliminary note on relative magnitude of Bara Pind as far as casualties inflicted on the enemy were concerned
The Indians suffered heavy casualties at Sulaimanke.Some 190 Killed, 196 Missing most of whom were killed or prisoners and 425 wounded.
These casualties were far heavier than those suffered by 54 Division which fought battles like those around Bara Pind Jarpal which suffered a total of some 76 Killed and 272 wounded.
So Bara Pind was a much smaller affair than Sulaimanke.
It is only sheer Pakistani incompetence that makes BARA PIND JARPAL famous.
I saw many of the leading characters some years earlier.Commander 1 Corp Gen Irshaads son was a class fellow at Quetta in 1968.Irshaad commanded 16 Division where my father served as GSO 2 from 1969 to 1971 with generals Sharif, A.B Awan and Nazar Hussain Shah.
Brigadier Ahmad was a family friend and was a dashing young colonel driving a sports car in Quetta, famous for his 1965 war action in 25 Cavalry at Gadgor.Brigadier Ahmad was a very close friend of an uncle . A chronic bachelor he had got married around 1970 or so.
In 1977 we had a house on Asad Jan Road and somewhere in 1978 a road in CMA colony was named after one Lieutenant Pervez Aslam who was killed in action in this battle.Crossing this road with his name caption daily on way to Forman Christian College every day reminded me of Bara Pind.Our only knowledge of this battle in 1972 was that uncle Ahmad had not got promoted because of Bara Pind.
I had asked Brigadier Afzal from the tank corps who lived about Pervez Aslam and he had recollected Bara Pind.
Somehow in a short area of 2 km by 2 km nearly many famous personalities of that time as far as the army was concerned lived, starting from Major General Nasir of Valtoha fame , Brigadier Qayyum Sher who launched the finest counter attack of 1965 war, Brigadier Shami , Brigadier Ishtiaq AC,Brigadier Habib Akbar , Brigadier Riazul Karim MC , Lieutenant General Altaf Qadir,Lieutenant General Aftab,Major General Nawazish Ali who had sacked Zia in Jordan and had gauged him as a man not fit to be an officer,Attiqur Rahman,Khalid Karak and so many others.
I was intrigued by this battle as I was commissioned in 11 Cavalry in the same outfit i.e 8 Independent Armoured Brigade. Bara Pind was a heavy name and known well but rarely discussed.
The silence was finally breaken by Brigadier Jahangir Karamat with his ground breaking article in Sabre and Lance in 1983-84.I think this remains one of the most balanced articles on the battle . But that is what Jahangir Karamat is known for.Intellectually I think one of the most outstanding army chiefs.
I served in exactly the same area in September-December 1984 when the 8 Brigade was mobilised in same area and when war was imminent.
Technically our tanks were in real bad shape and had war broken out things would have been real bad.
We did recce of the entire area in anticipation of war.Those dark rakhs were weird and there was something really heavy in them psychologically.We walked in the evening around those rakhs and there was something mysterious.
It was grim to imagine what happened to those tankists in December 1971.
It was assasination of Durga Devi by her indomitable Sikh bodyguards that prevented war that November.
When we visited Bara Pind on recce the villagers still remembered that bloody day , it was not far back , some 13 years.
In 1983 in an article in Sabre and Lance Brigadier Jahangir Karamat had already cleared some of the myths of this battle and this had historiacl value as he had participated in that battle.
Brigadier Rao Abid Hameed our brigade commander again originally from Kanar or Kalanaur had made Jahangir Karamat article on Bara Pind compulsory reading for all officers.In his characteristic way he had asked all officers of the brigade to personally give him their comments on the article.
A large part of Ranghars were from the village where my great grandfather was allotted land in Lyallpur in 1898.These Ranghars were originally from villages like Kalanauar and Kanar which had provided the nucleus to all Hindu Maratha pre 1803 and all British Cavalry units from 1775. Many 13 Lancers Ranghars were from this village too .
In one of the pictures below in handshake with VCOAS is then Captain Kanwar Javed Shabbir one of the Ranghars from the same village in Lyallpur.The village produced more than three cavalry regiments strength in pre partition India.
The famous triple layer minefield in Shakargarh Bulge was laid by 6 Engineer Battalion commanded by my father in November 1971.
One of the officers killed at Bara Pind was brother of my regimental officer then Major Faruq Yaqub Malik. 11 Cavalry had wisely kept their newly commissioned officers in adm area in Chamb as they knew nothing about tanks not having donrbasic courses.
13 Lancers did not do this .
Interestingly after having had a serious confrontation with my commanding officer who I had disobeyed things reached such a pass that I was attached to 15 SP , a very fine artillery unit.I was in the Romeo Battery with an outstanding and most upright man Major Zohrab.This explains why Zohrab did not go ahead in this army.
In 15 SP I heard the artillery perspective of the story.How artillery was totally not utilised in the 8 Armoured Brigade counter attack.
I had moved with 15 SP when the brigade was mobilised for war on 15 September 1984.
15 SP was commanded by an outstanding gunner officer Afsar Gulji.I think he gave me greater solidarity as a commanding officer than any armour officer would have.
Later I had requested Brigadier Rao Abid Hameed to attach me to a tank regiment as war was imminent.Brigadier Rao , the gentleman that he was , agreed and attached me with 29 Cavalry another regiment of the brigade.
In the 29 Cavalry the second in command Major Idris was old 27 Cavalry and recollected his experiences of the Bara Pind battle of 1971.
I rejoined 11 Cavalry around 3rd November 1984 when the old commanding officer was posted out and Lieutenant Colonel Mian Laiquat Shah , brother of Major Mian Raza Shah took over the unit.
We had our brigade major Major Naeem , also known as Naeem Phanna.Naeem was a hard task master and exhorted all to remember Bara Pind.This is what happened to us in 1971 , be professional , learn the job of fighting Naeem would say.
While Rao Abid Hameed the brigade commander was a thorough gentleman who forgave me for an incident where we exchanged hot words , Naeem Phanna drove the brigade hard ordering tank regiments to change their location at 30 minutes notice.It was common that we were having dinner and 5 minutes after dinner commenced an order came from Major Naeem to move the unit at 30 minutes notice.And all hell broke with us loading the tanks and moving.
All that Naeem said was load.So we loaded and were ready for move.He would then visit us after an hour and give us the next location which could be as close as a kilometre and as far away as 20 km.
Although we cursed the BM then but now we realise that this is how an outfit has to be trained for war.Today I understand that Naeem was one great professional I met in this army.
Into the Valley of Death,
Rode the 600,
Theirs not to question why
Theirs but to do and Die
The Stench of burnt human flesh many miles around
In those dark Rakhs (Forests ) of Shakar Garh Bulge
I saw many of the leading characters some years earlier.Commander 1 Corp Gen Irshaads son was a class fellow at Quetta in 1968.Irshaad commanded 16 Division where my father served as GSO 2 from 1969 to 1971 with generals Sharif, A.B Awan and Nazar Hussain Shah.
Brigadier Ahmad was a family friend and was a dashing young colonel driving a sports car in Quetta, famous for his 1965 war action in 25 Cavalry at Gadgor.Brigadier Ahmad was a very close friend of an uncle . A chronic bachelor he had got married around 1970 or so.
In 1977 we had a house on Asad Jan Road and somewhere in 1978 a road in CMA colony was named after one Lieutenant Pervez Aslam who was killed in action in this battle.Crossing this road with his name caption daily on way to Forman Christian College every day reminded me of Bara Pind.Our only knowledge of this battle in 1972 was that uncle Ahmad had not got promoted because of Bara Pind.
I had asked Brigadier Afzal from the tank corps who lived about Pervez Aslam and he had recollected Bara Pind.
Somehow in a short area of 2 km by 2 km nearly many famous personalities of that time as far as the army was concerned lived, starting from Major General Nasir of Valtoha fame , Brigadier Qayyum Sher who launched the finest counter attack of 1965 war, Brigadier Shami , Brigadier Ishtiaq AC,Brigadier Habib Akbar , Brigadier Riazul Karim MC , Lieutenant General Altaf Qadir,Lieutenant General Aftab,Major General Nawazish Ali who had sacked Zia in Jordan and had gauged him as a man not fit to be an officer,Attiqur Rahman,Khalid Karak and so many others.
I was intrigued by this battle as I was commissioned in 11 Cavalry in the same outfit i.e 8 Independent Armoured Brigade. Bara Pind was a heavy name and known well but rarely discussed.
The silence was finally breaken by Brigadier Jahangir Karamat with his ground breaking article in Sabre and Lance in 1983-84.I think this remains one of the most balanced articles on the battle . But that is what Jahangir Karamat is known for.Intellectually I think one of the most outstanding army chiefs.
I served in exactly the same area in September-December 1984 when the 8 Brigade was mobilised in same area and when war was imminent.
Technically our tanks were in real bad shape and had war broken out things would have been real bad.
We did recce of the entire area in anticipation of war.Those dark rakhs were weird and there was something really heavy in them psychologically.We walked in the evening around those rakhs and there was something mysterious.
It was grim to imagine what happened to those tankists in December 1971.
It was assasination of Durga Devi by her indomitable Sikh bodyguards that prevented war that November.
When we visited Bara Pind on recce the villagers still remembered that bloody day , it was not far back , some 13 years.
In 1983 in an article in Sabre and Lance Brigadier Jahangir Karamat had already cleared some of the myths of this battle and this had historiacl value as he had participated in that battle.
Brigadier Rao Abid Hameed our brigade commander again originally from Kanar or Kalanaur had made Jahangir Karamat article on Bara Pind compulsory reading for all officers.In his characteristic way he had asked all officers of the brigade to personally give him their comments on the article.
A large part of Ranghars were from the village where my great grandfather was allotted land in Lyallpur in 1898.These Ranghars were originally from villages like Kalanauar and Kanar which had provided the nucleus to all Hindu Maratha pre 1803 and all British Cavalry units from 1775. Many 13 Lancers Ranghars were from this village too .
In one of the pictures below in handshake with VCOAS is then Captain Kanwar Javed Shabbir one of the Ranghars from the same village in Lyallpur.The village produced more than three cavalry regiments strength in pre partition India.
The famous triple layer minefield in Shakargarh Bulge was laid by 6 Engineer Battalion commanded by my father in November 1971.
One of the officers killed at Bara Pind was brother of my regimental officer then Major Faruq Yaqub Malik. 11 Cavalry had wisely kept their newly commissioned officers in adm area in Chamb as they knew nothing about tanks not having donrbasic courses.
13 Lancers did not do this .
Interestingly after having had a serious confrontation with my commanding officer who I had disobeyed things reached such a pass that I was attached to 15 SP , a very fine artillery unit.I was in the Romeo Battery with an outstanding and most upright man Major Zohrab.This explains why Zohrab did not go ahead in this army.
In 15 SP I heard the artillery perspective of the story.How artillery was totally not utilised in the 8 Armoured Brigade counter attack.
I had moved with 15 SP when the brigade was mobilised for war on 15 September 1984.
15 SP was commanded by an outstanding gunner officer Afsar Gulji.I think he gave me greater solidarity as a commanding officer than any armour officer would have.
Later I had requested Brigadier Rao Abid Hameed to attach me to a tank regiment as war was imminent.Brigadier Rao , the gentleman that he was , agreed and attached me with 29 Cavalry another regiment of the brigade.
In the 29 Cavalry the second in command Major Idris was old 27 Cavalry and recollected his experiences of the Bara Pind battle of 1971.
I rejoined 11 Cavalry around 3rd November 1984 when the old commanding officer was posted out and Lieutenant Colonel Mian Laiquat Shah , brother of Major Mian Raza Shah took over the unit.
We had our brigade major Major Naeem , also known as Naeem Phanna.Naeem was a hard task master and exhorted all to remember Bara Pind.This is what happened to us in 1971 , be professional , learn the job of fighting Naeem would say.
While Rao Abid Hameed the brigade commander was a thorough gentleman who forgave me for an incident where we exchanged hot words , Naeem Phanna drove the brigade hard ordering tank regiments to change their location at 30 minutes notice.It was common that we were having dinner and 5 minutes after dinner commenced an order came from Major Naeem to move the unit at 30 minutes notice.And all hell broke with us loading the tanks and moving.
All that Naeem said was load.So we loaded and were ready for move.He would then visit us after an hour and give us the next location which could be as close as a kilometre and as far away as 20 km.
Although we cursed the BM then but now we realise that this is how an outfit has to be trained for war.Today I understand that Naeem was one great professional I met in this army.
Into the Valley of Death,
Rode the 600,
Theirs not to question why
Theirs but to do and Die
The Stench of burnt human flesh many miles around
In those dark Rakhs (Forests ) of Shakar Garh Bulge
Agha H Amin
11 Cavalry tanks move out of the Rakhs to move back to Kharian after de-escalation. 1 December 1984
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