ROLE OF BSF IN 1971 WAR

WESTERN THEATRE SYNDICATE : 6A

CHEST NO : 82-86
SQUAD NO: 06
PLATOON NO: 03
SHIVAJI COMPANY
SI(DE) COURSE 69
 BSF’S ROLE IN 1971 WAR

“Our flag does not fly because

the wind moves it, It flies with
the last breath of each soldier
who died protecting it.”
The roots of the Border Security Force can be
traced back to the aftermath of the 1965 Indo-
Pak War, when a need was felt to have a
separate paramilitary force dedicated to
guarding India’s borders. Prior to December
1965. This charter of guarding India’s borders –
was shared, in an ad hoc manner, between the
Central and State Reserve Police, while the
Indian Army served in an active combat role.
However, in 1971, the six-year-old BSF was
thrust into action, as “the implementing agency”
in an intense operationally demanding theatre.
Operationally demanding because ever
since Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rehman’s proclaimed independence in
March 1971, due to which conditions had
deteriorated in East Bengal (now
Bangladesh), thus first exposing BSF
personnel to the fall-out of the mass
ethnic cleansing that had begun.
WHY THE WAR STARTED?

• THE WAR STARTED ON 3RD DEC 1971

• CRACKDOWN AGAINST BENGALI CIVILLIANS, STUDENTS, INTELLECTUALS
& ARMED PERSONNEL IN THE THEN EAST PAKISTAN.
• THIS CRACKDOWN BY THE PAKISTAN MILITARY WAS KNOWN AS
OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT
• LED TO WIDESPREAD VIOLENCE AGAINST HINDUS & BENGALI ELITE AND
LED TO GENOCIDE OF ABOUT 3 MILLION HINDUS IN BANGLADESH.
• INDIA ENTERED THE WAR ON DECEMBER 3RD 1971 AFTER A REQUEST FOR
MILITARY ASSISTANCE FROM THE GOVT OF EAST PAKISTAN.
HOW BSF GOT INVOLVED ?

• AS SOON AS THE GENOCIDE STARTED IN EAST PAKISTAN

• BSF RESOURCES WERE DEPLOYED TO THE MAXIMUM AT THE BORDERS
• BSF PERSONNEL TRAINED GUERILLAS OF MUKTI –BAHINI IN CO-
ORDINATED OPERATIONS EVEN BEFORE THE OUTBREAK
• BY THE TIME THE WAR BROKE OUT ON
INDO-PAK WESTERN BORDER, THE BSF
WAS ALREADY WORKING IN CLOSE LIAISON
WITH THE ARMY.
• INTRICATE KNOWLEDGE OF TERRAIN BY THE BSF HELPED ARMY A LOT DURING
THE WAR.
• EXTENSIVE PATROLLING & PROPER TASKING OF IT’S SOURCES ENABLED
COLLECTION OF USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENEMY BUILD UP &
INTENTIONS.
• ONE SUCH INFORMATION LED TO APPREHENSION OF A PAK SPY IN GANGANAGAR
WHICH LED TO REVELATION OF ENEMY PLANS OF PRE-EMPTIVE AIR STRIKE.
• HENCE THE BSF ROLE DURING THE 1971 WAR EXPANDED TOWARDS THE WESTERN
FRONT TOO.
WESTERN FRONT
• GUJARAT: THE OPERATIONAL TASK OF THE BSF BATTALIONS WAS TO CAPTURE THE
PAKISTANI POSTS WHICH WOULD ACT AS THE BRIDGE HEAD AND THEN EXTEND INDIAN
CONTROL.
• ON 5-6 DEC, THE 1ST BATTALION OF BSF SUCCESSFULLY ATTACKED AND OCCUPIED THE
PAKISTANI BOP KALIABET, LEADING THE WAY TO OCCUPY MORE POSTS.
• THE 2ND BATTALION, ON THE OTHER HAND, SUPPORTED BY IT’S OWN MORTARS AND
MMG’s AND POST GROUP ARTILLERY SUCCEEDED IN LIQUIDATING THE PAKISTANI BOP
OF JALELI.
• THE 3RD Bn OF THE BSF, WHICH HAD BEEN GIVEN THE TASK OF CAPTURING PAK BOP
VINGOOR WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE IT’S TASK SUCCESSFULLY.
• RAJASTHAN: AMONG THE MAJOR OFFENCES THAT PAKISTAN LAUNCHED IN THE
WESTERN FRONT WAS IN THE JAISELMER SECTOR FOCUSSED ON LONGEWALA
• THE LONGEWALA POST MANNED BY THE BSF, WAS SURROUNDED BY THE ENEMY
ARMOUR AND INFANTRY.
• THE BSF PERSONNEL ALONG WITH THE ARMY, PUT UP ONE OF THE MOST HEROIC
FIGHTS IN THE ANNALS OF INDIAN MILITARY HISTORY.
• A HANDFUL OF TROOPS HELD ON TO THEIR POSITIONS IN THE FACE OF ATTACK BY
A MUCH LARGER FORCE TILL THE ENEMY ARMOUR WAS DESTROYED BY THE
INDAN AIR FORCE.
• PUNJAB: FOR TACTICAL REASONS, THE RAJA MOHTAM BOP IN MAMDOT
SECTOR IN PUNJAB HAD BEEN ABANDONED EARLIER AND WAS
SUBSEQUENTLY OCCUPIED BY THE PAKISTANI FORCES.
• GROUND ON THE INDIAN SIDE OF BOP WAS SHALLOW AND CONVERTED INTO
A MINEFIELD BY THE PAKISTANIS.
• THE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TASK OF STORMING AND CAPTURING THE BOP
WAS ASSIGNED TO SHRI RK WADHWA, AC AND HIS TROOPS. SHRI WADHWA
LED HIS MEN IN AN OUTFLANKING MANEUVER AT NIGHT THROUGH A
MINEFIELD AND “CAME UP BEHIND THE POST TO BE CAPTURED.”
• VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING OF 7TH DEC 1971, WADHWA LED THE ASSUALT ON
THE POST WITH A GRENADE IN HAND. THE BSF MEN WHO TOOK THE ENEMY BY
SURPRISE FROM THE REAR, OVERRAN THE POST ONLY TO REALISE THAT THE
BOP HAND BEEN HELD BY THE PAKISTANI ARMY ALMOST IN COMPANY
STRENGTH.
• SHRI WADHWA WAS KILLED IN SHELLING SOON AFTER THIS FAMOUS VICTORY.
• SUB-INSPECTOR AJIT SINGH OF 23RD BATTALION WAS AWARDED VIR CHAKRA
FOR HIS BRAVERY.
• THE BSF SUCCEEDED IN CAPTURING 17 ENEMY BOPs IN PUNJAB SECTOR.
• JAMMU: IN RAJOURI & BANDIPURA, THE BSF WAS INVOLVED IN
DEFENSIVE BATTLES ALONG WITH THE ARMY.
• THE BSF OPERATED INDEPENDENTLY IN BANDIPURA SECTOR WITH 4
BATTALIONS & 3 POST GROUP ARTILLERY(PGA).
• THE 61ST BATTALION CARRIED OUT A BRILLIANT REAR GUARD ACTION ON
22ND NOV 1971 TO EXTRICATE AN ENEMY PLATOON PATROLLING IN THE
AREA AROUND THE RING COUNTER POST CAUSING HEAVY CASUALTIES
TO ENEMY AND DESTROYING THEIR BUNKERS.
 CONCLUSION!

• Diminishing the Two-front War Threat: The East Pakistan uprising provided India with the
opportunity to break up Pakistan and eliminate the threat of a two-front war in any future
confrontation.

• Although the eastern front remained largely inactive in 1965, it tied down substantial military
resources that could have been deployed to greater effect in the western theatre.

• The India-Pakistan war was preceded by the signing of the Indo-Soviet Treaty in August 1971,
which boosted India diplomatically.
The victory defined India's much broader role in foreign politics.
• Many countries in the world, including the United States, realised that the balance of power had
shifted to India in South Asia.
VICTORY!!

• IT CAN THEREFORE BE EMPHATICALLY STATED THAT THE BSF, ALTHOUGH

IN IT’S INFANCY, PERFORMED EXCEEDINGLY WELL IN 1971 WAR.