A film on a martyr — the only soldier posted in the north-eastern sector to have been decorated with the Param Vir Chakra, the highest military honour — has made the Army rewind the clock to 1962 to inspire soldiers on the China frontier amid reports of infrastructure build-up in Tibet.
On Sunday, the Army organised a special screening of Subedar Joginder Singh , a “motivational movie”, in Tezpur to take new-generation soldiers to the past. The screening follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to take India-China ties forward.
The Hindi-Punjabi movie is based on the life, struggle and valour of Subedar Singh, who died in captivity of the Chinese Army on October 23, 1962, after he was grievously injured at Bumla in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district. He was 41.
Much of Arunachal Pradesh falls under the command of the 4 Corps, headquartered in Tezpur, about 180 km north-east of Guwahati. “We arranged the screening of this film in Tezpur because Subedar Singh attained martyrdom in our area. The film was shown to inspire our young soldiers to be as courageous as him while facing the enemy,” Lieutenant-General Gurpal Singh Sangha, the 4 Corps Commander, told The Hindu .
Bumla is 385 km north of Tezpur. The Chinese aggression of 1962 has a special significance for 4 Corps, also know as Gajraj Corps; it was raised that year. The film was screened at Lance Naik Albert Ekka Auditorium, named after another soldier awarded the Param Vir Chakra for gallantry in the 1971 India-Pakistan war.
Invitation to daughter
The Army especially invited four Junior Commissioned Officers from 1 Sikh, the regiment Subedar Singh belonged to, from the northern sector as well as representatives from the unit presently posted in Bumla. Gallantry award winners of Gajraj Corps were also present.
But the cynosure of all eyes were Subedar Singh’s daughter Kulwant Kaur and her husband Surjeet Singh, an inspector in the Punjab Police. The Army brought the couple to Tezpur from Mahla Kalan in Punjab.
“I was eight-month-old when my father died. It feels good that people have given a thought to a martyr like him after so many years, to rekindle patriotism among people and soldiers. I wish my siblings were here too,” Ms. Kaur (56) said.
She is the youngest of Subedar Singh’s three children. His eldest daughter Sarjeet Kaur was so attached to him that she died after the family received the news of his death at the frontier. She was 11. The martyr’s son Amarjeet died in an accident 35 years ago, while his wife Gurdiyal Kaur died in 2009.
Subedar Singh was the commander of a platoon of about 30 soldiers at Bumla when the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops launched the attack in 1962.
At Bumla — now one of two locations in Arunachal Pradesh for border personnel meetings (BPMs) between Indian and Chinese armies — visitors ritually place pebbles on the Heap of Stones marking the boundary.
To the right of the Heap of Stones as one faces Tibet is the old Maitri Sthal (Friendship Centre), where BPMs were held till the new one was built on the opposite side a few years ago. The centre is located on the spot held by a section of 5 Assam Rifles personnel.
Subedar Singh’s platoon charged the attackers as they ran over the Assam Rifles’section. His platoon thwarted several waves of Chinese soldiers before running out of ammunition. Severely wounded, he was taken captive but refused treatment by Chinese soldiers.
His body was handed over to the Army, which later built a memorial for him about 500 metres from the Heap of Stones.
But Subedar Singh’s feat was somewhat overshadowed by that of Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat of 4 Garhwal Rifles, who fought off 200 Chinese soldiers at Nuranang, deeper inside India from Bumla.
Temple for soldier
Rifleman Rawat was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest military honour, but was immortalised as a saint. Soldiers to and from Tawang routinely pay obeisance at a temple built in his honour near the spot where he died. The place, named Jaswantgarh, is 55 km from Tawang on the road to Tezpur.
Subedar Singh might not have attained sainthood but he is believed to be the motivation the Army has rediscovered through the film, directed by Simerjit Singh and produced by Sumeet Singh.
Army officers said the film is scheduled to be screened for soldiers in units across the domain under Gajraj Corps. These include units close to the McMahon Line demarcating the border between India and China.
