KASHMIR NEWS OBSERVER
One of the most glorious chapters in the military history of the nation was written by brave hearts of CRPF on 9th April 1965 when only 2 companies of CRPF stood their ground and repulsed the attack of a full Pakistani Brigade giving them heavy casualties during Indo- Pak war of 1965.
Seeing the aggressive posture of Pakistan on the Rann of Kutch border during early 1965, 4 Companies of 2nd Bn CRPF were ordered to set up border posts at SARDAR and TAK. The Sardar post was located at a flat area which was tactically disadvantageous.
In the darkness of intervening night of 8th & 9th April, 3500 men of 51st Infantry Brigade of Pakistan, comprising of 18 Punjab Bn, 8 Frontier Rifles and 6 Baluch Bn stealthily launched simultaneous assault on SARDAR and TAK Posts as operation “Desert Hawk”
At SARDAR post Head Constable Ranjit Singh was on duty manning a machine gun at that time. He sensed some movement about 50 to 100 yards to his North, perceiving it to be enemy movement, he challenged the intruders and the response was a hail of bullets, which was a signal for Pakistani forces to open up with mortars and shells of 25 pounders.. The personnel in the posts took up positions and to conserve the available supply of ammunition till the last moment, they held their fire with baited breath and allowed the enemy to close in. The death like silence made the Pakistanis think that all the personnel manning the post have been killed or wounded in the shelling . It was to the credit of Ct Shiv Ram of Sardar Post to detect the enemy observation post 600 yards away directing the deadly artillery and mortar fire. Once detected, Subedar Balbir Singh was quick enough to direct own mortar fire to destroy this enemy O.P. The attacking columns by now fanned out and the post was surrounded, from close quarters. There was no sign of life in the post. At this stage twenty of the attacking columns stepped closer when all the three machine guns of the post came to life and with a sharp hail of relentless fire flattened the enemy. All of them lay dead in an instant. Another wave of the enemy attack from the rear met the fate of their predecessors who fell in the front. In this wave 14 lay dead and 4 were captured alive. The enemy, however, achieved a fleeting success when the machine gun at the North East corner of the post jammed, but the CRPF men rallied swiftly and mounted a counter attack and threw back the enemy.
The exchange of fire lasted one hour during which the enemy made three attempts to overrun the post but was repulsed with heavy casualties. It was the valour of Head Constable Bhawana Ram deployed on the eastern parameter of Sardar Post who even when the MMG in his locality was silenced, collected all the grenades in his post and kept throwing one after the other at the enemy attempting to close in. His gallant act was to a great extent instrumental in demoralising the intruders and forcing them to retreat from the post.
The retaliation by the CRPF men was such a profound shock to the enemy that despite their numerical and armament superiority, they dared not venture another attack. The fleeing Pakistan Army left behind dead bodies of 34 army men including 2 officers. 4 Pakistani soldiers were taken as hostages. 6 CRPF men made supreme sacrifice for the nation in this attack.
It is a unique and unparalleled feat in military history of war, where a heavily out numbered contingent of Paramilitary personnel forced withdrawal of a regular army infantry brigade and holding them at bay for 12 long hours. The Valour of all CRPF men who fought, unmindful of their own safety, the well being of all their dear ones and driven solely by their duty to defend their motherland at all costs was widely applauded and recognized by a grateful nation.
Shri Gulzari Lal Nanda the then Hon’ble Home Minister said “This battle will go down in the history of Indian Police, nay in the history of military battle”.
CRPF fought alongside the Indian Army in the war of 1965. For their gallant action and conspicuous bravery, CRPF was awarded 16 President’s Police Medal for Fire Service and Gallantry and 15 Police Medals for Gallantry. Among these, 13 medals were won for operations in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat and 18 were won for operations in Jammu & Kashmir. 3rd, 6th , 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th battalions of CRPF participated in the Indo-Pak War, 1965.
To recognize this unique feat and remember their martyrdom,9th April is celebrated as Day of Valour in CRPF.