Lance Naik Bhairon Singh Rathore, 1971 war hero, passes away

Lance Naik Bhairon Singh Rathore, 1971 war hero, passes away: Bhairon Singh Rathore, a BSF veteran of the 1971 India-Pakistan conflict, passed away on Monday in Jodhpur at 81 yeas of age at the AIIMS in Jodhpur. He served in the 14th BSF unit during the war and retired from service in 1987. The BSF veteran’s bravery at Rajasthan’s Longewala post during the war was portrayed by actor Suniel Shetty in the Bollywood movie ‘Border’.

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Rathore was stationed at the Longewala post in Jaisalmer’s Thar desert, where he was in charge of a tiny BSF unit of six to seven members and a 120-man company of the 23 Punjab regiment of the Army. On December 5, 1971, these men valiantly fought and annihilated an attacking Pakistani brigade and tank regiment in this area. He was awarded the Sena Medal in 1972 for his bravery. Bhairon Singh Rathore, a Naik who served in the 14th BSF unit during the conflict, retired from the military in 1987. When one of the 23 Punjabi youths was killed, according to BSF documents concerning the Longewala engagement, Lance Naik Bhairon Singh “took his light machine gun and inflicted significant damage on the approaching enemy.” Official records claim that Lance Naik Bhairon Singh “become a huge inspiration to his other comrades on the post” and that “it was only their courage and willingness to do or die that won the day.”