A new book “The Epic Battle of Longewala”, written by Air Marshal Bharat Kumar (retd) after extensive research, contends it was actually airpower that decisively won the battle against Pakistan’s major armoured thrust at the border outpost in Rajasthan on December 5-6, 1971. The IAF now wants to debunk the conventional narrative, reinforced by blockbuster movie `Border’ in 1997, that the famous battle of Longewala was primarily won by the gallantry shown by the 120 infantry soldiers led by Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri during the 1971 war.
The book is available from www.imrmedia.in Click to order.
A meagre force of just six Hunter ground-attack jets based at the Jaisalmer airbase “destroyed or damaged over 40 Pakistani tanks” in successive attacks, making the rest of the tanks as well as the Pakistani infantry scurry back across the desert.
Releasing the book on Thursday to mark the 50thanniversary of the 1971 war, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria said the “audacious” and “brilliant” Pakistan plan to launch the major thrust along the “unexpected” Longewala-Jaisalmer axis could have changed the course of the war.
Pakistan, however, forgot to factor in IAF’s ability to employ airpower against the offensive. “Airpower can bring asymmetric results if the time and place are chosen correctly,” he said, endorsing the “detailed and accurate account” of the battle in the book.
Chandpuri, incidentally, was decorated with the country’s second-highest wartime gallantry medal Maha Vir Chakra for the way he and his company of Punjab Regiment soldiers bravely held their post despite repeated Pakistani attacks till the Hunters could arrive on their bombing missions. He later became a brigadier and passed away in 2018.
Border Movie Narrartive
The book, however, contends the J P Dutta-directed film erroneously depicts that the battle was “single-handedly” won by the Army company against all odds, with the IAF playing only a peripheral role in the defeat of the attackers. In the film, Chandpuri’s role was played by Sunny Deol.
“While one does not want to belittle the courageous role played by the Army personnel who faced the enemy at Longewala, it must be emphasized that the battle was not fought the way it has been depicted in the film,” it says.
The attack by Pakistani forces had reached Longewala at about first light on December 5 and decided to neutralize the Army post there. “By this time, the first pair of Hunters loaded with T-10 rockets and 30mm Aden guns were already airborne from Jaisalmer,” writes ACM Bhadauria, in the book’s foreword.
“Thereafter, there was no respite for the Pakistanis as wave after wave of Hunters continued to decimate the enemy armour. By that evening, the Pakistani offensive had withered away and they had lost their will to fight,” he adds.
