Published on: 12/2/2015IST
The Heroic Story Of Jaswant Singh – The Man Who Saved Arunachal Pradesh From The Chinese
Sometime before first light fell over the mountains, they’d begun their ascent into Arunachal Pradesh once again. This was the Chinese Army’s fourth assault, in the last charge as a final insult - they’d chopped off the hand of the Buddha Statue in Tawang and carried it away, but something was different this time. As the sun rose over the Eastern Himalayas around 5 am and the Chinese troops mounted another assault, this time through Sela top – something was different – the Delta company of the Garwal Rifles or specifically a Rifleman of the 4 Garwal - Jaswant Singh Rawat was in their way.
In a battle that started on 17th November 1962 and continued for the next 72 hours, Jaswant Singh alone held the post, firing from different bunkers, constantly on the lookout for the Chinese. By the time he was done, more than 300 Chinese soldiers had been killed.
Even though the Chinese soldiers managed to capture a heavily wounded Jaswant Singh and hang him, by then Indian Army’s reinforcements arrived, stopping the Chinese progress into Arunachal Pradesh. This was the battle of Nauranang.
This was India’s final stand; the ray of hope in what had otherwise been a disappointing war. The stand that propelled Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat from being a mere mortal to a legend, a god even. Locals have even constructed a Buddhist temple at the spot.
Even though Jaswant Singh was decorated (posthumously) with a Mahavir Chakra, the Indian Army continues to treat him with the fanfare of a serving officer.
A hut constructed over the spot where he was martyred, houses a bed which is constantly made by one of the five army jawans posted at the post, his shoes are regularly polished and letters by his well wishers are presented to Jaswant Singh every day and taken away the next day after he’s gone through them.
The fourth battle in Arunachal Pradesh
The army rather succinctly draws up the military actions that lead to the final stand. Indian troops had withdrawn from Tawang and 4 Garhwal Rifles was deployed to guard Sela, one of the vital installations in the Area.
An attempt by the Chinese to infiltrate, dressed like local monpas, had already been thwarted. The Chinese followed up the attack with two more attacks on the same day – this time supported by artillery, mortars and MMGs. Indian army though continued to hold their ground. According to Indian Army accounts, it’s the fourth attack that gave rise to the legend of the immortal Baba Jaswant Singh who guards India’s borders in the East.
The fourth attack by the Chinese Army on 4 Garhwal was probably the deadliest. Hell bent on capturing Nauranang, the Chinese managed to move an MMG (Medium Machine Gun) close to where 4 Garhwal was, bringing them under immense fire.
This also prevented the men of 4 Garhwal from using their Light Machine Guns and it’s here that Lance Naik Trilok Singh, Rifleman Jaswant Singh and Rifleman Gopal Singh undertook a suicide mission – they crawled through rocks and bushes under heavy enemy fire to take out the Chinese MMG with hand grenades. They succeeded too – lobbing grenades from as close to 15 yards. Jaswant Singh snatched the MMG from the wounded Chinese soldier who still clung on to it and crawled back to his trench.
It would have probably been a very different story if he’d succeeded – but just as he was about to reach the trench – he was shot in the head. But by then the enemy had already been delivered a big blow and Gopal Singh managed to drag the MMG back to Indian trenches.
This 15 minute act of self-sacrificing bravado changed the course of the Battle Of Nauranang, Indian LMGs came alive and beat the Chinese back – Arunachal Pradesh could never come under Chinese control.
What made rifleman Jaswant Singh a legend?
But locals have a somewhat different version of Jaswant Singh’s actions on November 17th, 1962. While his company had fallen back, Jaswant Singh remained at his post at an altitude of 10,000 ft.
Jaswant Singh along with the help of two local Monpa girls Sela and Nura who worked as porters managed to set up weapons at separate spots and maintained a huge volume of fire on the Chinese. This led the Chinese to believe that they were facing an entire battalion, and not just one man.
It’s said that Jaswant Singh managed to kill more than 300 enemy soldiers before the Chinese captured the man supplying him rations and told them about the lone rifleman who opposed them. While Sela died in a grenade attack and Nura was captured, Jaswant Singh sensing that he was about to be captured, shot himself with the last bullet.
It is alleged that the Chinese carried Jaswant Singh’s severed head back to China till a Chinese Commander who was impressed by his valor returned it. The Chinese Army even had a brass bust of the soldier commissioned which now sits at the site of the battle.
Regardless of what the real story of Jaswant Singh was, for locals, the jawans who are posted for his upkeep and all travellers who pass by – he remains the guardian ghost of India’s Eastern Border – the man who saved Arunachal Pradesh from the Chinese. The silver lining in what was otherwise a disappointing battle.
For their work in the field, 4 Garhwal Rifles was awarded the battle honour ‘Nauranang’ the only one bestowed during the 1962 war. Jaswant Singh’s comrades Lance Naik Trilok Singh Negi (posthumously), Rifle Man Gopal Singh were awarded the Vir Chakra.
The author travelled to Arunachal Pradesh as a part of Mahindra Adventure’s Mahindra Authentic North East Expedition 2015.
12/2/2015 | | Permalink