Ajay Devgn’s film ‘Bhuj: Pride of India’, which depicts the history of 1971 India conquest during the Amrit Festival of Independence, is all set to release on August 13. Ranchordas Rabari alias Pagi, a warrior from Sui village during the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971 in the border areas of Gujarat’s Banaskantha, is still remembered for his role in helping the army in wars and capturing Pakistan. . Is. Bhuj: Pride of India, a Hindi film depicting the events of the 1971 war, is a source of pride for the people of Banas.
We are talking about a hero who played an important role in winning the war not once but twice against our enemy country Pakistan. He is the hero Ranchodbhai Rabari aka Pagi. Ranchod Rabari, aka Pagina helped the Indian Army several times. During the war, when the army had run out of ammunition, Ranchod Rabari helped the army by bringing ammunition on a camel. Pagi means ‘guide’, the person who shows the way in the desert. General Sam Manik Shaw used to call ‘Ranchoddas Rabari’ by this name. Ranchoddas belonged to Pethapur Gathdas, a village adjacent to the Pakistan border in Banaskantha district of Gujarat. Sheep, goats and camels were reared. Life changed when, at the age of 58, Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Vanraj Singh Jhala hired him as a police guide. The skill was so much that after seeing the footprints of the camel, he used to tell how many people were riding on it. By looking at human footprints, they used to guess from weight to age. How long ago the mark is and how far it would have gone are all accurate calculations as if a computer was doing calculations.
He started his work as a watchman in the village. Since he had a wonderful art of detecting footprints at that time, he solved many thefts here. Subsequently in 1962, he was appointed to the Police Department. The Indian Army also came to know about his art. At that time, even in the 1965 war, when the Pakistani army came to Vighakot, Ranchod Pagi helped the forgotten army in the desert and gave complete information about how many people are in the Pakistani army and where they are hiding. .
Also during the 1971 war, Indian troops occupied Dhora and Bhalwa stations by delivering ammunition by camels to the Indian Army in time. The Indian Army finally conquered Pakistan on 16 December 1971. After returning to the barracks after killing three policemen in Pakistan, Ranchod Rabari, an expert in repeatedly dusting Pakistan, paid Rs. A reward of fifty thousand was also announced. Thus, the Suigam police station had got an informer in the form of Jambaz Ranchod Rabari, a pioneer, a zamindar of the desert, a scourge for thieves and infiltrators and a credible source of accurate information on the movement of Pakistanis across the border.
Ranchhod Pagi’s grandson Vishnu Rabari said that the police often sought help from grandfather Ranchodbhai Sawabhai Rabari for his skill in identifying the footsteps of men, animals and birds. In 1962, DYSP Vanraj Zala Saheb had to enlist the help of Ranchodbhai in a personal work in Pakistan. At the same time, the police needed a lot of Pagi to understand the happenings in the desert. At the beginning of the 1965 war, the Pakistan Army captured Vidkot, located on the Kutch border in Gujarat, India, in this encounter about 100 Indian soldiers were killed and a contingent of 10,000 soldiers of the Indian Army was required to reach Charkot in three days. Then there was the need for the first time Ranchoddas Pagi! Thanks to his grip on the desert roads, he had made the army reach its destination 12 hours ahead of schedule. To guide the army, he was chosen by Sam Sahib himself and a special post was created in the army ‘Pagi’ i.e. the knower of feet or feet. The location and approximate number of 1200 Pakistani soldiers hiding in the Indian border was revealed to the Indian Army only after knowing their footprints, and this was enough for the Indian Army to win that front.
Along with guiding the army in the 1971 war, transporting ammunition to the front was also part of Pagi’s work. Pagi’s role was important in the victory that the Indian tricolor was hoisted over the city of Palinagar in Pakistan. Sam Saab himself gave a cash prize of ₹ 300 out of his own pocket. In the 1971 war, Ranchodbhai Pagi went to Pakistan from Boriabet on a camel and informed the Indian Army about the hiding of the Pakistani army in the Dhora area. So Indian soldiers marched on Dhora and attacked. The bomber was killed shortly after noon in front of a convoy of Indian soldiers. So that 50 km of Indian Army. From another distant camp, Ranchod Pagi brought ammunition on a camel and handed it over to the army. While Ranchodbhai was delivering ammunition on time, Indian Air Force fighter jets captured Dhora and Bhalwa stations. However, Ranchodbhai Rabari himself was injured while helping the Indian Army in both the India-Pakistan wars by delivering ammunition to the camel in time.
Sam Manik Shaw died on 27 June 2008 and in 2009 Pagi also took ‘voluntary retirement’ from the army. At that time the age of Pagi was 108 years. Yes, you read that right… ‘Voluntary Retirement’ at the age of 108! Pagi died in 2013 at the age of 112.
In recognition of Ranchodbhai’s successful performance of 31 years 2 months and 26 days, three medals were awarded by the Indian Army, including the Sangram Seva Medal, the Police Medal for Meritorious Service, the Indian Police Medal and the Summer Service Star. In addition to B.S.F. Ranchod Das B.O.P at column no.990 The entire outpost has been erected, while his statue has also been installed. Ranchodbhai Rabari passed away on 18 January 2013. His two last wishes were fulfilled. His wish was that a turban should be placed on the head of his dead body and the cremation should be done only in the field. According to the wishes of both, the last rites were performed by giving guard of honour.
Young historian Prof. Prakash Suthar said that looking at the history it appears that the Indo-Pakistani War started on 3 December 1971 after Pakistan launched air strikes on various cities of India and lasted only for 13 days. India won on 16 December. Ranshodbhai Pagi, a warrior from the border village of Sui and Banasaratna, who played an important role in both the 1965 and 1971 wars, has been an important contributor.