A polite, debonair Flt. Lt Mohinder Singh Bawa, fondly called Minhi Bawa, a fighter pilot, whom I knew as such, turns into a combative and determined Wing Commander who fought the war of 1971 between India and Pakistan as base Commander at Jaisalmer. He is remembered in the Indian Air Force for the battle of Longewala. In fact, he was asked by his headquarters to leave the base as it was not battle-ready. There was no runway for the aircrafts to take off. Bawa decided to hold the base and fight. He prepared the runway with the help of then District Magistrate and other engineering staff and inspired his team to attack advancing Pakistani Armoured Corps. Only technical hitch was that Bawa’s team had to wait till the break of dawn as the hunter aircrafts were not equipped to fight at night.
That was my husband. The famous battle of Longewala was fought in the deserts of Rajasthan, wherein the Pakistan armour was totally routed in a matter of two days, resulting in the destruction of 54 tanks by the hunter-aircrafts of the Indian Air Force on 5th and 6th December. The Bollywood movie ‘BORDER’ was loosely based on this conflict though historical facts prove otherwise. The battle was between the Indian Air Force and the Pakistani tanks. The infantry was not involved in the battle. In fact, Kuldip Chandpuri, the character played by Sunny Deol, was sheltering in the bunker. As the battle was over, Kuldip Chandpuri saw the Wing Commander, a tall ‘Sardarji’ standing outside, came out of the bunker and touched Wing Commander’s feet.
The maker of the film J.P. Dutta, inserted the infantry to make it entertaining for the audience. Many film makers do so even at the cost of twisting facts. Before the film was released, Dutta came to Air Marshal to request him not to make it an issue as he had invested lot of money in making the film. Out of compassion, Air Marshal kept mum.
The true story lies in the War Diary in which the day-to-day happenings with photos were documented. It makes very good reading for those interested in war stories. It is also recorded by authors of history of wars including the battle of Longewala. My husband also documents the facts in a book called ‘Fatal Embrace: Air Battle of Longewala, 1971’ released in 2009 by Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik. The book contains the audio messages of Pakistani Armoured Corps intercepted by Indian Air Force.
After the war, the Bangladesh officers and men serving in Pakistan were repatriated to their parent country. One such major who became a Colonel came to India to attend the NDC Course at Delhi in 1972.
My husband, who was then a Group Capt, was in Delhi on an official visit. His Base Air Commander Bhattacherjee, who was also on the course in NDC, invited him to lunch at his home in Raksha Bhawan. There were a few other foreign guests. Since it was not a working day, all of them were in civilian clothes but my husband was in uniform.
They were in an animated conversation when the Bangladesh Colonel standing in the corner. At some point, the Colonel walked up to Minhi, the Group Captain and asked where you were during the war. When Minhi replied that he was commanding Jaisalmer, the Colonel almost froze, but regaining his composure, he said, “Oh, so you were the man in command”. Minhi replied, “The way you have asked me, gives me the impression that you were fighting against me”. His answer was “Yes”. Minhi asked, “Were you hiding in the trenches outside the village of Ghabar”? He turned pale and said, “Yes, but how did you know”?
Answer, “I did not know that you were there, but intelligence reports revealed that some Pakistani soldiers were hiding in the trenches. Shake hands, you are alive today because of the pity that overcame me, as I had aircrafts loaded with napalm bombs to burn the trenches down, but at the last minute, I decided not to do so.
I wanted that some of you go back home and tell them the whole truth about the war.
I am not going to hold back too long to divulge who the Colonel was. He was Hussain Muhammad Ershad. He went back home after the course, rose to be a General and then took over as the President of Bangladesh. It was General Ershad, who played a lead role in constituting a South Asian block that will lead countries into a regional integration. That Block came to be known as South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). It is another matter that this Block is stalled of late due to animosity between India and Pakistan.
Sadly, he was later jailed for many years. I wonder if it would have been better for him to have died as a martyr in the war than languish in jail and then fade away never to be remembered.

(Memoire)

From Prof. D.K. Giri, BK Delhi Bureau: This is short memoire from a long and deep history of battle of Longewala. This battle has been shrouded in some popular controversy, exacerbated by the super hit
(This
Bollywood film ‘Border’. According to Air Marshal Bawa, who led the fight against the Pakistani Armoured Corps, the film was factually lacking. He said this to me in several conversations I was privilege to have with Air Marshal over ten years of our informal association. He showed several documents, press clippings, his personal war diary to say what actually happened in the battle. Air Marshal Bawa was a disciplined, dedicated and devout soldier of Indian Air Force. A film was made on his account and experience of ‘Battle of Longewala’. When the film was released at United Service Institution of India in Shankar Vihar, New Delhi, Air Marshal was literally mobbed by admirers. I had to escort him out with some difficulty. On his death, the Indian Air Force took over the process cremation where all three wings of Indian Defence Forces laid wreath and paid tributes as per the finest Indian defence tradition. The following piece is penned by his widow, who became 90 this year and is full of life. The Brighter Kashmir shares this snippet of history of war against Pakistan for the sake of determination, devotion and inspiration for all those patriots committed to the territorial integrity of our country.