‘See you after we sort out the enemy’: Killed in 1971 war, Param Vir Chakra awardee’s story to be retold on silver screen

Directed by Sriram Raghavan, Ikkis stars Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson Agastya Nanda as SLt Khetarpal and late Dharmendra as his father, Brigadier Madan Lal Khetarpal. In his last appearance on the silver screen, Dharmendra will be heard reciting his poem Aj Bhi Ji Karda Hai, Pind Apne Nu Jaanwa, as a key highlight of the movie.

SLt Khetarpal was born in Pune into a military family on October, 14 1950. He was the older of the two sons of Brig ML Khetarpal and Maheshwari Khetarpal. Several generations of his family had served in the military, he had a natural attraction for the uniform. He joined the NDA in June 1967. He belonged to Foxtrot Squadron and was the Squadron Cadet Captain of the 38th Course — a course that was “born to battle”.

Brig Bajaj, who is 75 and settled in Pune, said, “I vividly remember Arun as a lean, tall youngster who was extremely competitive. He wanted to excel in every field. Whether it was sports — he was agile and fit — or academics, he was very sincere and focussed. We had no doubt that he would be among the top in our course. And that’s what happened. He was also someone who helped those who were lagging behind — I remember him helping those struggling with cross country and swimming — as if being a team player was innate to him. After NDA we moved to Indian Military Academy together and went to the Young Officers (YOs) course at Ahmednagar. But at the time, the clouds of war were building.”

Brig Bajaj added, “None of us wanted to go for training when our regiments were heading for war. That was bothering all of us. We got our YO training directions sometime around September 1971. But a few weeks into the course, one bright morning we all were called to the lecture hall. The Brigadier who briefed us said ‘Boys I have news for you. Your course is cancelled.’ He told us that we would be heading for our regiments. Those heading for Western front would leave on the same day. There were rumours going around that Pakistan would attack us during Diwali. We were all bundled off, put into three-tonne vehicles and transported to Ahmednagar railway station. We were to board the Jhelum Express, which we called Zalim Express, because it was never on time.”

Remembering his last meeting with SLt Khetarpal, Brig Bajaj said, “As young officers in their very early 20s, we had not realised the implications of war and what it meant. And what still aches me is the feeling that it was the last time I saw Arun. We hugged each other, we said bye to each other. Not Imagining in our wildest dreams that we would not meet again. I vividly remember his cheerful smile when he said to me ‘Buddy, see you after we sort out the Pakis. Those were his last words to me before we boarded the train.” While SLt Khetarpal was posted with his Poona Horse unit in Shakargarh sector and Brig Bajaj, then SLt Bajaj was posted in Dera Baba Nanak sector in Gurdaspur.

On 16 December 1971, when our position at Jarpal in the Shakargarh Sector was subjected to an attack by a Pakistani armoured regiment and our troops were heavily outnumbered by enemy forces, the squadron commander asked for reinforcements. Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, on hearing this transmission over the radio, answered the call and moved with his troop to meet the enemy attack. At the end of the iconic fierce battle, SLt Khetarpal was ordered to abandon his tank but realising that the enemy was still pressing the attack, he continued engaging the enemy despite the grievous wounds and his own tank burning. He destroyed one more enemy tank before his tank was hit a second time, killing him.

“It was only two-three days after Arun had made the supreme sacrifice that we got to know about it,” Brig Bajaj remembers. Today, the iconic parade ground of the NDA proudly bears his name as Khetarpal Parade Ground, as one among many tributes to him.

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