Border 2: Real-life story of Major Hoshiar Singh, played by Varun Dhawan; he fought alongside Arun Khetarpal, said Pakistanis ‘ne badi maar khayi’

ALSO READ | Ikkis: Real-life story of Arun Khetarpal who was martyred at 21, a day before ceasefire; flouted orders to fight till last breath

Border 2 shows Battle of Basantar

In an earlier interview recorded in 1997, shared on the YouTube channel of Subhash Choudhary, Hoshiar Singh shared the story of the Battle of Basantar that destroyed several Pakistani tanks and killed many of their soldiers. He recalled that they were tasked with entering the Pakistan border and building a bridge across the Basantar river. This was located approximately 20 kms from the border. Major Hoshiar was commanding the left forward company and they were told to capture the village of Jarpal, which was otherwise occupied by the Pakistani forces. They had also placed minefields around this area and had placed tanks and ammunition here.

On December 15, at 10 pm, they got the order to cross the river and occupy the village. Despite all these obstacles, they crossed the river and occupied the area by 12 at night. This was particularly difficult as the enemy forces wouldn’t allow the Indian forces to take over this strategic spot, and in case the Pakistanis were to lose this spot, the Indian forces knew that they would fight tooth and nail to regain control.

President VV Giri presented Param Vir Chakra to Major Hoshiar Singh at a Special Investiture Ceremony in New Delhi. (Photo: Express Archives)

‘Arun Khetarpal was martyred during this attack’

Hoshiar Singh recalled that they had a lot of pressure to take control of this territory in a limited time as it was necessary for strategic missions. They were told that they had to take over the village by 12, and they only had time until dawn to build a bridge across the river so the Indian tanks could enter the territory. In the same timeframe, they also had to clear all the minefields.

After they took control of Jarpal, Pakistani forces surrounded them and started attacking them in response. Here, the first attack from Pakistani forces came in on December 16 at 8 am via the infantry. Soon afterwards, they attacked with their tanks. The next attack came in at 12 noon with even more tanks. After that, at 4pm, the Pakistani forces attacked again with their tanks. “There were three consecutive tank attacks and we managed to destroy 40-45 enemy tanks,” he shared and added, “It was during this tank attack that Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal was martyred.”

Arun Khetarpal (L) was played by Agastya Nanda (R) in Ikkis. (Photo: Express Archives, Maddock Films/YouTube)

‘Pakistaniyon ne badi maar khayi’

Major Hoshiar recalled that on December 16-17, Pakistan brought in more force and they attacked the Indian army from two sides. From one side, they were being attacked with tanks and from the other side, they were being attacked by the infantry. “Isme bhi unhone badi maar khayi,” he recalled and shared that the Pakistani forces lost 300-350 soldiers here. Many of the Pakistani tanks were also destroyed during this battle and he recalled collecting bodies of 97 Pakistani soldiers that were handed over to their side. Major Hoshiar recalled that it was during this battle that he was injured.

He recalled that it was December 18 that a Brigade Commander from the Pakistani side came waving a white flag. He asked for the remains of the Pakistani soldiers and declared that they were now backing off. By this time, a ceasefire had been called by the governments. Major Hoshiar Singh said that after the ceasefire, the Indian Brigade Commander also came in and evaluated the status of the field, as Hoshiar lay in an injured state. He was told that he had fought the battle with bravery despite being injured badly.

Singh retired from Indian Army in 1988. He died due to a cardiac arrest in 1998 at 61.