Mohinder Singh Chopra

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Major General

Mohindar Singh Chopra
Born1907
Amritsar, Punjab, British India
Died1990
New Delhi, India
Allegiance British India
 India
Service/branch British Indian Army
 Indian Army
Years of service1928–1956
Rank Major General
UnitPIFFERS ("Black Puttees")
Royal Fusiliers
7th Rajput Regiment
Persian and Iraq Force
XIV Army
Jullundur Brigade
13 Frontier Force Rifles
5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force)
20th Infantry Division
Battles/warsThird Anglo-Afghan War
Burma Campaign<Anglo-Iraqi War
North African Campaign
Partition of India
RelationsPushpinder Singh Chopra (son)
Other workAmbassador of India to Philippines
Ambassador of India to Taiwan
Director of National Institute of Sports, Patiala

Major General Mohindar Singh Chopra (1907–1990) was an Indian Army General Officer who was the Brigadier in charge of stopping the Partition Riots in Punjab and Bengal. He stopped riots and genocides from taking place with military prowess and made sure that the Indian Army remained a secular fighting force- true to its ideals of protection and peace.

As the Brigadier he was responsible for a peaceful, voluntary flow of migration and stopping riots from both sides. He had managed to do a referendum in Sylhet, East Pakistan and stopped riots in Amritsar-Lahore along with the rest of Punjab after the Partition of the British Indian Army.

After retirement he became India's Ambassador to the Philippines and Taipai (as Taiwan was known). Later, he was Director, National Institute of Sports, Patiala.

Early life[edit]

Mohindar Singh Chopra was born to a Sikh background in Amritsar, and at an early age was selected for military training as an 'A' recruit.[1]

Army career[edit]

Training[edit]

Chopra, as a young subaltern freshly commissioned from the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, had joined his first Regiment, the Royal Fusiliers of the British Indian Army, on a year's attachment in 1928. He was a King's Commissioned Officer.[1] His army career progressed steadily, he saw action on the North West Frontier Province with the 1st Bn. 7th Rajput Regiment at Bannu after which he was posted to his permanent regiment, the 6th Royal Bn, 13th Frontier Force Rifles (Scinde) as part of the elite "PIFFER Group", the legendry "Black Puttees" as they were known. They helped to keep the peace on the turbulent North West Frontiers, with their wild and warlike Pathan tribesmen.

Various professional courses were attended but Mohindar Singh Chopra excelled in army physical training (being a Sandhurst blue for Athletics) and he was sent for advanced courses to Aldershot just before World War II broke out.

World War II[edit]

Anglo-Iraqi War[edit]

He was sent as part of the British Indian Army Head Command to secure the area from Iraqi rebels.[2] The region fell under the indirect occupation of the British Raj at the time hence he administrated and sent communications from Iraq to India.[2]

Burma Campaign[edit]

Mohindar Singh Chopra then served with the Fourteenth Army (United Kingdom) on the Assam-Burma front.[3] He was a company commander of a war he raised battalion of the 13 Frontier Force Rifles, operating deep behind Japanese lines in the Burma Campaign.[3] He had beaten back the Japanese forces in the Arakan Jungles and was promoted to Lt Colonel by the British Indian Army for his service.[3]

North-African Campaign[edit]

He was sent to North Africa in 1944, although he did not see any military service in the region.[4]

Partition of India[edit]

Sylhet Referendum[edit]

In the region of Bengal, there were barely any riots, excepting the Noakhali riots and Direct Action Day, due to the presence of Mohindar Singh Chopra organized army, Sylforce (Sylhet Force) in the area.[5] He prevented any riots or armed violence during the Sylhet Referendum despite massive religious tension in the area.[3] The Sylhet Referendum concluded on 6 July 1947 with most of the region joining East Pakistan. He stayed till early August and then left to Delhi.[6]

Partition of the British Indian Army[edit]

In Delhi, in September 1947, he had started to chalk out a plan to Partition the British Indian Army into the newly formed Pakistani Army and Indian Army. They settled on the battalions moving from and to India/Pakistan along with the transportation.[7] He also helped Muslims settle in tents in Delhi near Humayun's Tomb and the Red Fort.[8]

Punjab Crisis[edit]

During his time in Bengal he had written to Master Tara Singh, Jathedar Mohan Singh Tur and other Akali leaders to keep peace in the area- although that was not the case.[9] In Punjab around 800,000 Muslims from East Punjab and the rest of India died trying to reach the Western side, whereas around 200,000 Hindus and 50,000 Sikhs also died in riots in Pothohar.[10] For three months (October–December) Mohindar Singh Chopra commanded the 123 Indian Infantry Brigade to stop the riots going on in Punjab.[11] His brigade was able to stop various riots across the region by Muslims and Sikhs against each other, in early 1947 he alone had convinced a Sikh jatha of 500 to stop rioting in peace by asking them to live in mutual brotherhood.[11]

Wagah-Attari Border[edit]

He and his counterpart and former associate, Brigadier Nasir Ahmad, had devised a plan to create a joint checkpost to make sure that the border is created.[12] They both founded the famous Wagah-Attari Border which, at that time, was 3 drums on each side and a line of chalk drawn on the Grand Trunk Road.[12] Visitors can still see a plaque at the bottom of the flagstaff at the check post which bears the words: "Foundation stone of this flag staff was laid by Brig Mohinder Singh Chopra on 11th Oct 1947".[13]

After Partition[edit]

Pakistan, before the 1947 Indo-Pakistan War, also tried to infiltrate East Punjab like they did in Kashmir although he had cleverly foiled their plan by creating checkposts along the border to capture them.[8] He later invited Jawaharlal Nehru for a parade in Gobindgarh Fort, Amritsar to inspire the people that Punjab would be safe, he stayed there till 1948.[8]

With the 5th Infantry[edit]

In late 1949 he was promoted to Major General and given the responsibility to resurrect the famous 5th Infantry Division, then scattered along most of North and Eastern India.[6] The 5th Division was built up into a formidable fighting force and mobilized twice for the border crisis of 1950–51 after Tibet was being taken over by China.[6] In 1950 he was given the singular honor of  being appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the 5th Royal Gurkhas Rifles (Frontier Force) being then and remaining the senior Piffer in the Sub-Continent.[6] In 1953 he took over as GOC 20th Infantry Division, the last Division to have troops stationed in Tibet.[6]

1952 Devon Plane Crash[edit]

In 1952 the Devon Plane Crash could have wiped out the entire top brass of the Indian Army, although they miraculously survived.[14] Among them were the then GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen SM Shrinagesh, Maj Gen KS Thimayya, Maj Gen SPP Thorat (later GOC-in-C, Eastern Command), Maj Gen Sardanand Singh, Maj Gen Mohinder Singh Chopra and Brig Ajaib Singh.[14] Shrinagesh, who died in December 1977, wrote, "I gazed out of the cabin window and saw flames coming out of the engine.[14] The plane could explode the moment the fire reached the fuel system."[15] Flt Lt S Biswas was attempting desperately to extinguish the fire when suddenly the plane flipped and plunged down to almost 4000 feet."[15] In Shrinagesh's own words, "We disembarked from the plane unscathed, apparently in order of precedence, and walked to the nearest village a couple of miles away. We obtained a lift from the village to the main Lucknow road in the only means of conveyance available – a bullock cart!"[15]

Major General Mohindar Singh Chopra retired from the Indian Army in 1955.[12]

Later life[edit]

He became the first Ambassador from India to the Philippines in 1955 itself and held the position till 1959.[16] Due to his arrival, for the first time, the Cabinet meeting was held in the Malacañang state dining hall.[16] For a short time he became the Ambassador to Taiwan as well in the 1960s. After a few years of civilian life, from 17 July 1964 to 30 April 1967 he was Director of National Institute of Sports in Patiala.

In 1988 he was invited to Manchester where he formed the Jullundur Brigade Association between India (5th Battalion, Sikh Regiment), Pakistan (1st Battalion the Frontier Force Regiment) and Great Britain (1st Battalion, Kings Regiment).[17]

"There is something unique and central in the faiths that the men in arms professed- to have been made incumbent upon men of different religions (Christian, Sikh, Hindu) to have lived, fought and died together."

— Major General Mohinder Singh Chopra about the Jullundur Brigade, Jullundur Brigade Book

Death[edit]

He passed away in New Delhi at the age of 84.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "SHORTS: Maj Gen Mohinder Singh Chopra, The Architect of Attari-Wagah Border Check Post". Khalsa Vox. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b Kochhar, Aashish (11 October 2020). "The Making of the Attari-Wagah Border". PeepulTree. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Chopra, Mohindar Singh (1997). 1947, a Soldier's Story. Military Studies Convention.
  4. ^ "1947 : a soldier's story : from the records of Maj. Gen. Mohindar Singh Chopra". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  5. ^ Menon, Jisha (2013). The Performance of Nationalism: India, Pakistan, and the Memory of Partition. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-00010-0.
  6. ^ a b c d e "26. 2. STAR GENERALS – RHINO VETERANS". Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  7. ^ "1947 : a soldier's story : from the records of Maj. Gen. Mohindar Singh Chopra". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Chopra, Mohindar Singh (1997). 1947, a Soldier's Story. Military Studies Convention.
  9. ^ Jennifer, Leaning; Shubhangi, Bhadada (22 July 2022). The 1947 Partition of British India: Forced Migration and Its Reverberations. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-93-5479-312-7.
  10. ^ Singh, Jogindar (1993). Behind the Scene: An Analysis of India's Military Operations, 1947–1971. Lancer Publishers. ISBN 978-1-897829-20-2.
  11. ^ a b Studies, Partition. "1947- A Soldier's Story From the Records of Maj. Gen. Mohinder Singh Chopra". Partition Studies. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b c "Independence Day: The man who set up the joint check post at Attari-Wagah border in 1947". The Indian Express. 13 August 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  13. ^ Livemint (15 August 2023). "77th Independence Day: Beating the Retreat ceremony held at Attari-Wagah border". mint. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  14. ^ a b c "Coonoor crash turns spotlight on high-profile military air accidents". Hindustan Times. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  15. ^ a b c "Devon, destiny, drama in the skies". The Times of India. 10 February 2006. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  16. ^ a b "https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1958/01/31/official-month-in-review-january-16-january-31-1958/". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  17. ^ "Jullundur Brigade". the-south-asian.com. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
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