Tezpur(Assam), April 30 (PTI): A biopic of Subedar Joginder Singh, the hero of the 1962 Sino-Indian war who was conferred the Param Vir Chakra posthumously, was shown here in the presence of his family members and army GOC Gajaraj corps here.
The Punjabi war film 'Subedar Joginder Singh' has been produced by Saga music and released on April 6 this year. It has been directed by Simerjit Singh who hails from Moga, the same region as Joginder Singh.
The film depicts the life of Joginder Singh and his battalion of 20 men who held their position defying a 600-strong Chinese contingent in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh during the Sino-India war.
Gajaraj Corps GOC Lt Gen Gurpal Singh Sangha told the media after the screening last evening that the film is a "great honour" to Singh, who had made the supreme sacrifice.
"We are proud of him", he said adding the film will be available in every frontier and area where Indian soldiers are deployed so that they can see their hero.
Sangha said, "We still have such type of soldiers (like Subedar Jogindar Singh) in every regiment, including in the border territory.
"The border today is very well maintained in every way compared to what it was in 1962", he said.
Subedar Jogindar Singh's youngest daughter Kulwant Kaur, who was an infant when her father died, was present at the screening.
Later, speaking to reporters she said, "I am very happy to see the film and the untold story".
Defence sources said Singh was born on September 28, 1921 at Mahla Kalan village in Faridkot district of Punjab. He had enrolled in the army as a sepoy of the First Sikh Regiment on September 28, 1936 and had served in the British Indian army at various places on the Burma Front and won many laurels.
After Independence, he served with the Sikh Regiments at Srinagar in 1948 when Pakistani tribals attacked Kashmir.
Singh was commanding a platoon of 20 soldiers to form the guards of Indian Border Ridge and Twin Peaks, in then North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and now Arunachal Pradesh, which the Chinese were eyeing to capture from Indian forces, they said.
China could not get a hold of Tawang without capturing the strategic Twin Peaks because Indian soldiers stationed there could see every movement of the Chinese army miles away.
Therefore, it was certain the Chinese would make all effort to capture the IB Ridge and the Twin Peaks.
In the early hours of October 23, 1962 the Chinese launched an offensive from three sides and the small force of Assam Riffles posted at Bum La couldn't put up much resistance. Soon there was the offensive at IB Ridge, which was guarded by Subedar Joginder Singh with his men, the film documented.
As the Indian forces were running out of ammunition, Joginder Singh asked for more ammunition from the Company Headquarters but it was hard to supplement the troops as the Chinese were intercepting the communication network.
Coy Commander Lt Haripal Kaushik had asked Subedar Singh to retire to the Cy Headquarters but he assured that the enemy would not be allowed to get through the IB Ridge to the Twin Peaks.
Singh had led his troops and defended his post though heavily outnumbered by the enemy until he was wounded and killed that day.
He was posthumously conferred the country's highest military gallantry award - the Param Vir Chakra.
