1947, A Soldier's Story

Both were men of arms, both were of the same rank, both were good friends. But they were in different camps, were Indian Mohinder Singh Chopra and Pakistani Nazir Ahmad.

The year was 1947, the year of Partition. Brigadiers Chopra and Ahmad belonged to the same elite formation, the sixth royal battalion, which, with Independence, was split right through the middle. Now, while Chopra commanded the 123 infantry brigade on the Wagah border (in Punjab), Ahmad did the same on the other side.

''Our task was very difficult as there were no pillars or markers to suggest which is our land and which was theirs,'' writes Brigadier Chopra, who later retired as major general, in his just-released book 1947-- a Soldier's Story.

A compendium of his personal experiences and memories, the book was compiled by his son Pushpinder Singh Chopra from the notes he left behind on his death a few years ago.

At the border, both friends were performing the same job -- namely, 'defending millions of refugees' on either side. Then, except for the nominal boundary between Amritsar and Lahore districts of the undivided Punjab, there was nothing to designate the line which broke the country into two.

"A few hastily whitewashed drums and a rubble of stone were put along Sher Shah Suri Marg to mark the new international border,'' writes Brigadier Chopra, recalling the formation of India and Pakistan.

"Some tents were pitched on either side, two sentry boxes painted in the national colours of each country and a swing gate to regulate the refugee traffic was erected. Two flag masts were also put up on either side and a brass plate commemorating the historic event was installed." he adds.

To make their task easier Brigadier Chopra signalled his counterpart across the border and proposed a meeting on the Sher Shah Suri Marg, close to Waga village (now in Pakistan).

The book gives an account of the historic meeting of the two brigadiers which led to the setting up of the Wagah checkpost on October 11, 1947.

The two met again on October 21 at Attari village and worked out modalities for the safe evacuation of refugees, recovery of abducted women and maintenance of peace along the border.

The Attari meeting was highlighted by the press in both countries and Brigadier Ahmed sent a note to his friend which read: ''We hope and pray that we both now live upto the expectations we built up that day and also that of the public.''

According to A Soldier's Story, the immediate outcome of the meeting was friendly relations between the Indian and Pakistani troops manning the Punjab border.

Today, Wagah post is the only official rail and road link between the two nations. The checkpost, which is now manned by the Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers, has become a major tourist attraction.

UNI