A handful of 12 lakh Indians,tough & confident,Brave the biting cold,the deep burning sands,
They know not what fear is
Undaunted by bullets & gore
Safeguarding the borders & the core,
With passion & great spirit,hope & resolve
They move to the stretches beyond,
Protecting & nurturing our motherland
Years have passed & so have 4 wars,
Insurgency operations in J & K,North-east,Siachen & Kargil,
Have glorious tales to tell,
1947 & beyond,they have proved their might
Eagerly many parted with their lives,
The number rose to more than 21000,
Eyes wet with tears & pain,
Behind it was also Respect & Pride
Unflinchingly,over 21000 injured suffered,
So that their fellow countrymen may live,
Ever vigilant,nothing goes past their watchful eyes,
May the people around sleep in peace
Away from home & heart,love & warmth,
They face challenges that are abundant
Come dark hours of blood & tears
Yet,they remain smiling always
MAJOR MANISH PITAMBARE,KIRTI CHAKRA
WIDOW AFTER WIDOW COLLECTS GALLANTRY AWARDS
SANGEETA STOOD ERECT AS THE CITATION FOR THE KIRTI CHAKRA AWARDED TO HER HUSBAND, MAJOR MANISH PITAMBARE,WHO LAID DOWN HIS LIFE WHILE BATTLING TERRORISTS IN JAMMU & KASHMIR LAST YEAR,WAS READ OUT IN THE IMPOSING RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN.
AS PRESIDENT A P J KALAM STRODE FORWARD TO HAND HER THE KIRTI CHAKRA,THE NATION’S 2nd HIGHEST PEACETIME
GALLANTRY AWARD, 31 YEAR OLD SANGEETA BENT DOWN AND TOUCHED HIS FEET.
THAT SET THE TONE FOR THE POIGNANT DEFENCE INVESTITURE CEREMONY WHERE WIDOW AFTER WIDOW RECEIVED GALLANTRY AWARDS ON BEHALF OF THEIR BRAVE HUSBANDS WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE FOR THE NATION.FOR SOME AWARDEES,A STOIC FATHER OR MOTHER WERE PRESENT AS THE ‘NEXT OF KIN’ TO RECEIVE THE MEDALS.DALIP CHAND BHANDRAL AND MAJOR V NATRAJAN(RETIRED),FOR INSTANCE RECEIVED THE OTHER TWO KIRTI CHAKRAS AWARDED TO THEIR SONS-CAPTAIN VISHAL BHANDRAL AND LIEUTENANT NATARJAN PARTHIBAN,POSTHIMOUSLY.
“IT’S SAD…WE ARE FULL OF GRATITUDE THAT SUCH SACRIFICES HAVE BEEN MADE,” SAID PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH OF THE 3 KIRTI CHAKRAS AND 24 SHAURYA CHAKRAS AWARDED AS MANY AS 16 POSTHUMOUSLY GIVEN.
MAJOR MANISH PITAMBARE,A SPECIALIST IN HOSTAGE RESCUE OPERATIONS FROM 3 PARA(SPECIAL FORCES),DIED WHILE SAVING THE LIFE OF HIS PARTNER WHO WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED DURING AN ANTI-TERRORIST OPERATION IN ANANTNAG DISTRICT ON NOVEMBER 27,2006.
SANGEETA STOOD ERECT AS THE CITATION FOR THE KIRTI CHAKRA AWARDED TO HER HUSBAND, MAJOR MANISH PITAMBARE,WHO LAID DOWN HIS LIFE WHILE BATTLING TERRORISTS IN JAMMU & KASHMIR LAST YEAR,WAS READ OUT IN THE IMPOSING RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN.
AS PRESIDENT A P J KALAM STRODE FORWARD TO HAND HER THE KIRTI CHAKRA,THE NATION’S 2nd HIGHEST PEACETIME
GALLANTRY AWARD, 31 YEAR OLD SANGEETA BENT DOWN AND TOUCHED HIS FEET.
THAT SET THE TONE FOR THE POIGNANT DEFENCE INVESTITURE CEREMONY WHERE WIDOW AFTER WIDOW RECEIVED GALLANTRY AWARDS ON BEHALF OF THEIR BRAVE HUSBANDS WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE FOR THE NATION.FOR SOME AWARDEES,A STOIC FATHER OR MOTHER WERE PRESENT AS THE ‘NEXT OF KIN’ TO RECEIVE THE MEDALS.DALIP CHAND BHANDRAL AND MAJOR V NATRAJAN(RETIRED),FOR INSTANCE RECEIVED THE OTHER TWO KIRTI CHAKRAS AWARDED TO THEIR SONS-CAPTAIN VISHAL BHANDRAL AND LIEUTENANT NATARJAN PARTHIBAN,POSTHIMOUSLY.
“IT’S SAD…WE ARE FULL OF GRATITUDE THAT SUCH SACRIFICES HAVE BEEN MADE,” SAID PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH OF THE 3 KIRTI CHAKRAS AND 24 SHAURYA CHAKRAS AWARDED AS MANY AS 16 POSTHUMOUSLY GIVEN.
MAJOR MANISH PITAMBARE,A SPECIALIST IN HOSTAGE RESCUE OPERATIONS FROM 3 PARA(SPECIAL FORCES),DIED WHILE SAVING THE LIFE OF HIS PARTNER WHO WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED DURING AN ANTI-TERRORIST OPERATION IN ANANTNAG DISTRICT ON NOVEMBER 27,2006.
Major M Sarvanan,VIR CHAKRA (kargil war)
Maj Sarvanan died after killing 10 HT Correspondent (New Delhi, July 10)
Major M Sarvanan, the hero of Batalik, was finally among friends. Martyred on May 29 after wresting two bunkers from the enemy, Maj Sarvanan’s mortal remains lay out of the reach of his men until July 3. All this while members of 1 Bihar, his unit, fought valiantly and desperately, having taken an oath to not only recover his body but also the Indian heights from the infiltrators. Success was theirs on July 3 when they brought the hero home. Maj Sarvanan had led a platoon up the Jubar Hills on May 29. While he was able to take back two bunkers the rest of Jubar Hills was under enemy control. One of the platoon members accompanying Maj Sarvanan and the only one to survive the attack, was Naik Shatrughan. He was hit on his legs three times and it took him ten days to crawl back to base. He gave the unit the information of how Maj Sarvanan died after killing at least four of the enemy in hand-to -hand combat. Naik Shatrughan later died in the field hospital because of gangrene. Maj Sarvanan is possibly the first officer to fall in the Kargil conflict. The attack led by him came in the early stages of the conflict when adequate information was not available. There was little artillery support and no aircraft cover. The men in 1 Bihar took an oath after Maj Sarvanan’s death to fight to the finish and recover the heights. to the battle cry of ‘Bajrang Bali ki Jai’, they launched subsequent offensives and now the unit has not only taken the heights but is sitting atop the LoC. Yesterday they captured Point 4058. Since the news of Maj Sarvanan's death reached his family— he is an only son—they have been waiting for his mortal remains. The body will be flown to Trichy tomorrow. Along with Maj Sarvanan, two other bodies were recovered. These are of Naik Ganesh Prasad and Sep Pramod Kumar. The wreath laying ceremony was conducted today at Delhi Cantonment.
Nation's third highest wartime gallentry award VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Major Mariappan Sarvanan on 15th August 1999
Major M Sarvanan, the hero of Batalik, was finally among friends. Martyred on May 29 after wresting two bunkers from the enemy, Maj Sarvanan’s mortal remains lay out of the reach of his men until July 3. All this while members of 1 Bihar, his unit, fought valiantly and desperately, having taken an oath to not only recover his body but also the Indian heights from the infiltrators. Success was theirs on July 3 when they brought the hero home. Maj Sarvanan had led a platoon up the Jubar Hills on May 29. While he was able to take back two bunkers the rest of Jubar Hills was under enemy control. One of the platoon members accompanying Maj Sarvanan and the only one to survive the attack, was Naik Shatrughan. He was hit on his legs three times and it took him ten days to crawl back to base. He gave the unit the information of how Maj Sarvanan died after killing at least four of the enemy in hand-to -hand combat. Naik Shatrughan later died in the field hospital because of gangrene. Maj Sarvanan is possibly the first officer to fall in the Kargil conflict. The attack led by him came in the early stages of the conflict when adequate information was not available. There was little artillery support and no aircraft cover. The men in 1 Bihar took an oath after Maj Sarvanan’s death to fight to the finish and recover the heights. to the battle cry of ‘Bajrang Bali ki Jai’, they launched subsequent offensives and now the unit has not only taken the heights but is sitting atop the LoC. Yesterday they captured Point 4058. Since the news of Maj Sarvanan's death reached his family— he is an only son—they have been waiting for his mortal remains. The body will be flown to Trichy tomorrow. Along with Maj Sarvanan, two other bodies were recovered. These are of Naik Ganesh Prasad and Sep Pramod Kumar. The wreath laying ceremony was conducted today at Delhi Cantonment.
Nation's third highest wartime gallentry award VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Major Mariappan Sarvanan on 15th August 1999
KARGIL MARTYRS
Tearful adieu to 8 Kargil martyrs
Jammu, July 13,1999
Thousands of people of Jammu division yesterday bade a tearful adieu to eight valiant sons of the soil, who sacrificed their lives while fighting Pakistani intruders on snow-clad peaks of the Tiger Hill in Kargil sector last week.
These gallant heroes included Naib Subedar Roval Singh of Makhnapur-Charkhan village of Bishnah tehsil, Lance Naik Devinder Singh of Kotli-Shah Gullah village of R.S. Pura tehsil, Janvir Singh of Keerpind village in R.S. Pura, Gurdeep Singh of village Palouta in Ramgarh tehsil, Havaldar Kulbir Singh of Koupur of Ramgarh, Sepoy Lakhwinder Singh of Sarthi Khud village in Kathua district, Porter Kamlesh Kumar of Satwari block in Jammu and rifleman Manzoor Hussain of Choogan Charoon village in Poonch district.
While the mortal remains of seven of these Kargil martyrs were consigned to flames in their respective villages with full military honours, the body of another was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard at his native village yesterday.
Thousand of people drawn from all sections of society converged at the funeral sites and paid homage to the departed souls.
At Keerpind, Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Industries and Commerce Bodh Raj Bali joined the cremation of Sepoy Janvir Singh. He handed over a cheque of Rs two lakh to the father of the martyr. Mr Bali said Rs one lakh would be spent from its contingency fund for the construction of a 500 yard link road in Keerpind village. This road has been named as Shaheed Janvi Singh Marg. Bali also participated in the cremation of Lance Naik Divender Singh at Kotlishah Dulla. He also visited the residence of Naib Subedar Rovel Singh at Makhanpur. The Minister handed over an ex-gratia relief cheque for Rs two lakh to the father of the martyr. A memorial gate on the entrance of the village will be constructed after the name of Shaheed Rovel Singh.
Mr Bali also visited the residence of porter Kamlesh Kumar at village Hakal and handed over an ex-gratia cheque for Rs two lakh to his family members
Jammu, July 13,1999
Thousands of people of Jammu division yesterday bade a tearful adieu to eight valiant sons of the soil, who sacrificed their lives while fighting Pakistani intruders on snow-clad peaks of the Tiger Hill in Kargil sector last week.
These gallant heroes included Naib Subedar Roval Singh of Makhnapur-Charkhan village of Bishnah tehsil, Lance Naik Devinder Singh of Kotli-Shah Gullah village of R.S. Pura tehsil, Janvir Singh of Keerpind village in R.S. Pura, Gurdeep Singh of village Palouta in Ramgarh tehsil, Havaldar Kulbir Singh of Koupur of Ramgarh, Sepoy Lakhwinder Singh of Sarthi Khud village in Kathua district, Porter Kamlesh Kumar of Satwari block in Jammu and rifleman Manzoor Hussain of Choogan Charoon village in Poonch district.
While the mortal remains of seven of these Kargil martyrs were consigned to flames in their respective villages with full military honours, the body of another was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard at his native village yesterday.
Thousand of people drawn from all sections of society converged at the funeral sites and paid homage to the departed souls.
At Keerpind, Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Industries and Commerce Bodh Raj Bali joined the cremation of Sepoy Janvir Singh. He handed over a cheque of Rs two lakh to the father of the martyr. Mr Bali said Rs one lakh would be spent from its contingency fund for the construction of a 500 yard link road in Keerpind village. This road has been named as Shaheed Janvi Singh Marg. Bali also participated in the cremation of Lance Naik Divender Singh at Kotlishah Dulla. He also visited the residence of Naib Subedar Rovel Singh at Makhanpur. The Minister handed over an ex-gratia relief cheque for Rs two lakh to the father of the martyr. A memorial gate on the entrance of the village will be constructed after the name of Shaheed Rovel Singh.
Mr Bali also visited the residence of porter Kamlesh Kumar at village Hakal and handed over an ex-gratia cheque for Rs two lakh to his family members
Shaheed Subedar Joginder Singh (1962 Indo-china war)
Subedar Joginder Singh, was born on 26 September 1921, in Faridkot, Punjab. On 28 September 1936, he was enrolled in the 1 Sikh Regiment. During the 1962 Indo-China War, Subedar Joginder Singh commanded a platoon in the Tawang sector of NEFA (North East Frontier Agency). While holding a defensive position on a ridge in Tongpeng La area on Bum La axis, the platoon noticed heavy enemy concentration opposite Bum La across the McMohan Line on October 20th. This was indeed a preparatory to the Chinese advance on Bum La axis on October 23rd.
At 0530 hours on October 23rd, the Chinese launched a heavy attack on the Bum La axis. The intention was to achieve a breakthrough to Tawang. The enemy attacked the Ridge in three waves, each about 200 strong. The attack was supported by artillery and mortar fire, besides other weapons. The fierce resistance of the Sikh platoon, however, compelled the enemy to fall back with heavy losses. But he regrouped quickly and launched a fresh attack under the cover of an artillery barrage. However, Subedar Joginder Singh and his platoon stood firm like a rock before the advancing enemy. In this fierce action, the platoon lost half of its men but not the will to fight. Subedar Joginder Singh, despite a wound in the thigh, refused evacuation. His platoon also refused to yield any ground to the enemy. The last wave of the Chinese attack, which was more determined and more forceful followed next. Now the platoon had very few men left to fight. Subedar Joginder Singh, therefore, manned a light machine gun and killed a large number of enemies.
But he could not stem the tide of the enemy advance single-handed. The Chinese Army continued advancing with little concern for the casualties. By now all ammunition with the platoon had been exhausted. When the situation became desperate, Subedar Joginder Singh and his men emerged from their position with fixed bayonets, shouting the Sikh battle cry, "Wahe Guruji ka Khalsa, Wahe Guruji ki Fateh." They fell upon the advancing enemy and bayoneted many to death.Subedar Singh was killed in this epic battle.
At 0530 hours on October 23rd, the Chinese launched a heavy attack on the Bum La axis. The intention was to achieve a breakthrough to Tawang. The enemy attacked the Ridge in three waves, each about 200 strong. The attack was supported by artillery and mortar fire, besides other weapons. The fierce resistance of the Sikh platoon, however, compelled the enemy to fall back with heavy losses. But he regrouped quickly and launched a fresh attack under the cover of an artillery barrage. However, Subedar Joginder Singh and his platoon stood firm like a rock before the advancing enemy. In this fierce action, the platoon lost half of its men but not the will to fight. Subedar Joginder Singh, despite a wound in the thigh, refused evacuation. His platoon also refused to yield any ground to the enemy. The last wave of the Chinese attack, which was more determined and more forceful followed next. Now the platoon had very few men left to fight. Subedar Joginder Singh, therefore, manned a light machine gun and killed a large number of enemies.
But he could not stem the tide of the enemy advance single-handed. The Chinese Army continued advancing with little concern for the casualties. By now all ammunition with the platoon had been exhausted. When the situation became desperate, Subedar Joginder Singh and his men emerged from their position with fixed bayonets, shouting the Sikh battle cry, "Wahe Guruji ka Khalsa, Wahe Guruji ki Fateh." They fell upon the advancing enemy and bayoneted many to death.Subedar Singh was killed in this epic battle.
Shaheed Vijaypal Singh (kargil war)
Shaheed Vijaypal Singh
"The Phone Kept Ringing"
Vijaypal Singh, 23, of the Jat Regiment
On June 12, 7.30 am, a hand grenade tore Vijaypal's head apart while he was returning army fire from his post 10 km from the LoC.
Main barah ki subah phone karta raha, ghanti bajti rahi," says his inconsolable father. "Mujhe kya pata tha woh sari baat kar chuka tha." He's more worried about the 18-year-old wife his son has left behind. "Kya hoga iska?," he asks. She hasn't eaten or drunk for three days; doctors forcibly put her on a drip.
All the family will now live by are Vijaypal's memories and photographs. Which show him as a smiling lad who loved football, books, the outdoors and the army. Neighbours, relatives, well-wishers console Navrang, his father. "Desh ka tha. Desh ke liye gaya." He understands that. Yet he can't help saying: "Desh ka naam to kara. Mujhe to rula gaya."
Vijaypal Singh, 23, a jawan in the Jat Regiment, too had travelled a long way from hot, dusty Dhakon Ki Dhani, a hamlet of 250 people in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, to cold Kashmir. He'd studied hard at the local primary school, fought fond parents tooth and nail to grant him permission to shift home base to his aunt's home in nearby Nawalgarh to study in the higher secondary school. How else could he hope to accomplish that childhood dream of becoming an armyman like the dashing uncle who was both role model and mentor? When he qualified for the army two years ago, he proudly walked up to his stunned parents, announcing he was a working man now. "I'll be back, Father," he'd assured the gentle Navrang Singh just three months ago. "I need to tutor Ranjit for his army entrance course. Then both us brothers will walk together in uniform. Won't you be a proud man then?" On June 12 at 7.30 in the morning, Vijaypal, stationed at a post 10 km from the LoC, was returning enemy fire when a hand grenade tore his head apart. Also the hopes of a family that doted on him, had come to depend on him. Inside the house one can hear the raw animal cries of his 18-year-old widow, Sarita. "Phool si ladki hai," whispers Navrang, "kya hoga iska?" (She's like a delicate flower. What will become of her?)
Crowds roared at Vijaypal's funeral
Sarhad par ab baj hi chuka hai nagaada shaitan ka/Nakshe par se naam hata do paapi Pakistan ka."
In Vijaypal's Jhunjhunu district-renowned for sending the maximum number of soldiers to the army-tempers and morale are peaking. At Vijaypal's 250-people village which alone accounts for 11 serving, five retired soldiers, the retired men are raring to go. "Take me back in the army and I'll teach those Pakistanis a lesson they will not forget," storms ex-havaldar Mahavir Singh of 17 Grenadiers. Not unlike retd capt Jagrup Singh of Johragaon who says determinedly-"Soldiers never retire. Once a soldier, always a soldier. I will go if the country calls." It was Ramsagar, father of Fatehpur resident Vijaypal (the Jhunjhunu hero's namesake), 24, the 10th Commando Para Unit soldier who died at Kargil this June 10, who best expressed the prevailing mood of chin-up defiance prevailing in the country today. Notwithstanding the grief of his pregnant 20-year-old daughter-in-law Sushma, the desolation of his wife, Ramsagar remains staunchly dry-eyed. "Kyon roey jaoon main? (Why should I keep crying?) After all, could there be a loftier death for my son?" he says as he turns to his sobbing younger son. "Tumhe bhi bahadur banana hai. Bhai ki tarah desh ke liye ladna hai." (You also have to be brave. Serve your country like your brother.)
"The Phone Kept Ringing"
Vijaypal Singh, 23, of the Jat Regiment
On June 12, 7.30 am, a hand grenade tore Vijaypal's head apart while he was returning army fire from his post 10 km from the LoC.
Main barah ki subah phone karta raha, ghanti bajti rahi," says his inconsolable father. "Mujhe kya pata tha woh sari baat kar chuka tha." He's more worried about the 18-year-old wife his son has left behind. "Kya hoga iska?," he asks. She hasn't eaten or drunk for three days; doctors forcibly put her on a drip.
All the family will now live by are Vijaypal's memories and photographs. Which show him as a smiling lad who loved football, books, the outdoors and the army. Neighbours, relatives, well-wishers console Navrang, his father. "Desh ka tha. Desh ke liye gaya." He understands that. Yet he can't help saying: "Desh ka naam to kara. Mujhe to rula gaya."
Vijaypal Singh, 23, a jawan in the Jat Regiment, too had travelled a long way from hot, dusty Dhakon Ki Dhani, a hamlet of 250 people in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, to cold Kashmir. He'd studied hard at the local primary school, fought fond parents tooth and nail to grant him permission to shift home base to his aunt's home in nearby Nawalgarh to study in the higher secondary school. How else could he hope to accomplish that childhood dream of becoming an armyman like the dashing uncle who was both role model and mentor? When he qualified for the army two years ago, he proudly walked up to his stunned parents, announcing he was a working man now. "I'll be back, Father," he'd assured the gentle Navrang Singh just three months ago. "I need to tutor Ranjit for his army entrance course. Then both us brothers will walk together in uniform. Won't you be a proud man then?" On June 12 at 7.30 in the morning, Vijaypal, stationed at a post 10 km from the LoC, was returning enemy fire when a hand grenade tore his head apart. Also the hopes of a family that doted on him, had come to depend on him. Inside the house one can hear the raw animal cries of his 18-year-old widow, Sarita. "Phool si ladki hai," whispers Navrang, "kya hoga iska?" (She's like a delicate flower. What will become of her?)
Crowds roared at Vijaypal's funeral
Sarhad par ab baj hi chuka hai nagaada shaitan ka/Nakshe par se naam hata do paapi Pakistan ka."
In Vijaypal's Jhunjhunu district-renowned for sending the maximum number of soldiers to the army-tempers and morale are peaking. At Vijaypal's 250-people village which alone accounts for 11 serving, five retired soldiers, the retired men are raring to go. "Take me back in the army and I'll teach those Pakistanis a lesson they will not forget," storms ex-havaldar Mahavir Singh of 17 Grenadiers. Not unlike retd capt Jagrup Singh of Johragaon who says determinedly-"Soldiers never retire. Once a soldier, always a soldier. I will go if the country calls." It was Ramsagar, father of Fatehpur resident Vijaypal (the Jhunjhunu hero's namesake), 24, the 10th Commando Para Unit soldier who died at Kargil this June 10, who best expressed the prevailing mood of chin-up defiance prevailing in the country today. Notwithstanding the grief of his pregnant 20-year-old daughter-in-law Sushma, the desolation of his wife, Ramsagar remains staunchly dry-eyed. "Kyon roey jaoon main? (Why should I keep crying?) After all, could there be a loftier death for my son?" he says as he turns to his sobbing younger son. "Tumhe bhi bahadur banana hai. Bhai ki tarah desh ke liye ladna hai." (You also have to be brave. Serve your country like your brother.)
Shaheed Subedar Bhanwar Singh Rathore (kargil war)
A house whose owner would never return
Behsana (Rajasthan), July 8 (Agencies) - A typical “fauji” house stands out against the usual structures in this village, waiting for its owner who would never come back.
A “well-brassoed” name-plate on the entrance that reads “Sub Bhanwar Singh Rathore Arty”, Old Monk bottles stacked up in a niche, gleaming defence mementoes neatly displayed in the drawing room, a scooter with a stepney that reads “army” in bold letters, several pictures of uniformed figures... Well, it is a “real” armyman’s house, but when one walks into it, the realisation dawns that something is amiss.
Hushed whispers tell you that the second generation fauji owner, who dug deep into his life-long savings to build his house as a labour of love, would never come back to his “ghar” again.
A shell from a Pakistani artillery gun tore open the entrails of Subedar Bhanwar Singh Rathore of 1871 medium artillery regiment in Kargil sector on June 17.
That was 44 days before he was to put on the olive green uniform for the last time, get a warm send-off from his unit, and return home at this village in Pali district of Rajasthan and prepare for his daughter’s wedding. July 31 would have been a new beginning for him and he would lead a peaceful, retired life thereafter.
Rathore was in a great hurry to return home to get his three daughters married. Even his family was impatiently awaiting his home-coming, but fate willed otherwise.
His brother Lance Naik Girdhari Singh of Rajputana Rifles is at a loss to understand how he would face the responsibility his brother has left him with. “He was the elder brother and I never had to worry about anything. I don't know how I will fulfil his responsibilities,” L/Nk Singh says.
Sub Rathore's only son Bhawani Singh, 21, is working in Surat with a private company and is not available to take care of his mother and grandmother, the responsibility of looking after whom was soon to fall on his father.
Behsana (Rajasthan), July 8 (Agencies) - A typical “fauji” house stands out against the usual structures in this village, waiting for its owner who would never come back.
A “well-brassoed” name-plate on the entrance that reads “Sub Bhanwar Singh Rathore Arty”, Old Monk bottles stacked up in a niche, gleaming defence mementoes neatly displayed in the drawing room, a scooter with a stepney that reads “army” in bold letters, several pictures of uniformed figures... Well, it is a “real” armyman’s house, but when one walks into it, the realisation dawns that something is amiss.
Hushed whispers tell you that the second generation fauji owner, who dug deep into his life-long savings to build his house as a labour of love, would never come back to his “ghar” again.
A shell from a Pakistani artillery gun tore open the entrails of Subedar Bhanwar Singh Rathore of 1871 medium artillery regiment in Kargil sector on June 17.
That was 44 days before he was to put on the olive green uniform for the last time, get a warm send-off from his unit, and return home at this village in Pali district of Rajasthan and prepare for his daughter’s wedding. July 31 would have been a new beginning for him and he would lead a peaceful, retired life thereafter.
Rathore was in a great hurry to return home to get his three daughters married. Even his family was impatiently awaiting his home-coming, but fate willed otherwise.
His brother Lance Naik Girdhari Singh of Rajputana Rifles is at a loss to understand how he would face the responsibility his brother has left him with. “He was the elder brother and I never had to worry about anything. I don't know how I will fulfil his responsibilities,” L/Nk Singh says.
Sub Rathore's only son Bhawani Singh, 21, is working in Surat with a private company and is not available to take care of his mother and grandmother, the responsibility of looking after whom was soon to fall on his father.
Shaheed Sepoy Yashwant Singh (kargil war)
Shaheed Sepoy Yashwant Singh
Shimla pays respects to its martyr
SHIMLA: All shops were closed large crowds thronged the historic Ridge Maidan here on Wednesday to pay their last respects to a 20-year-old Yashwant Singh who laid down his life for the motherland in the Kargil sector.
His father, Ram Singh, bore it all stoicly as he saw governor V.S. Rama Devi, former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, members of the Prem Singh Dhumal cabinet, officials and Army officials lay wreaths on the tricolour-bedecked coffin bearing the mortal remains of Gunner Yashwant Singh of the 15th Field Regiment.
The young man had joined the Army only last year and was to yet avail his first annual leave. Pressed by his father, who retired from the ITBP, he joined the Army. He died on June 14 in the Kargil sector shortly after his 20th birthday.
A resident of Kewali village in Rohru sub-tehsil of Shimla district, his father recalled that Yashwant had come on joining leave after completing his training. ``He went on to join the 15th Field Regiment and was proud that he was being sent to guard the frontiers on his very first posting,'' his father told The Times of India News Service.
The mortal remains will be taken to Rohru on Thursday morning for the last rites which will be held with full military honours. ``His people back home, especially his friends, are keenly awaiting his arrival,'' said Ram Singh trying hard to hold back his tears.
Ram Singh said having been in the para-military forces himself, he knew the call of duty. ``I am proud that he gave his life in honour of his motherland, but my only regret is that he was too young to die,'' he said in a voice choked with emotion
Shimla pays respects to its martyr
SHIMLA: All shops were closed large crowds thronged the historic Ridge Maidan here on Wednesday to pay their last respects to a 20-year-old Yashwant Singh who laid down his life for the motherland in the Kargil sector.
His father, Ram Singh, bore it all stoicly as he saw governor V.S. Rama Devi, former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, members of the Prem Singh Dhumal cabinet, officials and Army officials lay wreaths on the tricolour-bedecked coffin bearing the mortal remains of Gunner Yashwant Singh of the 15th Field Regiment.
The young man had joined the Army only last year and was to yet avail his first annual leave. Pressed by his father, who retired from the ITBP, he joined the Army. He died on June 14 in the Kargil sector shortly after his 20th birthday.
A resident of Kewali village in Rohru sub-tehsil of Shimla district, his father recalled that Yashwant had come on joining leave after completing his training. ``He went on to join the 15th Field Regiment and was proud that he was being sent to guard the frontiers on his very first posting,'' his father told The Times of India News Service.
The mortal remains will be taken to Rohru on Thursday morning for the last rites which will be held with full military honours. ``His people back home, especially his friends, are keenly awaiting his arrival,'' said Ram Singh trying hard to hold back his tears.
Ram Singh said having been in the para-military forces himself, he knew the call of duty. ``I am proud that he gave his life in honour of his motherland, but my only regret is that he was too young to die,'' he said in a voice choked with emotion
Shaheed Sepoy Raswinder Singh (kargil war)
Shaheed Sepoy Raswinder Singh
SEPOY RASWINDER SINGH, 22 8 Sikh Regiment Guts and Glory MISSION: Part of the first column given the task of taking the crucial Tiger Hill overlooking the Srinagar-Leh highway, he killed three intruders before he was shot in the head
Proud parents of Shaheed Raswinder Singh
It was the kind of midnight knock that 900-odd residents of Ghurkhani village in Punjab's Mansa district hazily recalled. They were common in the early '90s when terrorism was rampant and police raids took place frequently. But on May 29, the policemen who came to Gurkhani in the dead of night had a different function: they had come to deliver wrapped in the tricolour, the body of Raswinder Singh, another casualty on that bleak battlefield in Kargil.
Ghurkhani, situated in the backwaters of the Malwa district, is plagued with a water-logging problem that brings on repeated crop failures. "Seeing this, my son decided to join the army. He liked the idea of living with guts and honour," says Harcharan Singh, Raswinder's father. Like most Jat Sikh boys, Raswinder took to the gun more than the plough. On leave from his regiment (the 8 Sikh) recently, Raswinder had got himself photographed with a self-loading rifle in different poses. These he had framed and put up on the walls of his house. Before going back to his regiment, father and son stood in the yard and inspected their house. "Once the war is over, I'll come back and help you repair the cracks," Raswinder had promised.
That won't happen now. But Harcharan doesn't have to worry -- over the past two weeks people from all over have been pouring in to share his grief and help in any which way they can. This desolate Punjab tehsil already boasts of having three martyrs in the Kargil war -- but Raswinder's feat is easily the one that everyone recollects with pride. Raswinder was involved with the important task of reclaiming Tiger Hill -- a strategic point in the Drass sector -- which gave the intruders access to the Srinagar-Leh highway. He was part of the first column that went up the hill on the impossible task of trying to uproot a well-entrenched enemy up in the heights. Most of the patrol was pinned down by heavy fire, but Raswinder along with another jawan pressed on killing three of the intruders before an enemy bullet pierced his head.
This tale has now been recounted a million times in Harcharan's house. Yet, every time it ends there is a solemn silence among those who have trooped in to pay their respects. Among them is Tarlok Singh, the only survivor of the five Indian National Army soldiers that this village has produced. And even this 85-year-old war veteran has a tear in his eye as he mumbles: "I will die a pensioner but this boy will live on forever -- as a martyr."
SEPOY RASWINDER SINGH, 22 8 Sikh Regiment Guts and Glory MISSION: Part of the first column given the task of taking the crucial Tiger Hill overlooking the Srinagar-Leh highway, he killed three intruders before he was shot in the head
Proud parents of Shaheed Raswinder Singh
It was the kind of midnight knock that 900-odd residents of Ghurkhani village in Punjab's Mansa district hazily recalled. They were common in the early '90s when terrorism was rampant and police raids took place frequently. But on May 29, the policemen who came to Gurkhani in the dead of night had a different function: they had come to deliver wrapped in the tricolour, the body of Raswinder Singh, another casualty on that bleak battlefield in Kargil.
Ghurkhani, situated in the backwaters of the Malwa district, is plagued with a water-logging problem that brings on repeated crop failures. "Seeing this, my son decided to join the army. He liked the idea of living with guts and honour," says Harcharan Singh, Raswinder's father. Like most Jat Sikh boys, Raswinder took to the gun more than the plough. On leave from his regiment (the 8 Sikh) recently, Raswinder had got himself photographed with a self-loading rifle in different poses. These he had framed and put up on the walls of his house. Before going back to his regiment, father and son stood in the yard and inspected their house. "Once the war is over, I'll come back and help you repair the cracks," Raswinder had promised.
That won't happen now. But Harcharan doesn't have to worry -- over the past two weeks people from all over have been pouring in to share his grief and help in any which way they can. This desolate Punjab tehsil already boasts of having three martyrs in the Kargil war -- but Raswinder's feat is easily the one that everyone recollects with pride. Raswinder was involved with the important task of reclaiming Tiger Hill -- a strategic point in the Drass sector -- which gave the intruders access to the Srinagar-Leh highway. He was part of the first column that went up the hill on the impossible task of trying to uproot a well-entrenched enemy up in the heights. Most of the patrol was pinned down by heavy fire, but Raswinder along with another jawan pressed on killing three of the intruders before an enemy bullet pierced his head.
This tale has now been recounted a million times in Harcharan's house. Yet, every time it ends there is a solemn silence among those who have trooped in to pay their respects. Among them is Tarlok Singh, the only survivor of the five Indian National Army soldiers that this village has produced. And even this 85-year-old war veteran has a tear in his eye as he mumbles: "I will die a pensioner but this boy will live on forever -- as a martyr."
Shaheed Sepoy R. Selva Kumar & Shaheed Sepoy Rakesh Kumar
JAWAN R. Selva Kumar belonged to the artillery division of the army. He bravely fought the enemy in the Kargil sector and laid down his life for the country on May 29 when he was hit by the enemy shells.
Shaheed Sepoy Rakesh Kumar
Rajputana Rifles hero cremated
PALAHI: Sepoy Rakesh Kumar of 27 Rajputana Rifles was cremated with full military honours here today.
Thousands of men, women and children from various parts of the Hamirpur and Kangra districts bid farewell to the martyr.
Karam Chand, elder brother of the soldier lit the pyre amid slogans of "Rakesh Kumar, amar rahe, amar rahe", and "Pakistan murdabad".
Earlier, the body was brought to Palahi in a motorcade from Hamirpur.
Army jawans and Himachal Pradesh Police personnel reversed their arms at the cremation ground and observed two-minute silence. They fired shots thrice in the air as a mark of respect for the departed soul.
Shaheed Sepoy Rakesh Kumar
Rajputana Rifles hero cremated
PALAHI: Sepoy Rakesh Kumar of 27 Rajputana Rifles was cremated with full military honours here today.
Thousands of men, women and children from various parts of the Hamirpur and Kangra districts bid farewell to the martyr.
Karam Chand, elder brother of the soldier lit the pyre amid slogans of "Rakesh Kumar, amar rahe, amar rahe", and "Pakistan murdabad".
Earlier, the body was brought to Palahi in a motorcade from Hamirpur.
Army jawans and Himachal Pradesh Police personnel reversed their arms at the cremation ground and observed two-minute silence. They fired shots thrice in the air as a mark of respect for the departed soul.
Shaheed Sepoy Keolanand Dwivedi (kargil war)
Shaheed Sepoy Keolanand Dwivedi
In his wake, broken bangles
Sepoy Keolanand Dwivedi, 30, of the 15th Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment.
The brave soldier probably knew he'd never come back. He died on June 6 of bullet wounds, having surprised and taken on five infiltrators in their hideout in Kargil.
Back at Majhkot, his bereaved family is fighting hard to come to terms with the loss. His widow Kamala went into a stupor for three days. Only to break down when she sees her husband's corpse at the hospital mortuary. Her animal cries rend the air. And widowhood is formally bestowed on her as a clutch of women uncoil her neatly-coiled hair, remove her mangalsutra, break her bangles and wipe off her bindi.
The family's long relationship with the army does little to help. Dwivedi had fought insurgency in Doda before, his father had retired from the army after having fought the 1971 war and his brother-in-law, R.C. Joshi, too serves in the army. In fact, says Joshi, "If my nephews want to join the army, I'll fully support their decision."
In his wake, broken bangles
Sepoy Keolanand Dwivedi, 30, of the 15th Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment.
The brave soldier probably knew he'd never come back. He died on June 6 of bullet wounds, having surprised and taken on five infiltrators in their hideout in Kargil.
Back at Majhkot, his bereaved family is fighting hard to come to terms with the loss. His widow Kamala went into a stupor for three days. Only to break down when she sees her husband's corpse at the hospital mortuary. Her animal cries rend the air. And widowhood is formally bestowed on her as a clutch of women uncoil her neatly-coiled hair, remove her mangalsutra, break her bangles and wipe off her bindi.
The family's long relationship with the army does little to help. Dwivedi had fought insurgency in Doda before, his father had retired from the army after having fought the 1971 war and his brother-in-law, R.C. Joshi, too serves in the army. In fact, says Joshi, "If my nephews want to join the army, I'll fully support their decision."
Shaheed Sepoy Jaswinder Singh (kargil war)
SEPOY JASWINDER SINGH, 8 Sikh Regiment Last Adventure Mission: Injured, he crawled on, firing buying time for his patrol till
he was shot dead.
For days Gurdial Kaur, 20, sat glued to the old black-and-white television set, watching images of the war, hoping for a glimpse of Sepoy Jaswinder Singh, her husband of four months. She never saw him. Instead, the brutal ways of war delivered him to her doorstep: in a plywood coffin.
Numbed today in the dusty Punjab village of Munne, Kaur recalls his last words: "There is nothing to feel scared about. I have fought against such militants in Kashmir for three years."
The youngest of three sons of Joginder Singh, a blind farmer, Jaswinder left home at 17 when the family's three-acre land holding became too small to sustain it. "He was tough and the army provided him the adventure he was looking for," says elder brother Sita Ram.
Jaswinder's final adventure came on May 21. Part of an advance patrol to probe the strategic Tiger Hill, Jaswinder was shot in both thighs. He crawled along in the snow, firing until he was shot dead.
His family is stoic. "Someone has to die to stop the enemy," whispers his father. "This is the only consolation," says Kaur, "that our tragedy can bring fortune to our country."
he was shot dead.
For days Gurdial Kaur, 20, sat glued to the old black-and-white television set, watching images of the war, hoping for a glimpse of Sepoy Jaswinder Singh, her husband of four months. She never saw him. Instead, the brutal ways of war delivered him to her doorstep: in a plywood coffin.
Numbed today in the dusty Punjab village of Munne, Kaur recalls his last words: "There is nothing to feel scared about. I have fought against such militants in Kashmir for three years."
The youngest of three sons of Joginder Singh, a blind farmer, Jaswinder left home at 17 when the family's three-acre land holding became too small to sustain it. "He was tough and the army provided him the adventure he was looking for," says elder brother Sita Ram.
Jaswinder's final adventure came on May 21. Part of an advance patrol to probe the strategic Tiger Hill, Jaswinder was shot in both thighs. He crawled along in the snow, firing until he was shot dead.
His family is stoic. "Someone has to die to stop the enemy," whispers his father. "This is the only consolation," says Kaur, "that our tragedy can bring fortune to our country."
Shaheed Sepoy Harjinder Singh (kargil war)
Shaheed Sepoy Harjinder Singh
Villagers mourn soldier’s death
NABHA, July 17 — Thousands of residents of Mohali village, near here, and surrounding areas bid a tearful farewell to Sepoy Harjinder Singh of 22 Punjab Regiment yesterday. The soldier had laid down his life while fighting Pak intruders in Sambha sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Our son has made the supreme sacrifice for the nation and we are proud to be his parents", said Mr Kesar Singh and Mrs Harbhajan Kaur, father and mother of the martyr.
Among those who paid homage to the hero were Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Rajya Sabha member, Mr Govind Singh Kanjhla, Minister, Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur, Mr Arpit Shukla, SSP, Sangrur and Sant Narain Dass Moni.
The martyr was cremated with full military honours in the afternoon. Major P.B. Thapa laid a wreath on the body on behalf of the defence forces
Villagers mourn soldier’s death
NABHA, July 17 — Thousands of residents of Mohali village, near here, and surrounding areas bid a tearful farewell to Sepoy Harjinder Singh of 22 Punjab Regiment yesterday. The soldier had laid down his life while fighting Pak intruders in Sambha sector in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Our son has made the supreme sacrifice for the nation and we are proud to be his parents", said Mr Kesar Singh and Mrs Harbhajan Kaur, father and mother of the martyr.
Among those who paid homage to the hero were Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Rajya Sabha member, Mr Govind Singh Kanjhla, Minister, Mr Anirudh Tiwari, Deputy Commissioner, Sangrur, Mr Arpit Shukla, SSP, Sangrur and Sant Narain Dass Moni.
The martyr was cremated with full military honours in the afternoon. Major P.B. Thapa laid a wreath on the body on behalf of the defence forces
Shaheed Sepoy Dhondiba Desai (kargil war)
Shaheed Sepoy Dhondiba Desai
Hope shattered for the family of 22-year-old Sepoy Dhondiba Desai who died in a mine blast at Kargil this May 25.
The 8th Battalion, Madras Regiment officer from Vadagaun, Karnataka, where every other family has a jawan in the army, was supporting his family comprising his parents, two brothers and a sister. Two acres of land was meagre holding for a large family to eke a living from. Dhondiba's helping hand enabled them to acquire more land, a colour TV, helped them hope for a college education for his matriculate brother Prabhakar. "What'll we do now?" wails his mother Anandibai.
Shaheed Sepoy Bajindra Singh
Soldier cremated without honours
>Six-feet-tall Bajinder died while protecting the borders of the country on May 27. Son of a soldier, Jagdish Chand, he was the youngest of two brothers and a sister. He joined the Army at the age of 21 and visited the village about two months back for the last time at the time of his sisters marriage.
Having no prior intimation about the death of her young son, Santosh Kumari, whose husband died seven years back, couldn't believe her eyes when the coffin carrying the body of her son, reached the village at about 6 a.m. yesterday morning. She was alone in the house. Her elder son Vijay is employed at a petrol station in Chandigarh. Unable to come to the terms to the tragedy that had struck her, she was in consolable, as the coffin was brought to the house.
The decomposed remains of the valiant soldier were brought to the village in a taxi by a Havildar of the 16 Grenadiers to which Bajinder belonged. His body was flown to Jammu, from where it was brought here in a taxi. He was killed while fighting infiltrators on May 27, 1999
Hope shattered for the family of 22-year-old Sepoy Dhondiba Desai who died in a mine blast at Kargil this May 25.
The 8th Battalion, Madras Regiment officer from Vadagaun, Karnataka, where every other family has a jawan in the army, was supporting his family comprising his parents, two brothers and a sister. Two acres of land was meagre holding for a large family to eke a living from. Dhondiba's helping hand enabled them to acquire more land, a colour TV, helped them hope for a college education for his matriculate brother Prabhakar. "What'll we do now?" wails his mother Anandibai.
Shaheed Sepoy Bajindra Singh
Soldier cremated without honours
>Six-feet-tall Bajinder died while protecting the borders of the country on May 27. Son of a soldier, Jagdish Chand, he was the youngest of two brothers and a sister. He joined the Army at the age of 21 and visited the village about two months back for the last time at the time of his sisters marriage.
Having no prior intimation about the death of her young son, Santosh Kumari, whose husband died seven years back, couldn't believe her eyes when the coffin carrying the body of her son, reached the village at about 6 a.m. yesterday morning. She was alone in the house. Her elder son Vijay is employed at a petrol station in Chandigarh. Unable to come to the terms to the tragedy that had struck her, she was in consolable, as the coffin was brought to the house.
The decomposed remains of the valiant soldier were brought to the village in a taxi by a Havildar of the 16 Grenadiers to which Bajinder belonged. His body was flown to Jammu, from where it was brought here in a taxi. He was killed while fighting infiltrators on May 27, 1999
Shaheed Rifleman Yogendra Singh (kargil war)
Shaheed Rifleman Yogendra Singh
"I'm going home soon"
He did. But in a coffin, escorted by mate Joginder to his village in Johragaon, near Aligarh. He died while stalking militants in Kupwara forests.
Yogendra was to get married this June 30. All his mother could say as she clutched her son's coffin was: "Tu to baraat la raha tha. Yeh teri baraat hai?" (You were going to bring a baraat. Is this it). An aggrieved grandfather stroked his hair fondly, saying: "Arre, mera bahadur bachcha." Father Niranjan Singh is heartbroken, as are his three sisters and a brother. Yogendra was their lifeline. But he was also the brave son of a brave mother, who'd written to his mentor saying: "Tell mother, I'm going to observe the dharma of a kshatriya."
Rifleman Yogendra Singh, 23, of Rajputana Rifles was looking forward to coming home. It had been a long journey. From grinding poverty, from that kutcha brick house in Johragaon near Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh to the proud certitude of this uniformed self- assuredness in Kargil. Now there was much to look forward to: a future, a bride this June 30 when he would return home to the admiring gaze of his peers. To marry in style, build that pucca house... That June 7 morning at Kupwara he walked up to fellow rifleman and village neighbour Joginder Singh-"Tell me if you want to send anything home. I'm going soon."
Next day, at 3.30 am, Joginder and he were part of a patrol stalking militants in the Kupwara forests. The early morning calm was shattered by a hail of machine-gun fire. Joginder saw Yogendra eerily lit up by the muzzle flashes, spin and fall. He took seven bullets in his chest and side even as he fired back at the flash. By the time they brought him down the mountain, he was dead. So was his future. And the hopes of a desperately poor family whose sole moral and financial anchor he'd been over the last two years. June 10. En route to Aligarh, Joginder, escorting Yogendra on his last journey home, is numb, dazed. "He wanted to carry something for me. Now I'm carrying him home...," he trails off.
Yogendra's father Niranjan Singh, a tall, gaunt man with eyes like a desert passes out at the sight of the coffin. Three sisters weep hysterically while half-crazed mother Moorti clutches the coffin's wooden edge repeating, "Beta, tu to baraat la raha tha. Yeh teri baraat hai?" (Son, is this the wedding party you promised to bring here?)
Morning blazes down on the sorry plains. It's a poor village. The ground is unyielding, crops meagre. Niranjan, the sickly father, tends his 20-odd bighas somehow. Yogendra's salary was the family's sole support. The lifeline to a better future for the soldier's teenage brother Kishen. Two years into his tenure in the army it's all over for Yogendra and his family. As the 1,000-strong crowd from here and neighbouring villages await the arrival of the army detachment from Mathura that will offer the final salute, the body is taken out of the casket. The mother's anguished screams rend the air; brother Kishen literally writhes in pain at the sight of the broken, swollen body of his once handsome brother. The village sarpanch admonishes the inconsolable Moorti: "Quiet. Stop weeping. Don't you know sons are born to Kshatranis only so they can be sacrificed in war?"
Capt (retd) Jagrup Singh, a septuagenarian, approaches me. "I knew the boy. He looked up to me," he says as he produces a letter Yogendra wrote him just before leaving for Kashmir. "Main har cheez ke liye dil se taiyaar hoon. Ma ko bolna kshatriya ka dharam nibhane ja raha hoon." (I'm ready for anything. Tell mother I'm going to observe the dharma of a kshatriya.)
In the field where he'll be cremated Yogendra is lain on the ground. His frail grandfather totters up, squats next to him, strokes his hair and moans: "Arrey mera bahadur baccha." Tears flow down grizzled cheeks. Gently, he's led away. The soldiers offer shok shastra salute, guns fire thrice in the air. The funeral is over. Not Moorti and Niranjan's despair.
"I'm going home soon"
He did. But in a coffin, escorted by mate Joginder to his village in Johragaon, near Aligarh. He died while stalking militants in Kupwara forests.
Yogendra was to get married this June 30. All his mother could say as she clutched her son's coffin was: "Tu to baraat la raha tha. Yeh teri baraat hai?" (You were going to bring a baraat. Is this it). An aggrieved grandfather stroked his hair fondly, saying: "Arre, mera bahadur bachcha." Father Niranjan Singh is heartbroken, as are his three sisters and a brother. Yogendra was their lifeline. But he was also the brave son of a brave mother, who'd written to his mentor saying: "Tell mother, I'm going to observe the dharma of a kshatriya."
Rifleman Yogendra Singh, 23, of Rajputana Rifles was looking forward to coming home. It had been a long journey. From grinding poverty, from that kutcha brick house in Johragaon near Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh to the proud certitude of this uniformed self- assuredness in Kargil. Now there was much to look forward to: a future, a bride this June 30 when he would return home to the admiring gaze of his peers. To marry in style, build that pucca house... That June 7 morning at Kupwara he walked up to fellow rifleman and village neighbour Joginder Singh-"Tell me if you want to send anything home. I'm going soon."
Next day, at 3.30 am, Joginder and he were part of a patrol stalking militants in the Kupwara forests. The early morning calm was shattered by a hail of machine-gun fire. Joginder saw Yogendra eerily lit up by the muzzle flashes, spin and fall. He took seven bullets in his chest and side even as he fired back at the flash. By the time they brought him down the mountain, he was dead. So was his future. And the hopes of a desperately poor family whose sole moral and financial anchor he'd been over the last two years. June 10. En route to Aligarh, Joginder, escorting Yogendra on his last journey home, is numb, dazed. "He wanted to carry something for me. Now I'm carrying him home...," he trails off.
Yogendra's father Niranjan Singh, a tall, gaunt man with eyes like a desert passes out at the sight of the coffin. Three sisters weep hysterically while half-crazed mother Moorti clutches the coffin's wooden edge repeating, "Beta, tu to baraat la raha tha. Yeh teri baraat hai?" (Son, is this the wedding party you promised to bring here?)
Morning blazes down on the sorry plains. It's a poor village. The ground is unyielding, crops meagre. Niranjan, the sickly father, tends his 20-odd bighas somehow. Yogendra's salary was the family's sole support. The lifeline to a better future for the soldier's teenage brother Kishen. Two years into his tenure in the army it's all over for Yogendra and his family. As the 1,000-strong crowd from here and neighbouring villages await the arrival of the army detachment from Mathura that will offer the final salute, the body is taken out of the casket. The mother's anguished screams rend the air; brother Kishen literally writhes in pain at the sight of the broken, swollen body of his once handsome brother. The village sarpanch admonishes the inconsolable Moorti: "Quiet. Stop weeping. Don't you know sons are born to Kshatranis only so they can be sacrificed in war?"
Capt (retd) Jagrup Singh, a septuagenarian, approaches me. "I knew the boy. He looked up to me," he says as he produces a letter Yogendra wrote him just before leaving for Kashmir. "Main har cheez ke liye dil se taiyaar hoon. Ma ko bolna kshatriya ka dharam nibhane ja raha hoon." (I'm ready for anything. Tell mother I'm going to observe the dharma of a kshatriya.)
In the field where he'll be cremated Yogendra is lain on the ground. His frail grandfather totters up, squats next to him, strokes his hair and moans: "Arrey mera bahadur baccha." Tears flow down grizzled cheeks. Gently, he's led away. The soldiers offer shok shastra salute, guns fire thrice in the air. The funeral is over. Not Moorti and Niranjan's despair.
Shaheed Rifleman Linkon Pradhan (kargil war)
Shaheed Rifleman Linkon Pradhan
"Is it really him?"
It's a scene that repeats itself in a multitude of homes across the country. At Bagdogra airport an apprehensive Naik Ananda Pradhan waits to escort the body of his mate Rifleman Linkon Pradhan of the Gorkha Rifles home to Sukhiyapukhuri in Darjeeling. Informing colleagues' kin of tragedy is not a happy prospect. Linkon, in his 20s, died on June 8 while assaulting Tiger Hills at Kargil. Two bullets in the chest put paid to a brave life. As also the lives of a 20-year-old wife of two years, a year-old son, schoolteacher father Harinarayan, brother Alanja, 16. People silently offer akhadas (silk scarves) as the cortege winds its long way from Bagdogra via Kurseong and Ghoom. Moved women stand and sob silently for the brave stranger. As they descend the last eight kms into Linkon's valley home, Pradhan and company encounter Linkon's brother Alanja. The shell-shocked teenager turns hysterical, shouts, screams like one deranged even as villagers huddle to console him.
Halfway down the valley, tears streaming down his face, a disbelieving Harinarayan awaits the body of his son. "Is it really him?" and is only silenced when Pradhan rattles off his identification number. Later at home the coffin is opened to prepare the body for the last rites. The mother howls, reels in shock at the sight of her son's bloated body. In a corner his young wife, infant in lap, cries uncontrollably. Scribes present, feeling their presence a voyeuristic intrusion, gently retreat. One poignant image endures. As one scribe made his way out a young woman, 20-odd, called out hesitantly. "Are you coming from Kashmir?" she asks, confusion writ large on her face. "My husband's serving there. Just wondered if you had any news," she trails off before disappearing abruptly. Shot in the dark query. Desperately seeking news that would reassure. Somehow. Anyhow.
"Is it really him?"
It's a scene that repeats itself in a multitude of homes across the country. At Bagdogra airport an apprehensive Naik Ananda Pradhan waits to escort the body of his mate Rifleman Linkon Pradhan of the Gorkha Rifles home to Sukhiyapukhuri in Darjeeling. Informing colleagues' kin of tragedy is not a happy prospect. Linkon, in his 20s, died on June 8 while assaulting Tiger Hills at Kargil. Two bullets in the chest put paid to a brave life. As also the lives of a 20-year-old wife of two years, a year-old son, schoolteacher father Harinarayan, brother Alanja, 16. People silently offer akhadas (silk scarves) as the cortege winds its long way from Bagdogra via Kurseong and Ghoom. Moved women stand and sob silently for the brave stranger. As they descend the last eight kms into Linkon's valley home, Pradhan and company encounter Linkon's brother Alanja. The shell-shocked teenager turns hysterical, shouts, screams like one deranged even as villagers huddle to console him.
Halfway down the valley, tears streaming down his face, a disbelieving Harinarayan awaits the body of his son. "Is it really him?" and is only silenced when Pradhan rattles off his identification number. Later at home the coffin is opened to prepare the body for the last rites. The mother howls, reels in shock at the sight of her son's bloated body. In a corner his young wife, infant in lap, cries uncontrollably. Scribes present, feeling their presence a voyeuristic intrusion, gently retreat. One poignant image endures. As one scribe made his way out a young woman, 20-odd, called out hesitantly. "Are you coming from Kashmir?" she asks, confusion writ large on her face. "My husband's serving there. Just wondered if you had any news," she trails off before disappearing abruptly. Shot in the dark query. Desperately seeking news that would reassure. Somehow. Anyhow.
SHAHEED PARA COMMANDO CAPTAIN HARSHAN
EVEN AS THE SNOW LASHED THE KASHMIR VALLEY, PARA COMMANDO CAPTAIN HARSHAN R ALONG WITH HIS TEAM OF SOLDIERS MADE HIS WAY TO A MILITANT HIDEOUT IN THE LOLAB VALLEY, CLOSE TO THE PAKISTAN BORDER.A COUPLE OF HOURS AFTER MIDNIGHT, HARSHAN AND HIS TROOPS ENCIRCLED THE MILITANT HIDEOUT AND THE TWO SIDES WAITED FOR THE FIRST SHOT TO BE FIRED.
BY AROUND 3.50 AM,MILITANTS RUSHED OUT FIRING COMING FACE-TO-FACE WITH CAPT.HARSHAN.ACCORDING TO HARSHAN’S TEAM,HE KILLED 2 TERRORISTS EVEN AS THE ENEMY’S BULLET PLUNGED INTO HIS THIGHS.MOMENTS LATER HARSHAN WAS FOUND DEAD WITH A BULLET DEEP IN HIS NECK. “HE WAS KIND OF A PERSON WHO WOULD RELENTLESSLY PURSUE AN OPERATION TILL THE END.”SAID LT.COLONEL PRASHANT SRIVASTAV, HIS SENIOR FROM THE 2 PARAS.
ACCORDING TO HARSHAN’S PEERS,THE PARA COMMANDO CAPTAIN WAS ALWAYS ON HIS TOES EVEN SINCE HE WAS DEPLOYED IN KUPWARA(KASHMIR).EVERY TIME HARSHAN WENT OUT ON PATROL HE CAME BACK WITH RELEVANT INTELLIGENCE ON MILITANTS IN THE VALLEY.
A FEW DAYS BACK,HARSHAN HAD LED AN OPERATION IN WHICH THE TOP BRASS OF HIZBUL MUJAHIDIN(TERRORIST GROUP) IN NORTHERN KASHMIR WAS KILLED.OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS,HE ALSO ELIMINATED AT LEAST 5 HARDCORE MILITANTS,AS PER MILITARY COUNTS.
HARSHAN WAS AN OUTSTANDING STUDENT FROM HIS SCHOOL DAYS, AN ACCOMPLISHED MOUNTAINEER, A CERTIFIED UNDERWATER DIVER AND AN EXCELLENT CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNER.
BY AROUND 3.50 AM,MILITANTS RUSHED OUT FIRING COMING FACE-TO-FACE WITH CAPT.HARSHAN.ACCORDING TO HARSHAN’S TEAM,HE KILLED 2 TERRORISTS EVEN AS THE ENEMY’S BULLET PLUNGED INTO HIS THIGHS.MOMENTS LATER HARSHAN WAS FOUND DEAD WITH A BULLET DEEP IN HIS NECK. “HE WAS KIND OF A PERSON WHO WOULD RELENTLESSLY PURSUE AN OPERATION TILL THE END.”SAID LT.COLONEL PRASHANT SRIVASTAV, HIS SENIOR FROM THE 2 PARAS.
ACCORDING TO HARSHAN’S PEERS,THE PARA COMMANDO CAPTAIN WAS ALWAYS ON HIS TOES EVEN SINCE HE WAS DEPLOYED IN KUPWARA(KASHMIR).EVERY TIME HARSHAN WENT OUT ON PATROL HE CAME BACK WITH RELEVANT INTELLIGENCE ON MILITANTS IN THE VALLEY.
A FEW DAYS BACK,HARSHAN HAD LED AN OPERATION IN WHICH THE TOP BRASS OF HIZBUL MUJAHIDIN(TERRORIST GROUP) IN NORTHERN KASHMIR WAS KILLED.OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS,HE ALSO ELIMINATED AT LEAST 5 HARDCORE MILITANTS,AS PER MILITARY COUNTS.
HARSHAN WAS AN OUTSTANDING STUDENT FROM HIS SCHOOL DAYS, AN ACCOMPLISHED MOUNTAINEER, A CERTIFIED UNDERWATER DIVER AND AN EXCELLENT CROSS-COUNTRY RUNNER.
Shaheed Naik Raj Kumar Punia (kargil war)
NAIK RAJ KUMAR PUNIA, 23 18 Grenadiers Desert Warrior MISSION: Punia was part of a frontal attack stalled by a machine-gun nest. While crawling up he was hit, but before he died he hurled a grenade and silenced the nest Like all little boys, Punia spent his childhood listening enraptured to the tales that soldiers from his prosperous Jat village, Bhensali in Rajasthan, brought with them on their visits home. So, as soon as he turned 18, Punia dropped out of high school and signed up, ignoring the entreaties of his elder brother -- a havaldar with 8 Jat Regiment -- to get an education.
Punia became a fearless soldier, volunteering to fight terrorists in Kashmir. At home, villagers recall how he always craved for a war and to defeat Pakistan. That bravado always shook his gentle mother, Chandro. "The bullet made for me will take my life," he told her. "No one can help me then." Prescience? Perhaps. A single bullet pierced his temple and killed Punia on May 24, but not before he saved his comrades high in the mountains in a lonely place they call point 4590 on Tololing's saddle. Part of a frontal assault wave against intruders entrenched in bunkers, Punia saw two of his buddies fall and the rest pinned down by a machine-gun nest. Inching his way along a rock face where a fall meant instant death, Punia was hit in the chest. Blood oozing out, he reached for a grenade and silenced the nest. The gun position came alive a few hours later, but it gave his unit time to escape. Today, point 4590 is back in Indian hands
Punia became a fearless soldier, volunteering to fight terrorists in Kashmir. At home, villagers recall how he always craved for a war and to defeat Pakistan. That bravado always shook his gentle mother, Chandro. "The bullet made for me will take my life," he told her. "No one can help me then." Prescience? Perhaps. A single bullet pierced his temple and killed Punia on May 24, but not before he saved his comrades high in the mountains in a lonely place they call point 4590 on Tololing's saddle. Part of a frontal assault wave against intruders entrenched in bunkers, Punia saw two of his buddies fall and the rest pinned down by a machine-gun nest. Inching his way along a rock face where a fall meant instant death, Punia was hit in the chest. Blood oozing out, he reached for a grenade and silenced the nest. The gun position came alive a few hours later, but it gave his unit time to escape. Today, point 4590 is back in Indian hands
Shaheed Naik R. Kamaraj,(kargil war)
Shaheed Naik R. Kamaraj
Naik R. Kamaraj, 34, of 117 Infantry Battalion In his last letter to her, Kamaraj promised his wife Dhanalakshmi he'd be home by June 11, their sixth wedding anniversary. Little known to her, Death was notching up June 10 as an anniversary of another kind. "First it was the Northeast, then the north. I used to think the border he's serving is actually the border between life and death," recalls his father, M. Rajagopalan, an ex-teacher. His mother Krishnaveni admits it was his money that helped them marry off their three daughters; send their youngest son to Saudi Arabia. Now Kamaraj was looking forward to returning for good, after completing the mandatory service period on January 3, 2000. Fate willed otherwise
Kargil, like any other armed conflict has not only cut short the lives of individuals who made a supreme sacrifice for their motherland, but also nipped in the bud the flowering of many special relationships.
Behind the saga of gallantry of the Indian armed forces are little known tales of a cruel and abrupt end to beautiful relationships.
Sepoy Sanjay Singh's wife could not bear the news of her husband ''missing in action" and committed suicide. Nine-year-old Nidhi and seven-year-old Gaurav have been orphaned. The widow of Nayab Subedar Mangej Singh wants to send all her three sons to the front to defend the country. ''I shall not hesitate to send all my three sons to the front and will be proud if they die defending the country like their father," swore Santosh Kanwar over her husband's pyre.
The tales of valour, of promises kept in the most trying way, of broken relationships and dreams shattered go on. On the other hand broken hearts will continue to murmur the words: ''When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today."
Shaheed Naik Ganesh Yadav (kargil war)
Naik Ganesh Yadav of the Bihar Regiment Centre
On his last visit home three months ago, the eldest of Ramdeo Prasad's three sons had promised to return in August to reconstruct the family house. That wasn't to be, but Ganesh Bhaiyya's death has stirred up Pandeychak village in Patna district like nothing else. "We're all ready to meet his fate," is the battle cry of young boys. And although his death's left Ganesh's young wife Pushpa Rai dazed, she is confident of sending their 18-month-old son Abhishek to complete the "unfinished task of my husband".
As father fights for the nation, son faces a different battle
New Delhi, July 3 (Vishal Thapar)
The family of an Army officer who is fighting for the nation in Kargil is battling another enemy at home: leukaemia (a malignant form of blood cancer), which has afflicted his teenage son.
“I have no regret my husband is on the front. We’re so proud he’s with the unit when the nation needs him the most,” says Neeta Yadav, wife of Colonel DN Yadav.
Life came to a standstill for the Yadavs when Karan, 17, a brilliant Class XII student, was diagnosed suffering from the disease last September. Karan, who scored 98 per cent in science and mathematics in Class X, rapidly lost 15 kg and was forced to abandon the Class XII board exams.
The family immediately shifted from Ferozepur to Delhi. The only permanent cure for Karan is a bone marrow transplant. His sister Nidhi can be the donor — the marrows of the donor and recipient have to match perfectly, which is possible among siblings. But this is an expensive and difficult operation.
Discouraged by the low success rate in Delhi, Mumbai and Vellore, the Yadavs contacted Prof. J.M. Goldman of London’s Hammersmith Hos-pital. An authority in marrow transplants, Goldman was optimistic about Karan recovering, but put the cost of treatment at 71,000 pounds (Rs 50 lakh).
Col Yadav was in the process of selling some family property to raise a part of the money when he was ordered to return to his unit at Nimu, Leh, in the Kargil sector.
He had been in Delhi partly on leave and partly on attachment. Private appeals yielded nothing. And even these efforts came to a standstill with Col Yadav’s departure.
“I’m worried for my husband on one front, and coping with my son’s ailment on the other,” exclaims Mrs Yadav. “We’ve been unable to raise any money.” For the moment, Karan is being treated at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where he takes an interferon injection daily. Each costs Rs 2,500 but, fortunately, the Army provides it free.
“There’s no way I could have pulled on without this facility,” he acknowledges. How does it feel not having his father around when he needs him? “I'm proud of him. I told him to fight hard and not worry about me,” replies the teenager.
ut Nidhi is frank: “War should stop and Papa should come back.” These days, Nidhi has the last word on everything. Any disagreement with Karan is disdainfully brushed aside. “I’m your donor!” she reminds him.
On his last visit home three months ago, the eldest of Ramdeo Prasad's three sons had promised to return in August to reconstruct the family house. That wasn't to be, but Ganesh Bhaiyya's death has stirred up Pandeychak village in Patna district like nothing else. "We're all ready to meet his fate," is the battle cry of young boys. And although his death's left Ganesh's young wife Pushpa Rai dazed, she is confident of sending their 18-month-old son Abhishek to complete the "unfinished task of my husband".
As father fights for the nation, son faces a different battle
New Delhi, July 3 (Vishal Thapar)
The family of an Army officer who is fighting for the nation in Kargil is battling another enemy at home: leukaemia (a malignant form of blood cancer), which has afflicted his teenage son.
“I have no regret my husband is on the front. We’re so proud he’s with the unit when the nation needs him the most,” says Neeta Yadav, wife of Colonel DN Yadav.
Life came to a standstill for the Yadavs when Karan, 17, a brilliant Class XII student, was diagnosed suffering from the disease last September. Karan, who scored 98 per cent in science and mathematics in Class X, rapidly lost 15 kg and was forced to abandon the Class XII board exams.
The family immediately shifted from Ferozepur to Delhi. The only permanent cure for Karan is a bone marrow transplant. His sister Nidhi can be the donor — the marrows of the donor and recipient have to match perfectly, which is possible among siblings. But this is an expensive and difficult operation.
Discouraged by the low success rate in Delhi, Mumbai and Vellore, the Yadavs contacted Prof. J.M. Goldman of London’s Hammersmith Hos-pital. An authority in marrow transplants, Goldman was optimistic about Karan recovering, but put the cost of treatment at 71,000 pounds (Rs 50 lakh).
Col Yadav was in the process of selling some family property to raise a part of the money when he was ordered to return to his unit at Nimu, Leh, in the Kargil sector.
He had been in Delhi partly on leave and partly on attachment. Private appeals yielded nothing. And even these efforts came to a standstill with Col Yadav’s departure.
“I’m worried for my husband on one front, and coping with my son’s ailment on the other,” exclaims Mrs Yadav. “We’ve been unable to raise any money.” For the moment, Karan is being treated at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, where he takes an interferon injection daily. Each costs Rs 2,500 but, fortunately, the Army provides it free.
“There’s no way I could have pulled on without this facility,” he acknowledges. How does it feel not having his father around when he needs him? “I'm proud of him. I told him to fight hard and not worry about me,” replies the teenager.
ut Nidhi is frank: “War should stop and Papa should come back.” These days, Nidhi has the last word on everything. Any disagreement with Karan is disdainfully brushed aside. “I’m your donor!” she reminds him.
Shaheed Lance Naik Shyam Singh (kargil war)
Shaheed Lance Naik Shyam Singh
Tearful send-off to brave sons
SHIMLA, July 9 — Braving heavy monsoon showers, hundreds of people turned up at the Ridge to pay homage to the Kargil hero Lance Naik Shyam Singh of 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles whose body was brought here this morning from the border.
Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, Governor; Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister; Mr Gulab Singh, Speaker; Mr Narinder Bragta, Horticulture Minister; Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi and Maj Gen Jitender Singh of the Army Training Command and Mr T.R. Mahajan, DGP were among those who laid wreaths on the body of the brave soldier.
Nand Ram, father of the martyr, said his son was one of many who had laid down their lives and he was proud of his son.
However, while the body of Shyam Singh was being taken to his village Kalana, his first cousin Jitender Kumar, a new recruit, was all set to join the Army.
"One son has made the supreme sacrifice for the country and the family is now giving another son second to the nation the parents said.
An emotionally charged Jitender (19) said he wanted to complete his Army training as early as possible so that he could take on the enemy in Kargil.
Shyam Singh was one of the three jawans who were killed along with Captain Vikram Batra on the night of July 6. 1999
Mr Dhumal spent some time with the bereaved parents and handed over a cheque for Rs 2 lakh to them. He said Rs 3 lakh more would be given to the family in the form of National Savings Certificates separately. He assured the parents of the soldier that a government job would be provided to their younger son and the Government Senior Secondary School in the village would be named after the valiant son.
Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, Minister for Urban Development; Mr R.S. Singh, Deputy Commissioner; and Lt Col A. Sarkar of the Army Training Command, accompanied the coffin to Kalana village. The body was cremated with full military and civil honours in the evening.
Tearful send-off to brave sons
SHIMLA, July 9 — Braving heavy monsoon showers, hundreds of people turned up at the Ridge to pay homage to the Kargil hero Lance Naik Shyam Singh of 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles whose body was brought here this morning from the border.
Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, Governor; Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister; Mr Gulab Singh, Speaker; Mr Narinder Bragta, Horticulture Minister; Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi and Maj Gen Jitender Singh of the Army Training Command and Mr T.R. Mahajan, DGP were among those who laid wreaths on the body of the brave soldier.
Nand Ram, father of the martyr, said his son was one of many who had laid down their lives and he was proud of his son.
However, while the body of Shyam Singh was being taken to his village Kalana, his first cousin Jitender Kumar, a new recruit, was all set to join the Army.
"One son has made the supreme sacrifice for the country and the family is now giving another son second to the nation the parents said.
An emotionally charged Jitender (19) said he wanted to complete his Army training as early as possible so that he could take on the enemy in Kargil.
Shyam Singh was one of the three jawans who were killed along with Captain Vikram Batra on the night of July 6. 1999
Mr Dhumal spent some time with the bereaved parents and handed over a cheque for Rs 2 lakh to them. He said Rs 3 lakh more would be given to the family in the form of National Savings Certificates separately. He assured the parents of the soldier that a government job would be provided to their younger son and the Government Senior Secondary School in the village would be named after the valiant son.
Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, Minister for Urban Development; Mr R.S. Singh, Deputy Commissioner; and Lt Col A. Sarkar of the Army Training Command, accompanied the coffin to Kalana village. The body was cremated with full military and civil honours in the evening.
Lance-Naik Ghulam Mohammed Khan,VIR CHAKRA
Shaheed Lance-Naik Ghulam Mohammed Khan
Village grieves for fallen soldier-son
NARBAL (Sopore): The grief-stricken villagers here had gathered in full force to receive the body of their brave son lance-naik Ghulam Mohammed Khan of 12 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (12 JAKLI) on Friday. His young grieving wife Zarina Akhtar and father Sher Wali Khan were distraught on seeing the 23-year old who had died in action in the Kargil sector three days ago.
Earlier in the day, the entire regiment had gathered to pay their last respects when his body was brought in to Srinagar. Following the traditions of the 12 JAKLI, a Muslim, a Sikh and a Hindu priest conducted the last rites for the fallen soldier.
Already, this battle-scarred regiment has suffered 14 casualties including the killing of Capt Amol Kalia. Other casualties have included one JCO, six Muslim jawans and six non-Muslim jawans recruited from different parts of the state.
The 12 JAKLI had completed a six-month stint at Siachen in May and repulsed two major Pakistani attacks during this period. The officers and jawans of this regiment were looking forward to putting in a stint at a peace station when they received marching orders to Kargil.
The regiment has the distinction of having captured and manned the Banda top at 21,153 ft in 1987 which is the highest manned post in the world.
Commadant Singh of 12 JAKLI felt: "We have been totally passive in combating insurgency, doing it on terms that have been set by Pakistan, whereas it should have been tackled on a pro-active basis.''
Nation's third highest wartime gallantry award VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Lance Naik Gulam Mohammed Khan on 15th August 1999
Shaheed Lance Naik M.R. Sahu (kargil war)
Shaheed Lance Naik M.R. Sahu
"He Said He'd be back"
Lance Naik M.R. Sahu of Signal Corps
God willing peace would come soon," Sahu had written to his friend. But death came first. Just three months into active service after completing his training in Goa, 25-year-old Sahu was killed on June 7,1999 in shelling while he was repairing communication lines which were down. Rather than grieve inconsolably, villagers in his native Baniasahi village celebrated the return of their dead hero.
Shaheed Lance Naik Ahmed Ali (kargil war)
Shaheed Lance Naik Ahmed Ali
Martyr Ahmed Ali laid to rest with State honours
“I AM proud of my son as he sacrificed his life while protecting his country,” said Abdul Majid Khan, father of Lance Naik Ahmed Ali, who died fighting the intruders in Batalik sector on
July 2,1999
With full military and State honours, the body of Ahmed Ali was laid to rest in his native Gudhi village, around 30 kilometre from here today. Abdul Majid Khan, 75, said today a police team came to his home in the morning and informed him about the supreme sacrifice made by his son. “I felt proud that my son brought pride for his village, for his country,” said Majid Khan. He added that if needed, he was ready to send his three sons to the military to fight for the country. He further said that he would also send his grandsons to the military.
Martyr Ahmed Ali was married to Hajra 15 years ago. They had five daughters and two sons. One daughter was born just twenty days ago while the eldest child is their 12-year-old daughter. Hajra Ali said that her husband came home for 15 days holidays three months ago. He had started constructing a new house in the village but leaving it incomplete, he joined the service.
Despite being worried about her children’s career, Hajra maintained her composure in the true tradition of Indian martyr’s wife. Lance Naik Sattar Khan, one of the members of the soldiers team who fought against the intruders, was accompanying the body from Batalik sector.
Sattar Khan informed, “we had almost captured 5287 Hill in Batalik sector on July 1. We were around 60 soldiers and they were around 70. On the top of the hill, we were fighting face to face, with hardly 50 yards distance between them and us. We forced them backwards.”
On July 2, in the morning at around 7 a.m., there was suddenly a heavy firing from the enemy’s side. Sattar Khan said, “We gave them a befitting reply. Suddenly, a bullet hit Ahmed Ali on the right side of upper chest, but by the time he had killed two intruders. Ahmed Ali died on the spot. Our ten soldiers died in this operation and we killed fifteen intruders and captured the hill completely.
There was a surge of people from all walks of life who paid their last respects to the martyr before he was laid to rest this evening. They raised slogans in praise of the country and Ahmed Ali.
Leaders of all political parties and senior bureaucrats were present on the occasion. Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Krishan Kumar announced that the road leading to the village and three rooms which will be built in the village primary school will be named after the martyr.
Martyr Ahmed Ali laid to rest with State honours
“I AM proud of my son as he sacrificed his life while protecting his country,” said Abdul Majid Khan, father of Lance Naik Ahmed Ali, who died fighting the intruders in Batalik sector on
July 2,1999
With full military and State honours, the body of Ahmed Ali was laid to rest in his native Gudhi village, around 30 kilometre from here today. Abdul Majid Khan, 75, said today a police team came to his home in the morning and informed him about the supreme sacrifice made by his son. “I felt proud that my son brought pride for his village, for his country,” said Majid Khan. He added that if needed, he was ready to send his three sons to the military to fight for the country. He further said that he would also send his grandsons to the military.
Martyr Ahmed Ali was married to Hajra 15 years ago. They had five daughters and two sons. One daughter was born just twenty days ago while the eldest child is their 12-year-old daughter. Hajra Ali said that her husband came home for 15 days holidays three months ago. He had started constructing a new house in the village but leaving it incomplete, he joined the service.
Despite being worried about her children’s career, Hajra maintained her composure in the true tradition of Indian martyr’s wife. Lance Naik Sattar Khan, one of the members of the soldiers team who fought against the intruders, was accompanying the body from Batalik sector.
Sattar Khan informed, “we had almost captured 5287 Hill in Batalik sector on July 1. We were around 60 soldiers and they were around 70. On the top of the hill, we were fighting face to face, with hardly 50 yards distance between them and us. We forced them backwards.”
On July 2, in the morning at around 7 a.m., there was suddenly a heavy firing from the enemy’s side. Sattar Khan said, “We gave them a befitting reply. Suddenly, a bullet hit Ahmed Ali on the right side of upper chest, but by the time he had killed two intruders. Ahmed Ali died on the spot. Our ten soldiers died in this operation and we killed fifteen intruders and captured the hill completely.
There was a surge of people from all walks of life who paid their last respects to the martyr before he was laid to rest this evening. They raised slogans in praise of the country and Ahmed Ali.
Leaders of all political parties and senior bureaucrats were present on the occasion. Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Krishan Kumar announced that the road leading to the village and three rooms which will be built in the village primary school will be named after the martyr.
Shaheed Hav-Major Yashvir Singh Tomar (kargil war)
No Tears: Yashvir's father says his grandsons too will serve the Indian army
HAV-MAJOR YASHVIR SINGH TOMAR, 39 2 Rajputana Rifles The Tomar Way
Mission: Atop Tololing, he charged an enemy bunker and threw 18 grenades. He was found dead later, rifle in hand.
In Sirsili they do not weep, even silently, for their dead. They smile instead. It is not easy, but in this Rajput village in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, where pride and honour comes before death and defeat, Girwar Singh Tomar, 70, is following tradition. He's completed the last rites of his eldest son, Havaldar Major Yashvir Singh Tomar. The youngest, Harbir of 2 Jat Regiment, is there in the high passes. All that the senior Tomar, smiling wanly, will say is, "Tradition does not allow our menfolk to come back defeated from the battlefront. They must do or die."
Such are the ways of the Tomars. On June 12, there were 11 of them from Charlie company of 90 men whose mission was to capture Tololing Top, a crucial, well-defended peak. Lt Praveen Tomar, 23, the youngest of them, remembers what a sombre Yashvir had said: "Sahib, gyarah ja rahe hain aur gyarah jeet kar hee lautenge (Sir, 11 Tomars are going; 11 will return only after victory)." It was a brutal night and a third of the company was dead and injured. At 2:30 a.m. with desperation setting in, Yashvir collected all the grenades of his men and charged the deadly bunker holding up victory. He got there and tossed 18 grenades and silenced the bunker. When they found Yashvir he lay still, shot in the head and chest, grenade in one hand, assault rifle in the other. Tololing Top had fallen. It is one of the most daring actions of the war. Tomars of Charlie company found victory and returned -- only they were one short.
Yashvir's sons Uday, 11, and Pankaj, 10, don't cry. At home from the Army School in Meerut where they study, they already see no other life but the army. For a Tomar, there is no other way.
HAV-MAJOR YASHVIR SINGH TOMAR, 39 2 Rajputana Rifles The Tomar Way
Mission: Atop Tololing, he charged an enemy bunker and threw 18 grenades. He was found dead later, rifle in hand.
In Sirsili they do not weep, even silently, for their dead. They smile instead. It is not easy, but in this Rajput village in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh, where pride and honour comes before death and defeat, Girwar Singh Tomar, 70, is following tradition. He's completed the last rites of his eldest son, Havaldar Major Yashvir Singh Tomar. The youngest, Harbir of 2 Jat Regiment, is there in the high passes. All that the senior Tomar, smiling wanly, will say is, "Tradition does not allow our menfolk to come back defeated from the battlefront. They must do or die."
Such are the ways of the Tomars. On June 12, there were 11 of them from Charlie company of 90 men whose mission was to capture Tololing Top, a crucial, well-defended peak. Lt Praveen Tomar, 23, the youngest of them, remembers what a sombre Yashvir had said: "Sahib, gyarah ja rahe hain aur gyarah jeet kar hee lautenge (Sir, 11 Tomars are going; 11 will return only after victory)." It was a brutal night and a third of the company was dead and injured. At 2:30 a.m. with desperation setting in, Yashvir collected all the grenades of his men and charged the deadly bunker holding up victory. He got there and tossed 18 grenades and silenced the bunker. When they found Yashvir he lay still, shot in the head and chest, grenade in one hand, assault rifle in the other. Tololing Top had fallen. It is one of the most daring actions of the war. Tomars of Charlie company found victory and returned -- only they were one short.
Yashvir's sons Uday, 11, and Pankaj, 10, don't cry. At home from the Army School in Meerut where they study, they already see no other life but the army. For a Tomar, there is no other way.
Shaheed Havildar Satbir Singh (kargil war)
Shaheed Havildar Satbir Singh
When belief in self surmounts death
Drass, July 3 (Rajesh Ramachandran) - They were seven of them, in two rows. Taking their rifles up and then bringing it down, eyes fixed on the ground, hands moving to the right and then left. The haggard-looking soldiers were rehearsing to welcome their colleagues.
Then Havildar Satbir Singh came, the last one to return after capturing Black Rocks. His colleagues’ hands and legs moved out of sync. Probably because they didn’t want to welcome the hero this way. Satbir Singh was dead. Four jawans of the unit climbed the Shaktiman truck and brought him down .
It was a plot of dried up wheat field where the stretcher was laid. The seven, with arms, took position to his left and the rest of the unit, which was present at the makeshift base camp, on to his right.
The click of heels was not heard; there was no bugle playing the last post. Suddenly they all looked tired and vulnerable. Satbir Singh, bare-footed with his toes tied together with white gauze. His face was covered with his own jacket.
The officer marched towards Satbir Singh’s body, took the wreath from a jawan, laid it at Satbir Singh’s feet, saluted and turned back.
The wreath was on behalf of the Commanding Officer of the unit. Next, it was the Subedar Major’s turn to pay homage on behalf of all other ranks. The military ritual over, the officer slowly walked up to Satbir Singh, lifted the jacket, had a last look and walked away.
“I just wanted to see his face,” the officer later said. The face seemed calm and ordinary. Satbir Singh was the last of the 13 who perished while capturing Black Rocks to arrive at the base camp.
Death in life couldn’t be felt more than here at the battlefront. They do think about life, however busy they are with the task at hand. For instance, while reassuring omeone that he wouldn’t be quoted, the officer’s reply was willy but morbid too: “If we don’t fear death, why should we fear you quoting us?”
And it could be this element of uncertainty that lurks behind every rock they climb which makes them all believers. At a base camp a few minutes before they were to start the march to the next battlefield, they all had a red tilak on their forehead: from the commanding officer to the lance naik.
Do they think of their families while going up to bare their chest to enemy fire? “Fleeting images of the family do appear. But mostly there would only be blood in our minds. For, to survive is to kill,” says a soldier. Then there is life in death too; its for Satbir Singh that many more Satbirs would fight
When belief in self surmounts death
Drass, July 3 (Rajesh Ramachandran) - They were seven of them, in two rows. Taking their rifles up and then bringing it down, eyes fixed on the ground, hands moving to the right and then left. The haggard-looking soldiers were rehearsing to welcome their colleagues.
Then Havildar Satbir Singh came, the last one to return after capturing Black Rocks. His colleagues’ hands and legs moved out of sync. Probably because they didn’t want to welcome the hero this way. Satbir Singh was dead. Four jawans of the unit climbed the Shaktiman truck and brought him down .
It was a plot of dried up wheat field where the stretcher was laid. The seven, with arms, took position to his left and the rest of the unit, which was present at the makeshift base camp, on to his right.
The click of heels was not heard; there was no bugle playing the last post. Suddenly they all looked tired and vulnerable. Satbir Singh, bare-footed with his toes tied together with white gauze. His face was covered with his own jacket.
The officer marched towards Satbir Singh’s body, took the wreath from a jawan, laid it at Satbir Singh’s feet, saluted and turned back.
The wreath was on behalf of the Commanding Officer of the unit. Next, it was the Subedar Major’s turn to pay homage on behalf of all other ranks. The military ritual over, the officer slowly walked up to Satbir Singh, lifted the jacket, had a last look and walked away.
“I just wanted to see his face,” the officer later said. The face seemed calm and ordinary. Satbir Singh was the last of the 13 who perished while capturing Black Rocks to arrive at the base camp.
Death in life couldn’t be felt more than here at the battlefront. They do think about life, however busy they are with the task at hand. For instance, while reassuring omeone that he wouldn’t be quoted, the officer’s reply was willy but morbid too: “If we don’t fear death, why should we fear you quoting us?”
And it could be this element of uncertainty that lurks behind every rock they climb which makes them all believers. At a base camp a few minutes before they were to start the march to the next battlefield, they all had a red tilak on their forehead: from the commanding officer to the lance naik.
Do they think of their families while going up to bare their chest to enemy fire? “Fleeting images of the family do appear. But mostly there would only be blood in our minds. For, to survive is to kill,” says a soldier. Then there is life in death too; its for Satbir Singh that many more Satbirs would fight
Shaheed Havildar Mani Ram & Shaheed Havaldar Jai Parkash Singh
Shaheed Havildar Mani Ram
Man who ‘rose against the wind’
CHANDIGARH: Havildar Mani Ram was the first martyr of the Military Intelligence Corps in the ongoing Operation Vijay in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Intelligence Corps described Mani Ram as a "Tiger Hill martyr who rose against the wind." He died on July 3 while fighting Pakistan regulars and Mujahideens in the Kargil sector, an Intelligence Corps release said here. Mani Ram was recruited in 19 Jat Regiment in 1981 and had joined the Intelligence Corps in 1984. The 36-year-old soldier is survived by his aged father, mother, young wife and two sons.
Shaheed Havaldar Jai Parkash Singh
HAV JAI PARKASH SINGH, 39 16 Grenadiers Tradition Bound Mission: Attacked on the ridges, he kept fighting and tried to evacuate injured colleagues before blown up
On May 29 two soldiers delivered a packet to Ran Singh, 65, a retired soldier in Desalur village, Haryana. It contained the ashes of his son, Havaldar Jai Parkash Singh, who died on the battlefront in Kargil.
When told that Jai Parkash's body had to be cremated amidst the icy peaks because it was torn apart by enemy fire, all the father -- his voice choked with emotion -- could say was, "I'm proud he got the bullets on the chest."
It's this Jat pride that keeps the men of Desalur in Haryana's Jhajjar district going. Sending men to the armed forces is a treasured tradition here. No wonder then that 19-year-old Jai Parkash didn't think twice before signing up during an army recruitment drive near his village in 1980.
His sharp-shooting skills made Jai Parkash the natural choice for the first patrols sent up to probe an enemy occupied ridge on May 8. The patrol came under immediate attack, but the gutsy Haryanvi held his position. He flashed a message to the rear about the attack and was trying to evacuate his seriously injured fellow colleagues when a barrage of mortar shells cut him short. His body could only be retrieved five days later, too mutilated to be transported.
Sitting in the courtyard of his house, Ran Singh stoically looks at the framed black and white photograph of his son and consoles his wife Piari:"Only the brave die for the country." Jai Parkash's wife Kamlesh has no tears left to shed, as she gathers her two sons -- aged six and eight -- about her.
But ask her if she will send them to the army and pat comes the reply: "Why not? I am waiting for them to grow up." Ran Singh is equally emphatic. "So what if my son has died, the tradition must not die". He has only one regret: he could not salute his son's body.
Shaheed Gunner Uddhab Das
Shaheed Gunner Uddhab Das
'I will not cry for my martyred son'
Anchali, June 28 (Darshan Balwally) - INDIAN ARMY gunner and Assam’s hero Uddhab Das was laid to rest with a 21-gun salute, a part of the full military honours, at his native Anchali village in Barpeta district.
The only ambition of Uddhab Das, 21, was to serve in the Indian Army. He was martyred recently on the Tiger Hill in the Kargil sector while trying to position an artillery gun.
He fell amid a hail of bullets fired by Pakistani Army personnel. Mrs Khageswari Devi, Udhab’s mother, refused to shed tears. “I am proud my son laid down his life for his country”, she said. His stoic father, Mr Bandhuram Das, however, silently broke down on hearing her brave words.
Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who participated in the cremation, seized the opportunity to lambast the insurgent group, the ULFA, for assisting the enemy country’s Inter-Services Intelligence services (ISI).
The insurgent group is allegedly passing information about troop movements and other defence-related details to Pakistan to enable it to destabilise the north-eastern region.
The mood at Anchali village was tense as the mortal remains of Das were brought from the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport by an Indian Airlines flight at noon yesterday.
Almost the entire village broke into tears as the casket was brought to the martyr’s house for religious rituals.
'I will not cry for my martyred son'
Anchali, June 28 (Darshan Balwally) - INDIAN ARMY gunner and Assam’s hero Uddhab Das was laid to rest with a 21-gun salute, a part of the full military honours, at his native Anchali village in Barpeta district.
The only ambition of Uddhab Das, 21, was to serve in the Indian Army. He was martyred recently on the Tiger Hill in the Kargil sector while trying to position an artillery gun.
He fell amid a hail of bullets fired by Pakistani Army personnel. Mrs Khageswari Devi, Udhab’s mother, refused to shed tears. “I am proud my son laid down his life for his country”, she said. His stoic father, Mr Bandhuram Das, however, silently broke down on hearing her brave words.
Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who participated in the cremation, seized the opportunity to lambast the insurgent group, the ULFA, for assisting the enemy country’s Inter-Services Intelligence services (ISI).
The insurgent group is allegedly passing information about troop movements and other defence-related details to Pakistan to enable it to destabilise the north-eastern region.
The mood at Anchali village was tense as the mortal remains of Das were brought from the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport by an Indian Airlines flight at noon yesterday.
Almost the entire village broke into tears as the casket was brought to the martyr’s house for religious rituals.
Shaheed Constable Suraj Bhan
Shaheed Constable Suraj Bhan
He had just finished distributing Shivratri Prasaad of walnuts amongst his colleagues. Suraj Bhan a member of the Special Operation Group (SOG) had returned to join his duties on 17th February after celebrating Shivratri, with his family at Udhampur. He was still in a 'festive mood', when at 11:30 AM the same day, he received orders to join the security contingent for a combing operation in Ganderbal.
The contingent comprising of around 40 security personnel drawn from CRPF, Army and SOG rushed to Kharbagh Sumbal area of Ganderbal. They reached the assigned place at 2:30 PM. Kharbagh village was wearing deserted look-a clear signal of an impending trouble. Villagers had fleed the village, expecting a security operation, as large number of dreaded terrorists had sneaked into the village.
Initial search operations revealed nothing. However, inspector PV Singh and Suraj Bhan where not sure ofthese initial conclusions. They suspected the near by house to be a hideout and forced their way into house. Both got killed as they were climbing the third story, in the indiscriminate firing resorted to by the holed up terrorists hiding behind the haystack on the third storey of the house. In the counter offensive by security forces the house caught fire. However, most of the holed up terrorists are reported to have escaped. As per sources the escaped terrorists included those who had participated in the Wandhama massacre of Kashmiri Pandits last year.
During the heavy exchange of fire, two constables of CRPF 28 Bn and 3 Army personnel also got killed in addition to Suraj Bhan and PV Singh of SOG, Srinagar. As per reports, when two of the holed up terrorists tried to escape and succeeded to reach the willow plantation beat near the embankment of river Jhelum, Naik Narain Das of 15 Assam Regiment chased them and killed both of them. In the retaliatory firing Narain Das also got martyred. Heart rending scenes were witnessed in the Shamshan Ghat at Devika Udhampur where the funeral of Suraj Bhan took place. The wooden coffin carrying the dead body was also consigned to flames on the funeral pyre by his family members who thought that the box had become a part of the mortal remains of Late Suraj.
Inspector Ravinder Bhat under whom Suraj worked was taken aback when one of the brothers of Suraj asked him immediately after the funeral rites.' Inspector tell us honestly. Which type of death Suraj died-a Cowards or a martyrs'. In an emotion choked voice he told his family members that for the answer they needed only to see his file. 'Even while he has not yet completed his two years probation his name is being considered for a police medal for his services.'
Constable Suraj Bhan had to his credit four major security operations. At Kamarwari sometime back Suraj had participated with distinction in a daredevil operation in which five foreign mercenaries and two local terrorists were killed. In other operation deputy supreme commander of Harkatul Mujahideen Saif-ullah Chikhat code named 'Hafat' was killed by constable Suraj earlier. In another daredevil operation Suraj Bhan had arrested the deputy supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Ali Mohd Dar. Police sources also revealed that in a major security operation Suraj alongwith other constable of SOG had killed two Lashkar-i-Toiba terrorists at Bemina which also resulted in capture of lot of arms and ammunition. Both these martyred police personnel from SOG Srinagar, have a distinguished family background. Dy SP Anantnag Mr KT Singh is the brother of inspector Param Vir Singh who got martyred alongwith Suraj Bhan at Kharbagh Sumbal. While mortal remains of PV Singh were yet to be consigned to flames who had died at Kharbagh , KT Singh was busy leading another operation at Wuter Hall the very next day. During this search operation a fierce exchange of fire took place in which 3 terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed. Late Suraj Bhan also belongs to a family of police personnel. His father Jamna Das Bhan is a retired fire-services officer. His elder brother Himmet Bhan is employed with the Railway Crime Police and his younger brother Vijay Bhan has just joined police services.
The father of Suraj Bhan Sh Jamna Das is a tall and tough persons. 'I know he has died a lion's death and it is a matter of pride for me inspite of the blow which his death has inflected on us'. Suraj Bhan was just 22. He had joined the police services and volunteered for Special Operations Group. His family did not know that he was working with SOG. And that is the only remorse his father had. 'I never thought that he was involved in such operations. I wish I could have given him a salute when he was alive'.
He had just finished distributing Shivratri Prasaad of walnuts amongst his colleagues. Suraj Bhan a member of the Special Operation Group (SOG) had returned to join his duties on 17th February after celebrating Shivratri, with his family at Udhampur. He was still in a 'festive mood', when at 11:30 AM the same day, he received orders to join the security contingent for a combing operation in Ganderbal.
The contingent comprising of around 40 security personnel drawn from CRPF, Army and SOG rushed to Kharbagh Sumbal area of Ganderbal. They reached the assigned place at 2:30 PM. Kharbagh village was wearing deserted look-a clear signal of an impending trouble. Villagers had fleed the village, expecting a security operation, as large number of dreaded terrorists had sneaked into the village.
Initial search operations revealed nothing. However, inspector PV Singh and Suraj Bhan where not sure ofthese initial conclusions. They suspected the near by house to be a hideout and forced their way into house. Both got killed as they were climbing the third story, in the indiscriminate firing resorted to by the holed up terrorists hiding behind the haystack on the third storey of the house. In the counter offensive by security forces the house caught fire. However, most of the holed up terrorists are reported to have escaped. As per sources the escaped terrorists included those who had participated in the Wandhama massacre of Kashmiri Pandits last year.
During the heavy exchange of fire, two constables of CRPF 28 Bn and 3 Army personnel also got killed in addition to Suraj Bhan and PV Singh of SOG, Srinagar. As per reports, when two of the holed up terrorists tried to escape and succeeded to reach the willow plantation beat near the embankment of river Jhelum, Naik Narain Das of 15 Assam Regiment chased them and killed both of them. In the retaliatory firing Narain Das also got martyred. Heart rending scenes were witnessed in the Shamshan Ghat at Devika Udhampur where the funeral of Suraj Bhan took place. The wooden coffin carrying the dead body was also consigned to flames on the funeral pyre by his family members who thought that the box had become a part of the mortal remains of Late Suraj.
Inspector Ravinder Bhat under whom Suraj worked was taken aback when one of the brothers of Suraj asked him immediately after the funeral rites.' Inspector tell us honestly. Which type of death Suraj died-a Cowards or a martyrs'. In an emotion choked voice he told his family members that for the answer they needed only to see his file. 'Even while he has not yet completed his two years probation his name is being considered for a police medal for his services.'
Constable Suraj Bhan had to his credit four major security operations. At Kamarwari sometime back Suraj had participated with distinction in a daredevil operation in which five foreign mercenaries and two local terrorists were killed. In other operation deputy supreme commander of Harkatul Mujahideen Saif-ullah Chikhat code named 'Hafat' was killed by constable Suraj earlier. In another daredevil operation Suraj Bhan had arrested the deputy supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Ali Mohd Dar. Police sources also revealed that in a major security operation Suraj alongwith other constable of SOG had killed two Lashkar-i-Toiba terrorists at Bemina which also resulted in capture of lot of arms and ammunition. Both these martyred police personnel from SOG Srinagar, have a distinguished family background. Dy SP Anantnag Mr KT Singh is the brother of inspector Param Vir Singh who got martyred alongwith Suraj Bhan at Kharbagh Sumbal. While mortal remains of PV Singh were yet to be consigned to flames who had died at Kharbagh , KT Singh was busy leading another operation at Wuter Hall the very next day. During this search operation a fierce exchange of fire took place in which 3 terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed. Late Suraj Bhan also belongs to a family of police personnel. His father Jamna Das Bhan is a retired fire-services officer. His elder brother Himmet Bhan is employed with the Railway Crime Police and his younger brother Vijay Bhan has just joined police services.
The father of Suraj Bhan Sh Jamna Das is a tall and tough persons. 'I know he has died a lion's death and it is a matter of pride for me inspite of the blow which his death has inflected on us'. Suraj Bhan was just 22. He had joined the police services and volunteered for Special Operations Group. His family did not know that he was working with SOG. And that is the only remorse his father had. 'I never thought that he was involved in such operations. I wish I could have given him a salute when he was alive'.
Sepoy Amardeep Singh
Sepoy Amardeep Singh
Man of His Word
Mission: He and a colleague were part of an ambushed patrol. They were killed trying desperately to reach the dead.
As a child, he peeped through the neighbours' windows to catch a glimpse of the Republic Day parade on television. The soldiers in sprightly olive green fascinated him. Those images were so powerful and enduring that even before his matriculation examination, Amardeep Singh had resolved to wear the uniform.
The same resolve was on abundant display atop the icy ridges of Kargil on May 8. Hand-picked to be a part of the first patrol sent in to detect and repulse the intrusions because of his sharp-shooting skills, Amardeep and another colleague -- also shortlisted for an award -- Havaldar Jai Parkash, faced enemy bullets at a height of 14,000 ft for four hours. When his JCO asked an injured Amardeep to evacuate his position, he refused to leave. He held fort alongside Jai Parkash while the rest of the patrol retreated. With six men lost and all communication with base cut off, their first job was to evacuate the dead. Crawling on their stomach to avoid relentless enemy fire, the two provided covering fire to each other to reach their dead colleagues. But with multiple gunshot wounds in the chest and abdomen, the two met the same fate as the colleagues they were trying to evacuate.
Amardeep loved to arrive home unannounced. The surprise on the faces of his family members filled him with glee. But on May 13 there were no surprises. "This time he gave us a shock," says Prem Singh, his grieving father. Amardeep returned home in a coffin, his body wrapped in the tricolour. Prem Singh is still trying to come to terms with the death of his son.
In the not-so-prosperous Bandh village, in the interiors of Haryana's Panipat district, Amardeep has overnight become a role model for youngsters, with village boys wanting to become heroes like him. Bandh has a tradition of sending men to the armed forces, with two dozen men in a population of 4,000 in the military.
A teetotaller and a man of his word, Amardeep would regularly send home his savings. Sitting disconsolate in the dusty courtyard of his ramshackle two-room house, Prem Singh says, "He had promised to get the house plastered." That's one promise Amardeep won't be able to keep.
Man of His Word
Mission: He and a colleague were part of an ambushed patrol. They were killed trying desperately to reach the dead.
As a child, he peeped through the neighbours' windows to catch a glimpse of the Republic Day parade on television. The soldiers in sprightly olive green fascinated him. Those images were so powerful and enduring that even before his matriculation examination, Amardeep Singh had resolved to wear the uniform.
The same resolve was on abundant display atop the icy ridges of Kargil on May 8. Hand-picked to be a part of the first patrol sent in to detect and repulse the intrusions because of his sharp-shooting skills, Amardeep and another colleague -- also shortlisted for an award -- Havaldar Jai Parkash, faced enemy bullets at a height of 14,000 ft for four hours. When his JCO asked an injured Amardeep to evacuate his position, he refused to leave. He held fort alongside Jai Parkash while the rest of the patrol retreated. With six men lost and all communication with base cut off, their first job was to evacuate the dead. Crawling on their stomach to avoid relentless enemy fire, the two provided covering fire to each other to reach their dead colleagues. But with multiple gunshot wounds in the chest and abdomen, the two met the same fate as the colleagues they were trying to evacuate.
Amardeep loved to arrive home unannounced. The surprise on the faces of his family members filled him with glee. But on May 13 there were no surprises. "This time he gave us a shock," says Prem Singh, his grieving father. Amardeep returned home in a coffin, his body wrapped in the tricolour. Prem Singh is still trying to come to terms with the death of his son.
In the not-so-prosperous Bandh village, in the interiors of Haryana's Panipat district, Amardeep has overnight become a role model for youngsters, with village boys wanting to become heroes like him. Bandh has a tradition of sending men to the armed forces, with two dozen men in a population of 4,000 in the military.
A teetotaller and a man of his word, Amardeep would regularly send home his savings. Sitting disconsolate in the dusty courtyard of his ramshackle two-room house, Prem Singh says, "He had promised to get the house plastered." That's one promise Amardeep won't be able to keep.
Rifleman Sanjay Kumar,PVC (kargil war)
Rifleman Sanjay Kumar
Real life hero, Rifleman Sanjay Kumar
KT NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, Aug 17: Killing five enemy personnel, lifting a machine gun while hit by a bullet in thigh muscle, lobbying a grenade and clearing a important army post.
It is not a narration of any popular bollywood film but a real life scene enacted by Rifleman Sanjay Kumar of the 13 JAK Rif in "Operation Vijay" while capturing army post in the Mushkoh Valley.
He was awarded Param Vir Chakara and only one of handfull of personnel to be conferred this highest military award. Little did the PVC awardee know that his act would bring this laurel, for him it was a part of the duty which was executed with perfection.
The 13 JAK Rif is the only unit in the history of independent India to be awarded with two PVCs in a single operation. The other one was awarded to Capt. Vikram Batra who laid down his life in the defence of country.
On July 5, the Rifleman was a part of a Charlie Company that was ordered to clear point 4875 in the Mushok valley. The advance has to be deliberate as the post was well held by the intruders with remotest chance of returning alive.
After suffering initial causality a final assault was launched in the wee hours of July 5. It was defining moment in the career of Rifleman when he was asked to lead the attack. He charged from the front and managed to clear the sangar by killing intruders.
But this was not the final movement, as he ran out of ammunition the Rifleman was hit by two bullets in his thigh. On noticing the presence of intruders in near sangar he snatched a UMG from the Pak solider killed by him and captured the second sangar also. His daring attack and in effectively engaging the enemy personnel led to the capture of Point 4875. Determined and highly resolved to get the post clear, he refused to get vacated till the entire was cleared.
In the entire sequence of event which lasted for some hours he killed about 6 enemy soliders besides inflicting injury on many others. Rifleman Sanjay Kumar nonchalant of the entire episode as he could not count the number of soldiers killed by him. The number of ascertained by the rescue team.
The 13 JAK Rifles moved to base of Tololing feature on 5 June, 99. The unit was tasked to capture the Area hump upto Rockey Knoll and clear point 5140. The point 5140 dominated the Leh-Srinagar highway. A day attack was launched on 17 June and area upto Rocky Knoll was captured after heavy hand to hand fighting, without any loss of own troops. In the operation 8 Pakistan (Northern Light Infantry) soldiers were killed and 9 critically injured. The unit recovered large quantity of arms and ammunition.
For Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, this was not end of journey. Coming from a family with strong inkling for bet force, as his second brother is also a sepoy with ITBP, he is ready to put his life at risk for the cause of nation.
Nation's highest wartime gallantry award PARAM VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Rifleman Sanjay Kumar on 15th August 1999.
Real life hero, Rifleman Sanjay Kumar
KT NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, Aug 17: Killing five enemy personnel, lifting a machine gun while hit by a bullet in thigh muscle, lobbying a grenade and clearing a important army post.
It is not a narration of any popular bollywood film but a real life scene enacted by Rifleman Sanjay Kumar of the 13 JAK Rif in "Operation Vijay" while capturing army post in the Mushkoh Valley.
He was awarded Param Vir Chakara and only one of handfull of personnel to be conferred this highest military award. Little did the PVC awardee know that his act would bring this laurel, for him it was a part of the duty which was executed with perfection.
The 13 JAK Rif is the only unit in the history of independent India to be awarded with two PVCs in a single operation. The other one was awarded to Capt. Vikram Batra who laid down his life in the defence of country.
On July 5, the Rifleman was a part of a Charlie Company that was ordered to clear point 4875 in the Mushok valley. The advance has to be deliberate as the post was well held by the intruders with remotest chance of returning alive.
After suffering initial causality a final assault was launched in the wee hours of July 5. It was defining moment in the career of Rifleman when he was asked to lead the attack. He charged from the front and managed to clear the sangar by killing intruders.
But this was not the final movement, as he ran out of ammunition the Rifleman was hit by two bullets in his thigh. On noticing the presence of intruders in near sangar he snatched a UMG from the Pak solider killed by him and captured the second sangar also. His daring attack and in effectively engaging the enemy personnel led to the capture of Point 4875. Determined and highly resolved to get the post clear, he refused to get vacated till the entire was cleared.
In the entire sequence of event which lasted for some hours he killed about 6 enemy soliders besides inflicting injury on many others. Rifleman Sanjay Kumar nonchalant of the entire episode as he could not count the number of soldiers killed by him. The number of ascertained by the rescue team.
The 13 JAK Rifles moved to base of Tololing feature on 5 June, 99. The unit was tasked to capture the Area hump upto Rockey Knoll and clear point 5140. The point 5140 dominated the Leh-Srinagar highway. A day attack was launched on 17 June and area upto Rocky Knoll was captured after heavy hand to hand fighting, without any loss of own troops. In the operation 8 Pakistan (Northern Light Infantry) soldiers were killed and 9 critically injured. The unit recovered large quantity of arms and ammunition.
For Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, this was not end of journey. Coming from a family with strong inkling for bet force, as his second brother is also a sepoy with ITBP, he is ready to put his life at risk for the cause of nation.
Nation's highest wartime gallantry award PARAM VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Rifleman Sanjay Kumar on 15th August 1999.
Captain Pannikot Visvanath Vikram(kargil war)
'My son has accomplished what I could not'
"My son has accomplished what I could not. I am really proud of him," was the immediate reaction of Lieutenant Colonel (retired) P K P Viswanatha Panickar when he heard about the death of his son, Captain Pannikot Visvanath Vikram, 25, in a shell attack at Kargil yesterday.
In a family where military tradition runs in the blood there were no ostentatious signs of grief. "I participated in two wars against Pakistan, but I could not sacrifice my life for the country. He has sacrificed his life for the nation. I have no regrets," the colonel commented stoically. In his service days he himself had a stint at Kargil.
Lt. Colonel Panickar, who works in Bangalore, reached Kozhikode on learning about the death of his eldest son. To the hundreds who gathered at his home to offer condolences, he voiced the same matter-of-fact refrain, "a soldier should always be prepared to die in the battlefield.''
Growing up among soldiers, Vikram had set his eyes on the army in school itself. He had managed a 'C' certificate as a NCC cadet. After graduation he followed his father to the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun. Passing out from the Academy in June 1996, he was commissioned in the Madhya Pradesh-based 141 Field Regiment, again his father's regiment.
Vikram came down to Kozhikode on leave in April. The last time the family spoke to the captain was on May 4, when he called home. Vikram's mother is the principal of the Vidyatmika School at Kozhikode, while his younger brother, P V Keshav, is a third-year student at the dental college in Kozhikode.
His body was cremated on Sunday within the premises of his house at Panniyankara near Kozhikode. State minister K Radhakrishnan represented the state government at the funeral
"My son has accomplished what I could not. I am really proud of him," was the immediate reaction of Lieutenant Colonel (retired) P K P Viswanatha Panickar when he heard about the death of his son, Captain Pannikot Visvanath Vikram, 25, in a shell attack at Kargil yesterday.
In a family where military tradition runs in the blood there were no ostentatious signs of grief. "I participated in two wars against Pakistan, but I could not sacrifice my life for the country. He has sacrificed his life for the nation. I have no regrets," the colonel commented stoically. In his service days he himself had a stint at Kargil.
Lt. Colonel Panickar, who works in Bangalore, reached Kozhikode on learning about the death of his eldest son. To the hundreds who gathered at his home to offer condolences, he voiced the same matter-of-fact refrain, "a soldier should always be prepared to die in the battlefield.''
Growing up among soldiers, Vikram had set his eyes on the army in school itself. He had managed a 'C' certificate as a NCC cadet. After graduation he followed his father to the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun. Passing out from the Academy in June 1996, he was commissioned in the Madhya Pradesh-based 141 Field Regiment, again his father's regiment.
Vikram came down to Kozhikode on leave in April. The last time the family spoke to the captain was on May 4, when he called home. Vikram's mother is the principal of the Vidyatmika School at Kozhikode, while his younger brother, P V Keshav, is a third-year student at the dental college in Kozhikode.
His body was cremated on Sunday within the premises of his house at Panniyankara near Kozhikode. State minister K Radhakrishnan represented the state government at the funeral
More tributes to Kargil martyrs
More tributes to Kargil martyrs
New Delhi, July 8 (HT Correspondent)
THE REGIMENTAL staff stood guard as the wreath-covered body was carried forward by his uniformed comrades.
The Capital today paid tributes to Captain Amit Verma of the Nine Mahar regiment who was killed in the action in Kargil. The 23-year-old soldier was the only son of his proud parents and a third generation army officer. His grandfather is a retired major and the father a retired colonel. Both had been in battles but Amit was the only one on whom martyrdom was bestowed in Kargil.
The entire neighbourhood gathered around the C-4 Inderpuri residence of the departed soldier. The area MLA Puran Chandra Yogi and a host of police officials were also present amongst the mourners. People abandoned their routine chores to share the grief of the bereaved family. All was quiet and solemn as the funeral procession marched towards the Brar Square where the cremation was done.
Captain Verma was third in the line of gallant young men from Delhi who laid down their lives while fighting the enemy on Kargil front. Captain Haneefuddin was the first whose unparalleled valour earned him the admiration of his peers. He died while fighting intruders in the Turtuk sub-sector which was later renamed after him. Next was young Captain Sumit Roy who was killed while fighting to capture the strategic Tiger Hills near Drass.
Captain Sumit Roy was barely 21 when he made the supreme sacrifice. Captain Verma was a couple of years older than his other two colleagues from Delhi but still a child as far as his parents al least were concerned. His grief-stricken mother wiped his cold forehead with her dupatta while he was being lifted by his colleagues to be taken for cremation. “We had never expected this. All the dangers and fears are over now. Nothing is left,” she said crying softly.
Captain Anuj Nayar,MVC (kargil war)
When the body arrived in a coffin, the tears in the eyes of Meena Nayyar overflowed and her sobs rent the air. Clutching the photograph of Capt Anuj Nayyar to her chest, she tried hard to console an equally upset Timmy, Anuj's fiancee. The two had been engaged for over a year now and were planning to get married in September.
Another relative of Capt Nayyar said, “Our grief at the loss would not have been so much had there been a war. But the fact that he was killed in our own country by infiltrators who had entrenched themselves so deep inside the LoC hurts. Now that he is gone I miss him, miss him a lot. But I am proud that he did his duty. And did his duty very well.”
Capt Anuj Nayyar, of 17 JAT, was killed on Pimple 1 in the South West sector of Tiger Hills, on July 5. “All the six persons with him were killed,” said a jawan from the same unit who had come to Delhi with the bodies. Paying respects to the 35 martyrs, most of who are from the JAT regiment, was the Western Army Commander, Lt Gen HBS Kala, who is also the Colonel of the Regiment.
Among the dead who were paid homage today are Capt Anuj Nayyar, Capt Jerry Premraj, L/Nk Balwan Singh, Nk Ram Sarup, Sep Satyavir Singh, Sep Sheesh Ram, Sep Varinder Kumar, Sep Karan Singh, Nk Ganesh Prasad, Sep Pramod Kumar, Sep Anil Kumar, Sep Dharamveer, Sep Jitendra Singh, Sep Rajindra Singh and five personnel from the Grenadiers. That morning, 16 bodies were paid homage. These include those of Grenadiers Riasat Ali, Zuber Ahmed, Hussain Ali Khan, Rizawan, Hassan Mohammad, Mohammad Ishaq Khan, L/Nk Ahmad Ali, Zakir Hussain, Abid Khan, CQMH Annuruddin, Hav Brij Bhushan Tiwari and Sep Pramod Kumar and Maj Sarvanan who was killed on May 29.
Nation's second highest wartime gallentry award MAHA VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Captain Anuj Nair on 15th August 1999
Major Sudhir Walia,VIR CHAKRA (kargil war)
Major Sudhir Walia died fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir on August 29, 1999.
He was 31.
Just a month earlier he had led his elite commando infantry unit -- the 9 Parachute Commandos -- on an assault on Zulu Ridge in the Kargil war.
The Pakistani troops had begun their pullout from the Kargil region by that time but some invaders remained on the Zulu top at a height of 5,200 metres in the Mushkoh region of Jammu and Kashmir.
On July 25, 1999 -- a day before Vijay Diwas or Victory Day which commemorates the end of the Kargil war -- Major Walia and his team captured Zulu Ridge. Thirteen enemy soldiers were killed. There were five casualties on the Indian side.
For his valour and leadership in the face of the enemy Major Walia was recommended for a Vir Chakra, India's third highest award for gallantry in battle. His battalion was called the bravest of the brave for the recapture of the ridge.
A few days later, when General Ved Prakash Malik, Chief of the Army Staff, arrived in Srinagar to review the situation at the corp headquarters, he met Sudhir briefly before he went into the meeting.
Two years before the Kargil war, Sudhir Walia had reported to his office in New Delhi as his aide-de-camp. That morning in Srinagar he was wearing the Viet Cong cap that was given to them on an official trip to Vietnam, remembers General Malik over the phone from his home in Panchkula, Haryana.
"Why did you go on the mission without proper acclimatisation, I asked him [about the attack on Zulu Ridge]," recalls General Malik, "He laughed and said -- 'Sir, I'm a pahari [hill dweller], I don't need to be acclimatised.'"
Major Sudhir Walia's story is one that will make you proud.
As a child he walked to school which did not have a uniform because its pupils often could not afford one. He sat on the floor on a coarse mat and first told his mother he wanted to join the army in class II.
Every day on his way to school he saw other children in smart red uniforms going to some other school. He liked the bright colour and asked his father why couldn't he go to a school like that.
'The children of my officers go to that school, you can only go to such a school if you study very, very hard,' explained Rulia Ram to his son.
Sudhir did just that.
In class V, he went to Jalandhar in Punjab to appear for an entrance test for admission to military school. He cleared the test and secured admission to military school in Sujanpur Tira, 40 kilometres from Banuri village, where his family lives.
The school had been inaugurated by India's sixth President, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, and was created to train its students for a career in the armed forces.
One of its other students was Sanjeev Jamwal who many years later would lead a brilliant assault in Kargil to recapture the highest point on Tololing Ridge alongside Captain Vikram Batra, the courageous soldier honoured with India's highest gallantry award for action in Kargil.
On finishing class X, Sudhir Walia passed the exam for the National Defence Academy and was called to Bangalore for an interview.
He asked his father for Rs 2,000 for the long trip. Rulia Ram gave him Rs 3,000.
The family had no friends or relatives in Bangalore. The military school sent an escort with the boys who had been called for the interview, easing Rulia Ram from the anxiety of his young son's journey.
On arriving at Bangalore station, fourteen-year-old Sudhir washed his face, got dressed on the platform and went straight to the interview.
Four days later he sent a telegram to his parents. 'I have passed -- Sudhir.'
At the National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla, he was smaller built and physically weaker than many of his other batchmates.
"He fell behind initially, but caught up with the rest quickly," says his father, sitting under several framed pictures of his son in his living room.
During his school holidays, Rulia Ram had taken him for English tuition. He knew his son had to know the language well. It would groom him for life ahead.
The tuition teacher was a kind man who knew Rulia's Ram's financial situation and tutored Sudhir free of charge.
As time went by, Sudhir's English improved immensely, and the opportunities that he earned due to his merit lit in him the desire to excel first at the NDA and later at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun.
At his passing out parade at the IMA, Sudhir led the contingent.
Sitting in the audience with his family, Rulia Ram knew his son would make him proud.
The Indian Army was engaged in one of its most important overseas missions when Sudhir Walia graduated from the Indian Military Academy as an officer of the 3 Jat Regiment in 1988.
Seventy thousand Indian troops were sent to Sri Lanka to enforce peace between the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Lieutenant Sudhir Walia was one of them.
India withdrew its troops in 1990 and lost 1,157 soldiers on that peacekeeping mission.
Sudhir made a mark for himself with his skills in jungle warfare. On his return from Sri Lanka, he moved to the 9 Parachute Commando regiment, the Indian Army's unit for unconventional warfare.
9 Para is one of the Indian Army's four special forces and specialises in mountain operations.
He served two six month stints on the Siachen Glacier -- the highest and harshest of all battlefields at a height of 6,300 metres and excelled in high altitude warfare.
Two years before he was killed, he was selected from amongst the best of India's commandos and sent for a specialised course to the United States.
As a soldier, the farthest Rulia Ram had gone was standing watch over India's international borders.
But his son had travelled from his village to "The Pentagon -- he went and spoke over there," says his father swelling with pride.
Many times, while Sudhir was away at the front or in America, Rulia Ram sat on his verandah and thought of the days he had walked 15 miles to get to work.
His son had made it all worthwhile.
Major Walia's photograph at the Pentagon hangs among many other photographs of his on the walls of his home.
'Colonel' was the nickname given to him by his peers who had come from 80 other countries.
When the six-month course ended, Major Walia -- the only Indian in the group -- had topped it.
By the time he was deputed as aide-de-camp to the chief of army staff, he had amassed considerable battle experience and was twice decorated with gallantry awards for combating militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.
"He set an example and inspired young officers," says General Malik who admired his competence, maturity and his ability to lead from the front. "In fact, his name for ADC was suggested by an officer who was junior to him."
When the Kargil war broke out Major Walia was on deputation to the army chief. His battalion, 9 Para, was fighting the enemy and Sudhir was desperate to get to the battlefront.
He had all the experience, had been trained for that kind of warfare and when the country needed him most, he was bound to a desk at army headquarters in New Delhi.
'Sir, please allow me to join my battalion,' he requested the army chief. General Malik gave him permission and Sudhir once again found his name amongst India's best warriors when he recaptured Zulu Ridge.
When the Kargil war ended, 9 Para was assigned to fight terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Major Walia opted for anti-terrorist operations and led his men into every mission with exemplary valour.
'I won't die in an accident or die of any disease,' he would often tell his mother, 'I will go down in glory.'
The end came just the way he wanted it to be.
On Sunday, August 29, 1999, a month after the Kargil war ended, his team was ordered to demolish a terrorist hideout in the thick Haphruda jungle in Kupwara district.
Major Walia had threaded through the forest the whole night, but the enemy remained elusive.
In the morning as he went past a stream, he spotted toothpaste foam by the edge of the water. He knew the terrorists were within striking distance and stealthily caught up with them.
In a daring combat action he killed nine of the 20 terrorists, but was critically wounded when a bullet ripped through his stomach. He could not move but continued to command his men till they vanquished the enemy.
'Only after 35 minutes when the fighting stopped he permitted his own evacuation,' reads the citation in his home.
After the fighting stopped Sudhir was taken by a military helicopter to the army x-ud. "He could not make it," says his mother, wiping her tears with the dupatta covering her head. "He passed away en route."
For his mother Rajeshwari Devi, Sudhir was the perfect son, a boy who would sleep on the floor and iron her clothes when he was home. How many sons would do that?
On Republic Day 2000 Subedar Rulia Ram stood in front of the President of his country to receive the Ashok Chakra, India's highest award for battle in peacetime, on his son's behalf.
While the citation was read out, he stood quietly and erect, remembering his son.
His younger disabled son -- who now looks after the gas agency the government offered the family after Sudhir's death, and his daughter -- now married -- had stayed home with their mother.
As the short narration concluded, the former soldier slapped his shoes and raised his right hand in a handsome salute to the President.
"I only helped him climb the first rung," Subedar Rulia Ram's voice wavers with emotion, "the rest was all his own hard work."
A few yards from their welcoming home in Banuri is a square dedicated to Major Sudhir Walia.
It's a spot Sudhir had passed by many times. As a little boy holding his father's hand, as a decorated officer of the Indian Army, as a martyr draped in the nation's flag.
Today, the location tells the amazing story of a subedar's son who rose from the floor of a village school to become one of the brightest officers of the Indian Army.
It's a story that is sad, yet inspiring, making you proud.
That is what heroism is all about.
Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari,MVC (kargil war)
The Mechanized Infantry's Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari, the second army officer to die in the operations against infiltrators, had caused heavy casualties to the intruders and forced them to withdraw before succumbing to injuries in Drass sector, the army said today.
It said the officer, who was presently with the Grenadiers, had been given the task of clearing a height which he carried out after making the supreme sacrifice.
Maj Adhikari, 29, belonged to Tallital in Nainital district of Uttar Pradesh and was commissioned as an officer in 1993. Married last year to Kiran Negi, he was going to celebrate his first wedding anniversary on June 9.
MAJOR RAJESH ADHIKARI18 GrenadiersComing Home
MISSION: Adhikari was leading the central arm of three 10-man teams trying to capture a bunker at 16,000 ft. He died in the bloody assault but the bunker was won.
It was an unlikely place for a husband to read a letter from his wife of 10 months. It was May 14 and the inky blackness of night was falling on the icy expanse of the Himalayas. On a rocky ride at 16,000 ft, Major Rajesh Adhikari had just received a letter from his wife Kiran. With a map in one hand, an AK-47 assault rifle in the other and a mission to lead an assault on a vital position called the Tololing heights, Adhikari stuffed the letter in his pocket. "He said, 'I want to read it in peace tomorrow after the operation is over'," recalls a fellow officer.
Adhikari never got the chance. That night he and a 10-man Grenadiers team began climbing towards their fortified objective with picks and axes. Sniper fire killed a JCO and when it dropped to six below freezing, the mission was called off. The next day, three teams of 10 men began a new assault. Adhikari led the central charge, three metres ahead of his men. Hit on the chest, he grimly drove forward. The bunker fell, but Adhikari lay dead 20 m short of his objective. His body was finally recovered last week and sent back to his family in Nainital.
In the hills of Garhwal, where they say every third home is a soldier's home, Nainital joined the family in the long wait, his mother hoping if there was no body, maybe her son wasn't dead, maybe he would one day walk in, that eternal smile on his face. She had seen it all through his school, St Joseph's, Nainital, all through his college years and on his visits home, while recounting his river rafting exploits, while playing old Hindi favourites on his old guitar. In the end she accepted reality -- and bade him farewell on his last journey to a pyre beside the Gola river.
Samar Halarnkar and Ramesh Vinayak
COURTSEY: INDIA TODAY
Nation's second highest wartime gallentry award MAHA VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari on 15th August
ARMY MAN LAID DOWN LIFE WHILE FIGHTING TERRORISTS IN JAMMU & KASHMIR:
MAJOR JAMES THOMAS WHO KILLED
6 TERRORISTS IN JAMMU & KASHMIR HAS BEEN POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED THE KIRTI CHAKRA, THE NATION’S 2ND HIGHEST PEACETIME
GALLANTRY AWARD.
THOMAS & HIS COMPANY FROM THE 10 SIKH
LIGHT INFANTRY, IN TURN, WERE DEPLOYED ALONG THE LINE OF CONTROL WHEN THEY INTERCEPTED A GROUP OF TERRORISTS ATTEMPTING TO INFILTRATE INTO JAMMU & KASHMIR ON JAN 28.
REALISING THE IMPENDING DANGER TO HIS
OWN TROOPS, THOMAS DECISIVELY MOVED FORWARD TO INTERCEPT THE TERRORISTS, LOBBYING GRENADES & ENGAGING THEM IN A FIERCE FIREFIGHT.HE KILLED 4 TERRORISTS SINGLE-HANDEDLY.
DESPITE SUSTAINING SEVERE SPLINTER
INJURIES, THOMAS CRAWLED TOWARDS 2
MORE TERRORISTS CLOSING IN FROM THE
OTHER FLANK & KILLED THEM BEFORE SUCCUMBING TO HIS INJURIES.HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE NITHA.
11 OF THE 16 PERSONNEL AWARDED SHAURYA CHAKRAS HAVE ALSO GOT IT POSTHUMOUSLY, MAINLY FOR COUNTER-INSURGENCY OPERATIONS.THE AWARDEES ARE:
1] MAJOR GOPI SINGH (REGIMENT-GARHWAL RIFLES)
2] SUBEDAR GUMAN SINGH (RAJPUTANA RIFLES)
3] HAVILDAR MAJOR SARBJIT SINGH (SIKH LIGHT INFANTRY)
4] NAIK GURJANT SINGH (SIKH REGIMENT)
5] NAIK SARWANT KUMAR (J & K RIFLES)
6] SEPOY RANJIT SINGH (PUNJAB REGIMENT)
7] GUNNER RANJEET SINGH (ARTILLERY)
8] LT.AMARJIT SINGH (SPECIAL FORCES)
9] SUBEDAR DEVI PRASAD (GARHWAL RIFLES)
10] HAVILDAR IBRAHIM (J & K RIFLES)
11] RIFLEMAN RIYAZ AHMAD BHAT (ASSAM REGIMENT)
AMONG THE AWARDEES IS A LONE IAF
HELICOPTER PILOT, SQUADRON LEADER
GURJOT SINGH BHULLAR, WHO BAGGED A
VAYU SENA MEDAL FOR RESCUING 3 PERSONS
FROM A COLLAPSING HOUSE IN A FLOOD
RAVAGED KARNATAKA VILLAGE IN AUG 2005
Major Harminder Pal Singh
A TRUE SOLDIER OF KHALSA
Major Harminder Pal Singh proved to be a true follower of Sikh gurus, when in a heroic act he laid down his life for the defence of his motherland on the very day the nation was celebrating tercentenary celebrations of the founding of Khalsa. He hailed from Ropar,in the vicinity of which Anandpur Sahib is located.
In very few armies of the world, it is the officers who lead even minor operations. Indian army is one such army. In the expanding counter-insurgency operations, there is not much disparity in the casualties suffered by the officers and the ranks. Our army officers inspire ranks by personal heroism. While the country's politicians have been messing up the problem connected with security and squandering the initiatives gained through the valour of our security forces, the men-in-uniform have been delivering successful blow to the enemy.
In a daredevil operation in a congested locality of Sadar kootballa village in the vicinity of Manasbal area of Kashmir valley, Major HP Singh was leading the commando platoon of his battalion. He was an officer who ate with his men and played cards with them. He boosted the morale of his soldiers by leading always from the front, when ever situation warrantted.
On the morning of April 13, Major HP Singh received information about the presence of four Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists hiding in the locality of Sader koot bala. He started with his 32 men and surrounded 12 houses at around 1 PM in the Khan Mohalla. In the low visibility that prevailed due to an intense dust-storm earlier, Major Singh was the first to enter the houses. The operation was difficult as the soldiers had to expose themselves in the built-up area to prevent any collateral damage to civilians or their property. A search of five houses revealed no militants.
Commandos then approached the next set of houses through an alley. Terrorists hiding in these houses opened fire with automatic weapons through a window in ground floor, from a close range. The bullets struck Major HP Singh in the left arm. He fell down but quickly regained his composure and took cover behind a rock. Major shot a militant through the head, when he sneaked through a window on the second floor of the house. The terrorist came tumbling down.
Undeterred by his injury, Major Singh went after the other kill. He managed to lob a grenade through the ground-floor window and followed it, up with a burst from his automatic rifle. Major's next task was to cut off the escape route of the third militant. Unfortunately, Major Singh's bullet-proof helmet slipped off. The surviving militant shot him dead with a bullet that pierced through his temple. In a befitting tribute to this sant-sipahi (saint soldier),
Lt Gen Krishan Pal, Commander 15 Coprs, said 'Maj Singh's action is significant on this occasion of the tercentenary celebrations. He upheld the spirit of Guru Gobind Singh and rose to fight evil'. Punjab government has announced that it will grant a job to his wife and build a suitable memorial in his honour. But Major Singh did not die for Punjab alone. He died for the entire nation.
Major Harminder Pal Singh proved to be a true follower of Sikh gurus, when in a heroic act he laid down his life for the defence of his motherland on the very day the nation was celebrating tercentenary celebrations of the founding of Khalsa. He hailed from Ropar,in the vicinity of which Anandpur Sahib is located.
In very few armies of the world, it is the officers who lead even minor operations. Indian army is one such army. In the expanding counter-insurgency operations, there is not much disparity in the casualties suffered by the officers and the ranks. Our army officers inspire ranks by personal heroism. While the country's politicians have been messing up the problem connected with security and squandering the initiatives gained through the valour of our security forces, the men-in-uniform have been delivering successful blow to the enemy.
In a daredevil operation in a congested locality of Sadar kootballa village in the vicinity of Manasbal area of Kashmir valley, Major HP Singh was leading the commando platoon of his battalion. He was an officer who ate with his men and played cards with them. He boosted the morale of his soldiers by leading always from the front, when ever situation warrantted.
On the morning of April 13, Major HP Singh received information about the presence of four Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists hiding in the locality of Sader koot bala. He started with his 32 men and surrounded 12 houses at around 1 PM in the Khan Mohalla. In the low visibility that prevailed due to an intense dust-storm earlier, Major Singh was the first to enter the houses. The operation was difficult as the soldiers had to expose themselves in the built-up area to prevent any collateral damage to civilians or their property. A search of five houses revealed no militants.
Commandos then approached the next set of houses through an alley. Terrorists hiding in these houses opened fire with automatic weapons through a window in ground floor, from a close range. The bullets struck Major HP Singh in the left arm. He fell down but quickly regained his composure and took cover behind a rock. Major shot a militant through the head, when he sneaked through a window on the second floor of the house. The terrorist came tumbling down.
Undeterred by his injury, Major Singh went after the other kill. He managed to lob a grenade through the ground-floor window and followed it, up with a burst from his automatic rifle. Major's next task was to cut off the escape route of the third militant. Unfortunately, Major Singh's bullet-proof helmet slipped off. The surviving militant shot him dead with a bullet that pierced through his temple. In a befitting tribute to this sant-sipahi (saint soldier),
Lt Gen Krishan Pal, Commander 15 Coprs, said 'Maj Singh's action is significant on this occasion of the tercentenary celebrations. He upheld the spirit of Guru Gobind Singh and rose to fight evil'. Punjab government has announced that it will grant a job to his wife and build a suitable memorial in his honour. But Major Singh did not die for Punjab alone. He died for the entire nation.
Major Padmaphani Acharya,MVC
A Hyderabadi son's final journey to Kargil
Major Padmaphani Acharya, 31, hailing from Hastinapur on the city's outskirts, was killed on Monday in the Kargil operations. He was hit by enemy shelling.
His family was informed about his death on Tuesday. Local residents took out a rally and raised slogans hailing his martyrdom. Acharya was born on June 21, 1968 and graduated from Osmania University.
Later, he joined the Indian Army in 1993. After completion of training at Madras, he was commissioned into the Rajputana Rifles. He was posted in Assam and Delhi before being sent to Kashmir.
He was married to Charulatha in 1996 and the couple was expecting their first child. Padmaphani's father Jagannatham, a retired Indian Air Force officer, took the news about his son's death with pride.
He said his second son, Captain Padma Sambhav Acharya, is also fighting in Kargil. "I am prepared to sacrifice my other son also for the sake of our motherland," the proud father said.
Nation's second highest wartime gallentry award MAHA VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Major Padmaphani Acharya on 15th August 1999
Major Padmaphani Acharya, 31, hailing from Hastinapur on the city's outskirts, was killed on Monday in the Kargil operations. He was hit by enemy shelling.
His family was informed about his death on Tuesday. Local residents took out a rally and raised slogans hailing his martyrdom. Acharya was born on June 21, 1968 and graduated from Osmania University.
Later, he joined the Indian Army in 1993. After completion of training at Madras, he was commissioned into the Rajputana Rifles. He was posted in Assam and Delhi before being sent to Kashmir.
He was married to Charulatha in 1996 and the couple was expecting their first child. Padmaphani's father Jagannatham, a retired Indian Air Force officer, took the news about his son's death with pride.
He said his second son, Captain Padma Sambhav Acharya, is also fighting in Kargil. "I am prepared to sacrifice my other son also for the sake of our motherland," the proud father said.
Nation's second highest wartime gallentry award MAHA VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Major Padmaphani Acharya on 15th August 1999
LT. COL. N. VIJAYARAGHAVAN
LT. COL. N. VIJAYARAGHAVAN
The brave man of the 15 Kumaon Regiment made the supreme sacrifice of his life on June 25 while leading counter-insurgency operations near Machchal near the LoC. Five militants were killed in the encounter, before one of the militants killed him. Lt.Col.Vijayraghavan had taken part in Operation Bluestar and counter-insurgency operations in Nagaland.
The brave man of the 15 Kumaon Regiment made the supreme sacrifice of his life on June 25 while leading counter-insurgency operations near Machchal near the LoC. Five militants were killed in the encounter, before one of the militants killed him. Lt.Col.Vijayraghavan had taken part in Operation Bluestar and counter-insurgency operations in Nagaland.
CAPTAIN HANEEF UDDIN,VIR CHAKRA
CAPTAIN HANEEF UDDIN, 11 Rajputana Rifles
Mission: Attacked by intruders and bombarded by artillery, he and his unit, equipped only with small arms, fought to the end.
Ek pal mein hai sach saari zindagi ka; Is pal mein ji lo yaaron, yahan kal hai kisne dekha (The truth of our lives is encapsulated in one moment; Live this moment, who knows what tomorrow holds).
>It is difficult to miss the irony, in these lyrics of a song from an album cut by a remarkable singer-soldier, Captain Haneef Uddin. Haneef lived these lyrics -- written by his younger brother Sameer -- and even sang them to his troops. His impromptu "Jazz Band" spread his zest for life and music in the mountains, welcome relief for troops cut off from civilisation and television, fighting tedium and tension. "Whether up in the hills or down here with us, his music system remained his constant companion," says elder brother Nafees, 26, a physics teacher. Fun, cheer, song and courage. Those values, his family and colleagues say, describe the young captain who died fighting on a craggy mountainside in Turtuk, Kargil, on the same day that he was commissioned into the army two years ago. The strapping young man -- he was crowned Mr Shivaji in Delhi's Shivaji College -- was multifaceted, training in computers before joining the Indian Military Academy in 1996. He was commissioned into the army on June 7, 1997.Cutting across the snowy peaks to push for the enemy-held heights, Haneef soldiered on despite artillery bombardment. Outgunned and outnumbered, he and his unit fought to the end. His body has not yet been recovered from the perilous ridges of Turtuk, which is still in enemy hands. Haneef's father died when he was only seven years old. His mother, Hema Aziz, a classical singer, displays the stoicism of grieving families nationwide: "As a soldier Haneef served his country with pride and dedication. There cannot be a greater statement on his valour than his death which came fighting the enemy." The memories flood into Hema Aziz's east Delhi apartment: of the times when Haneef would come humming back after a busy day at Kerala School, his alma mater; of the times when the brothers would grapple wildly like pit wrestlers and then calm down with music; of his last call home saying he would be back for his birthday in September after collaring the enemy. Memories -- they are all that remain.
-Sayantan Chakravarty
COURTSEY: INDIA TODAY
Nation's third highest wartime gallentry award VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Lt. Hanif-u-din on 15th August 1999
Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore ,PVC
Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore was born on 18 August 1923 in Bombay, Maharashtra. He joined the Hyderabad State Force in 1942 and saw active service in West Asia during World War-II. He was commissioned in Poona Horse on 01 April 1951. The biggest tank battle of the 1965 Indo-Pak War took place at Phillora in the Sialkot sector. During the southern thrust of the Indian Army on the Kaloi-Phillora axis the 17 Horse commanded by Lt. Col. Tarapore advanced on the right flank. On 11 September 1965, the regiment was assigned the task of delivering the main armoured thrust for capturing Phillora. It decided upon launching a surprise attack on Phillora from the rear. To achieve the surprise, when the regiment was thrusting forward between Phillora and Chawinda, it was suddenly counter-attacked by the enemy's heavy armour from Wazirwali.
Lt. Col. Tarapore defied the enemy's charge, held his ground and gallantly attacked Phillora with one of his squadrons supported by an Infantry battalion. Though under continuous enemy tank and artillery fire, he remain unperturbed throughout this action. When wounded, he refused to be evacuated. On 14 September 1965, he led his regiment to capture Wazirwali. Unmindful of his injury, he again led his regiment and captured Jassoran and Butur-Dograndi on 16 September 1965. In this battle his own tank was hit several times. But despite the odds, he maintained his pivots at both these places and thereby helped the supporting infantry to attack Chawinda from the rear. Inspired by his leadership, the regiment fiercely attacked the enemy armour and destroyed approximately sixty enemy tanks, suffering only nine tank casualties. However, Lt. Colonel Tarapore was enveloped in flames and died a hero's death. The valour displayed by him in this action, lasting 6 days, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Indian Army. Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore was awarded with the highest war-time gallantry medal, Param Vir Chakra, posthumously.
Lt. Col. Tarapore defied the enemy's charge, held his ground and gallantly attacked Phillora with one of his squadrons supported by an Infantry battalion. Though under continuous enemy tank and artillery fire, he remain unperturbed throughout this action. When wounded, he refused to be evacuated. On 14 September 1965, he led his regiment to capture Wazirwali. Unmindful of his injury, he again led his regiment and captured Jassoran and Butur-Dograndi on 16 September 1965. In this battle his own tank was hit several times. But despite the odds, he maintained his pivots at both these places and thereby helped the supporting infantry to attack Chawinda from the rear. Inspired by his leadership, the regiment fiercely attacked the enemy armour and destroyed approximately sixty enemy tanks, suffering only nine tank casualties. However, Lt. Colonel Tarapore was enveloped in flames and died a hero's death. The valour displayed by him in this action, lasting 6 days, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Indian Army. Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore was awarded with the highest war-time gallantry medal, Param Vir Chakra, posthumously.
Major Vivek Gupta,MVC
There was pride in her salute and sorrow in her eyes as Capt Jayshree Gupta bid a final farewell to her slain husband Maj Vivek Gupta, the hero of the first major victory achieved by the Indian forces in Kargil.
Maj Gupta and six others from his team captured the Pt 4950 peak at Tuloling before they were killed in fierce combat.
The bodies of the soldiers from the 2nd Rajputana Rifles, who were killed on the icy heights on the intervening night of June 12 and 13, were flown to Delhi and accorded a ceremonial farewell.
Among those to bid farewell were several retired officers from the same unit including Lt Gen O P Kaushik, former Colonel of the regiment. “Vivek was an extremely endearing young man. Exceptionally tall and handsome, he had a certain dynamism. He has done the regiment proud and his sacrifice is in line with our tradition. The Second is the first regiment in the Indian Army to be awarded the Victoria Cross. In the 1965 conflict, we snatched Dera Baba Nanak. Exceptionally difficult tasks have been entrusted to our boys and we have always proved our mettle,” said Lt Gen Kaushik. The 2nd Rajputana Rifles is the sixth highly decorated unit of the Indian Army.
While a grief stricken Capt Jayshree barely contained her sorrow, it was left to Maj Gupta’s relatives to remember him. “Vivek had last come on leave in May. His unit was in the Valley but it was only after he returned that they were asked to move to Kargil. Only one word can describe him: he was a dynamite,” said his cousins Ravi and Shailendra Singhal.
After all the ceremonies, she came forward slowly, saluted him in an immaculate drill, laid a wreath, said a silent goodbye and was gone. Her personal moments with him would be reserved for later.
What was going on in the mind of Captain (Dr) Rajshree Gupta as she paid respects to her husband Major Vivek Gupta of Rajputana Rifles who laid down his life fighting in Kargil on June 14 can be well imagined, but she never let her composure desert her
MAJOR VIVEK GUPTA2 Rajputana RiflesDoon Devil
MISSION: Like so many company commanders, Gupta was leading a dangerous uphill assault against entrenched intruders. He captured two bunkers before being cut down.
Only a few days ago Major Vivek Gupta was having the time of his life in Drass. He said as much in a letter of June 8 to his father, Lt-Colonel (retd) B.R.S. Gupta. "You should feel proud of me ... I am contributing something for the nation in this uniform I have worn ... being a company commander at this time is the greatest experience one can have." Ironically, the elder Gupta was to receive the letter in his Dehradun house only at noon on June 17. By then the Army band had played out Dead Body Slow March. And his son's last rites had been completed, just half an hour before.
Vivek died on June 12 after capturing two difficult posts the same day on the wind-swept, icy slopes of the Drass sector. He perished on the battlefront when a fusillade of bullets from the Pakistanis tore open his torso, but not before he and his company men had slain seven members in the enemy camp. Death came swiftly, said a colleague, who saw Vivek mowed down by that first burst from a bunker and from the hills. Death can be very lonely in Kargil. The major lay in the snow alongside dead colleagues for two days. It was only on June 15 that a team could keep the enemy fire at bay and secure his body from the slopes. It ended, literally, exactly seven years of army life for "Vicky" who was commissioned in the 2nd Rajputana Rifles on June 13, 1992.
Vivek Gupta hadn't made up his mind about joining the army until he was settled in Dehradun after his father retired from the forces. He would chat up cadets and go swimming at the Indian Military Academy and soon made up his mind about which way his future would go. Says Anup Kumar, a close friend who edits a Dehradun-based monthly: "It was during those days in Dehradun when he had just entered college that we talked a lot about his joining the army. He knew that was the life for him."
In his hometown Dehradun, friends, relatives and armymen gathered to pay their last respects to a man they admired in life and death. Even his estranged doctor wife, Captain Rajshree Bisht, was there, sobbing quietly and saluting the man she had married in June 1997.
A National Defence Academy graduate, Vivek once told his father that he wasn't just interested in "counting socks and trousers" in the army. That was in response to his father's attempts to get him a posting in one of the safer divisions like Ordnance. "I am proud of my son, in my eyes he died a hero," wept the senior Gupta. Vivek would have liked that
Sayantan Chakravarty
COURTSEY: INDIA TODAY
Nation's second highest wartime gallentry award MAHA VIR CHAKRA was awarded to Major Vivek Gupta on 15th August 1999
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