Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, Inspiration Behind ‘Border’, Passes Away

Chandigarh: NP NEWS 24 ONLINE – Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri (retd), who is known for his heroics in the historic 1971 battle of Longewala, died on Saturday in a private hospital. He took his last breath in Mohali. He was 78 years of age. Chandpuri was suffering from cancer, his family members informed. He is survived by his wife and three sons.

Battle of Longewala

The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was one of the first major engagements in the western sector during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, fought between assaulting Pakistani forces and Indian defenders at the Indian border post of Longewala, in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan state in India.

A company of the Indian Army’s 23rd Battalion, Punjab Regiment, commanded by then Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri, was left with the choice of either attempting to hold out until reinforced, or fleeing on foot from Pakistani force.

Choosing the former, Chandpuri ensured that all his assets were correctly deployed, and made the most use of his strong defensive position, and weaknesses created by errors in enemy tactics.

He was also fortunate in that an Indian Air Force forward air controller was able to secure and direct aircraft in support of the post’s defense until reinforcements arrived six hours later.

The Pakistani commanders made several questionable decisions, including a failure of their strategic intelligence to foresee availability of Indian strike aircraft in the Longewala area, exercising operational mobility with little or no route reconnaissance, and conducting a tactical frontal assault with no engineer reconnaissance.

Hindi film ‘Border’

The Hindi film ‘Border’, in which actor Sunny Deol played the role of Chandpuri, made in 1997, depicted the India-Pakistan war in Rajasthan. Chandpuri was a Maha Vir Chakra awardee.

The film starred an ensemble cast of Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna and Jackie Shroff in pivotal roles. The film is an adaptation from real life events that happened at the Battle of Longewala during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The film was screened retrospectively on 13 August 2016 at the Independence Day Film Festival, jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals and Ministry of Defense, commemorating the 70th Indian Independence Day. It was the second highest grossing Bollywood film of the year worldwide behind Dil To Pagal Hai and highest-grossing film of the year in India.