1971 war tales: Indian Air Force pilot's Kalma episode & Pak captivity

Time of India

19-05-2025

Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava (retd)
CHANDIGARH: Terrorists asking tourists at Baisaran in Pahalgam to recite the Kalma (Islamic declaration of faith) before opening fire has a chilling parallel to an incident during
1971 India-Pakistan war
, when
Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava
(retd) faced a similar ordeal when he was captured in Pakistan and failed to recite the Kalma.
Bhargava was made a prisoner of war (POW) and returned to India only after living for around a year in
Pakistani captivity
.
Recalling his experience, Bhargava, who was a young flight lieutenant at that time, told TOI it was his first sortie beyond enemy lines, when he took off from Barmer air force station in Rajasthan on Dec 5, 1971 morning to launch an attack.
He was flying HF-24 (Hindustan Fighters), popularly known as 'Marut', when he was shot down.
On Dec 5, 1971, around 9am, his aircraft was hit by ground fire and he decided to eject. His parachute barely opened when he touched down. Aircraft had crashed into a sand dune on the Pakistan side adjoining Rajasthan.
He immediately took out some important items from the survival pack, buried his G-suit under the bushes, set his watch on Pakistan standard time and started marching away from the aircraft. He managed to survive for around 12 hours without being identified.
During this period, he introduced himself as pilot Mansoor Ali of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), whose plane was shot by Indian forces. He even showed Pakistan currency to convince people meeting him after his crash.
According to Bhargava, who is presently settled in Panchkula, the villagers in Pakistan were least bothered about his identity and helped him considering an injured soldier.
However, h e came across some Pakistani Rangers while staying in a village.
One of the soldiers of Pakistan Rangers asked him to read the Kalma. 'He even offered that he will read and I have to follow him. As I failed to read it, I was exposed and was arrested and handed over to the Pakistan army,' Bhargava recalled.
Recalling Dec 1, 1972, when healong with other POWs returned from Pakistan's captivity, the 83-years old veteran said they came via the Attari-Wagah border where the then Punjab chief minister, Giani Jail Singh, received them.
Initially, they were taken to the local air force unit, where chilled beer and a sumptuous lunch were arranged, which they had enjoyed almost after one year. Thereafter, they were flown to Palam air force base, where they united with their families.
Bhargava, a former Ranji Trophy cricketer, said he considered his wife, Anu, whom he lost two months ago because of an illness, more courageous than him as she faced all the traumas in his absence. 'When the news about the crash of my aircraft was told to her, she told everyone that nothing will go wrong and that he will return,' says Bhargava. He said she came to know about him only when his parachute, ejection seat and the G-suit were found by an army search team and the same were handed over to his squadron.
Later, in mid-Jan 1972, his family was informed about his POW status in Pakistan. Thereafter, all heaved a sigh of relief and waited for his return.