Havildar (Hav.) Bachittar Singh was born on 10 January 1917 in Lopo village of Punjab as the only child of Sardar Rur Singh. He was educated only up to 8th class but he excelled in swimming and wrestling. Right from his young age he was a nationalist and always wanted to join the army.
He joined the army and was enrolled in the Sikh Regiment on 10 January 1937. After completing basic military training, he served his battalion in Africa and Greece. He participated in the Second World War also and saw combat in South Africa. It was after India’s Independence in 1947 that Hav. Bachittar showed skills as a soldier. The princely states governed their realms on their own but they were still subject to the Subsidiary Alliance system that gave the British control over their external affairs.
With the Indian Independence Act 1947, the policy of subsidiary alliances was abandoned and the princely states were given the option to accede to India or to Pakistan. By 1948 most of the princely states located in India had acceded to India but the state of Hyderabad had chosen to join neither Pakistan nor India.
Hyderabad was ruled by the Nizam, Mir Sir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII. He presided over a largely Hindu population hoping to maintain his independence with an irregular army, known as the Razakars. The Telangana uprising and militant Razakars raised the spectre of instability in the region. Therefore, the Indian Government decided to undertake a military operation to annex Hyderabad.
Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru sought to defeat Hyderabad’s secessionist ventures through diplomatic means. He was apprehensive that military action in Hyderabad may cause large scale riots in India. The Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel sought military means to solve the Hyderabad issue.
With Muslim supremacy in mind, the Razakars began to eliminate all opposition including communist and Congress members, Telangana rebels and other Muslim moderates who disagreed with his extremist views. The Nizam also made unsuccessful attempts to seek intervention of the United Nations.
A skirmish between the Indian army and the Hyderabadi forces at Kodad prompted Vallabh Bhai Patel to go forward with armed action. Operation ‘Polo’ was launched. The date for the attack was fixed as 13 September, even though General Sir Roy Bucher, the Indian chief of staff, had objected on grounds that Hyderabad would be an additional front for the Indian army after Kashmir.
On 13 September 1948, 2 Sikh Platoon was given the most important task in Naldurg area. Havildar Bachittar Singh was leading the platoon. At around 4 am, the B Company of the platoon set up blockades on the road. When two vehicles were seen approaching his position Hav. Bachittar Singh ordered his soldiers to fire on the approaching vehicles. There was a heavy exchange of fire but Hav. Bachittar Singh in a show of bravery captured both the vehicles and their escorts.
On the same day, enemy soldiers took secure positions and attacked his platoon. Hav. Bachittar Singh led the counter attack on the enemy forces. When he was about 30 yards away from the target, he got hit by a LMG burst in his thigh and fell. Despite being critically injured, Hav. Bachittar Singh, crawled forward and threw two grenades on the LMG post, and silenced it. He refused to leave the battle field and kept on motivating his men.
His courage inspired his platoon achieve the objective, but Hav. Bachittar Singh was martyred. He was given nation’s first highest gallantry award during peace time, ‘Ashok Chakra’ for his bravery, indomitable spirit and supreme sacrifice.
At 5 pm on 17 September 1948, the Nizam announced a ceasefire, thus ending the armed action. The Hyderabad army led by Major General El Edroos, surrendered. Subsequently, the Nizam signed an instrument of accession, joining India.