Battle of Sehjra that secured Harike Barrage

In the 1971 war, India’s main effort was in the east, to inflict a crushing defeat on the Pakistan army in East Pakistan. In the west, the Indian military adopted a stance of aggressive defence — maintain the integrity of Indian territory and seize tactically important areas to improve our defence position.

The primary mission of our 48 Infantry Brigade was to defend the politically sensitive border town of Khem Karan in Punjab and deny Pakistan any ingress into our sector. Our secondary mission was to capture Pakistan’s Sehjra Enclave to remove the threat to the vital Harike Barrage, barely 20 miles to the east.

In November, sarpanches of Khem Karan block lamented that in every conflict, they had faced death and destruction of their homes and hearth. We assured them that we would not allow the Pakistanis to grab an inch of our territory.

Commander, 48 Infantry Brigade, Brig MCS Menon was a brave and battle-hardened Commander and had three highly motivated and well-trained battalions under command: 5 Dogra, 6 Mahar (Borders) and 1/5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force), as well as B Squadron 3 Cavalry (Centurions) and the requisite artillery support.

Pakistan’s Sehjra Enclave, encompassing an area of about 53 square kilometre, abutted Khem Karan to its south-east. Through the Enclave, Pakistan could outflank the brigade’s defences and launch an attack against the vital Harike Barrage. To remove this threat, we planned to capture Sehjra Enclave while maintaining the security of Khem Karan.

Sehjra, a large village of about 1,000 houses and a population of around 8,000, sat on top of an escarpment with a dominant view all around, intertwined with crevices, bristling with bunkers and machine guns and approaches covered with minefields. The village was held by a battalion group comprising of one company each of 25 Baloch and Satluj Rangers and two Mujahid companies (Reservists), anti-tank guns, 3-inch mortars and a large number of machine guns. This group was called Romeo Force, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jilani.

The Pakistan Air Force launched the war on December 3, 1971, by attacking Indian Air Force bases. The Pakistanis shelled our positions and attacked our border outposts (BOPs). The Brigade Commander had issued a no withdrawal diktat to all posts who defended their positions resolutely and repulsed all Pakistani attacks.

On December 4, we received orders to capture Sehjra Enclave. Our plan: 1/5 Gorkha Rifles, the main assault force under Lieutenant Colonel SC Gupta, would capture Sehjra complex; one company of 6 Mahar under Major Daljit Sra would establish a block south of Sehjra to prevent Pakistani reinforcements; and coinciding with the Gorkhas attack on Sehjra, one company of 9 Sikh LI would eliminate Pakistani Rangers’ posts Nagar Aminpur, Mabbuke and Doone Mabbuke. 5 Dogra under Lt Col NK Oberoi would continue to firmly hold Khem Karan area and deny enemy any ingress in their area of responsibility. Our operation would have strong artillery, tanks and air support.

D-Day was December 5 and the H Hour 2355 hours. Brigadier Menon’s forward command post bunker was at Rattoke, barely 700 yards from the Pakistanis anti-tank and machine gun bunkers.

On the evening of December 5, before leaving for the command post, Brigadier Menon gripped my hand as I wished him Godspeed.

On the night of December 5, Col Gupta’s 1/5 GR executed a flawless infiltration by stealth march and reached south of the enemy’s Sehjra position by midnight. 6 Mahar’s Major Daljit Sra’s Block Force was also in position and so was 9 Sikh LI’s Major Chhetri with his boys.

Fifteen minutes before H Hour, our artillery barrage and tank fire (from Rattoke) descended on Sehjra complex, leading the enemy to believe that our attack was being launched from the north. However, Col Gupta stunned the enemy by launching his assault from the south, taking the most important and dominating objective, the Twin Bumps, in Phase 1.

This was a great beginning. Fighting through the village all night, Gupta’s gallant officers and men completed the mission by dawn. By 6 am on December 6, the entire Sehjra complex had been captured by the Gorkhas. By all accounts, this was a brilliant victory, a rare instance of one battalion capturing a strong bastion held by one enemy battalion. Colonel Jilani’s uniform and maps were recovered from one of the bunkers. He escaped in his pyjamas and thus, Pakistan’s Romeo Force ceased to exist

At Mahiwala Block position, Daljit Sra’s Mahars captured many Pakistani troops withdrawing from Sehjra; those trying to evade were shot. Major Chhetri had also captured the three Pakistani posts.

The fall of Sehjra Salient caused great humiliation to the Pakistanis and in revenge, they attacked the Khem Karan barrier post on the night of December 8/9. The first attack was repulsed. As the second enemy attack was building up, Radio Pakistan falsely claimed that their troops had captured Khem Karan. A heavy barrage by our artillery broke up the second enemy attack who ran back towards Kasur. On December 9, our Division Commander Major General FL Freemantle and Brig Menon visited Khem Karan town and the railway station and found that both assets were intact. Radio Pakistan’s lie was exposed.

Our capture of Sehjra Salient caused jitters to the Pakistanis. On the night of December 12/13, an enemy company attacked and pushed back 6 Mahar Protective Patrol at 12r. On December 14, Col Gupta led a composite force of infantry, tanks, artillery and air and eliminated the enemy’s Delta Company 41 Baloch from 12r. At least 15 Balochis were killed and many wounded, including their company commander.

In a last-gasp attempt, on the night of December 15/16, the Pakistanis moved a squadron of tanks and tried to make a run for Khem Karan defences held by 5 Dogra. Colonel Oberoi’s Dogras held firm; employing their recoilless guns and supported by the medium and heavy artillery, they foiled all enemy attempts to gain a foothold in Khem Karan area.

In the 1971 war, 48 Infantry Brigade gave a bloody nose to the Pakistanis in every battle, removed the threat to Harike Barrage and established supremacy over Pakistani troops. Pakistan’s casualties were at least 70 killed, around 300 wounded and 74 prisoners of war. Large quantities of arms and ammunition were captured.

The national and international media hailed 48 Brigade’s brilliant performance in the war. Peter Hazlehurst of London’s The Sunday Times praised the gallantry of our soldiers, especially lauding the Gorkhas’ ‘copybook attack by infiltration’.

Brig MCS Menon earned a richly merited Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for his exemplary leadership throughout the war. There were also six Vir Chakras, six Sena Medals and 12 Mentioned-in-Despatches for the brigade.