TURA: In honor of the 9 BSF martyrs who died defending the border at Dalu during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, a special programme was organised at Killapara BOP by the 75 Bn BSF on the occasion of the nation’s 68th Republic Day.
Rajnikanth Mishra, ADG (Human resources) BSF, who came all the way from Delhi participated as the Chief Guest during the programme and paid rich tributes to the fallen martyrs.
Mishra recounted the sacrifices of the jawans who laid down their lives in the line of duty for the country.
Dalu, 52km from here, was an important border outpost at the height of the war, during which several lakh refugees streamed in from across the border to escape atrocities committed by East Pakistani troops.
The 83rd battalion of the BSF was deployed in the Dalu sector of Garo hills at that time.
One company from the Dalu border outpost was deployed at Killapara, through which several thousand Bangladeshi refugees, along with high-ranking political dignitaries of East Pakistan, were flowing in, seeking shelter in refugee camps across the region.
On the morning of May 25, 1971, a Pakistan army battalion launched a full-scale attack on the Killapara border outpost. The attack was repulsed twice by the handful of BSF jawans manning the post though they were hugely outnumbered. The nine BSF jawans fought valiantly till the last bullet before losing their lives.
Their sacrifice, however, prevented Pakistani troops from advancing further and ultimately denied them control of the strategic Dalu-Tura road.
IG, BSF Shillong, P K Dubey and DIG, SHQ Tura, UPS Pathania were among the 10 officers and 50 other BSF officials of various ranks who attended the tribute paying programme.
In an act aimed at improving cross border ties, 12 officials belonging to the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) also participated in the programme.
