Border Towns Are Always Ready To Defend the Country: Octogenarian Army Guide Reminiscences the 1971 Indo-Pak War Days

On April 23, a day after the Pahalgam terror attack, an 80-year-old man walked 50 kilometres with the help of his cane and the courage of his conviction to a Border Security Force (BSF) base in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, and submitted a letter with the base head.

바카라�My name is Ranu Lal and I was an army guide during the 1971 war. I am familiar with the area beyond the Indian border into Pakistan and, if needed, I am willing to perform the same duty again,바카라� read the letter. Lal also walked to the local police station and the local army office in the village of Myajlar and filed copies of this note.

When asked why would he offer his service for a dangerous mission when he could spend his golden years surrounded by his 10 grandchildren and five sons바카라�his four married daughters live in different villages in Jaisalmer바카라�the octogenarian바카라�s weather-beaten face cracks into lines of laughter; his mouth widens into a broad grin. 바카라�Why would I want to die within these walls in my bed? If I die during the war, serving my country, the government will at least give me a salaami (state funeral),바카라� he says. 

Lal looks around him바카라�he바카라�s sitting cross-legged on a battered charpai in a 100-square-foot room that serves as the drawing room for the rest of his half-constructed home. Apart from the charpai, there is one hassock that has seen better days and three plastic monobloc-style chairs. On the walls, he has hung illustrations of Ram and Hanuman, and pictures from his yesteryears바카라�posing for the camera, all smiles, shaking hands with the then-Army chief Sam Manekshaw; accepting a medal for bravery during combat from K.F. Rustamji, BSF바카라�s first chief from 1965-1971.

Lal hasn바카라�t just been a guide for the 1971 war. He also served as a protection force for his village, Myajlar바카라�one of the last villages along the Jaisalmer Indo-Pak border바카라�during the 1965 India-Pakistan war; also known as the Second Kashmir War. It saw Pakistani troops invading parts of India along the 464-km-long border that the countries share along Rajasthan.

Myajlar was one of the towns that Pakistani troops invaded. Pakistani forces captured the fort of Kishangarh in Rajasthan on September 8, 1965, just 500 kms from Lal바카라�s village. 바카라�They even came to this village바카라�I saw men and tanks come in, that바카라�s when I knew our service would be required,바카라� says Lal. 

The invasion of Myajlar was brief; the army managed to drive back the Pakistani troops. He remembers the day clearly. Then when the 1971 war began, the army reached out to villagers for help. 

바카라�The army came to our town and told us that they would keep our village safe but they needed help and asked if some of us could go with them as guides,바카라� he recalls. 

Lal and two other men바카라� Jabal Singh and Ram Singh, both Rajputs바카라�volunteered. 바카라�You see, back then the border was open. There was no wire. Our herd, goats and cows would wander off to the Pakistani side and we would go retrieve them, so we were familiar with the terrain,바카라� he explains. 

He adds: 바카라�We would go ahead of the forces and check on how many enemy soldiers were there, where, how many camps they had erected ahead of the Line of Control and how many people were manning the posts.바카라� 

The three men would travel ahead of the army; they바카라�d carry no weapons apart from their cane, the base of which was iron-plated for self-defence. 바카라�We used to go ahead 10-15 kms of the army force and then come back and give them all the intelligence. Then we, including the guides from my village, would circle their camps before attacking them,바카라� remembers Lal. 

The three Myajlar men returned but six army men died in one such excursion, Lal says. The villagers erected a monument with the six names on it as remembrance.

Were they afraid of this dangerous work? Lal holds up his medals which he keeps carefully wrapped up in paper and cloth. 바카라�It바카라�s very dangerous work and that바카라�s why I got these medals and recognition.바카라�