PANCHAAMRITAM 262
Poornima / KALI YUGABDA 5116 / Jaya
Karthigai 20 (December 6, 2014)
This issue of
PANCHAAMRITAM is devoted to a DASAVATAR (ten avatars
of courage and tyaga personified by our unparalleled soldiers).
They sacrificed their lives
for us, but how many of us actually know their names, let alone know what they
did for us? It's high time we learn about these unsung heroes who are India's
real stars.
ONE
1. Captain Anuj Nayyar: Captain Anuj Nayyar, of 17 Jat Regiment of the
Indian Army, headed his group to capture a key mountain top called Pimple II
that was possessed by Pakistani infiltrators in the Kargil War in 1999. Nayyar
and his group fought on like warriors without any aeronautical backing. A
rocket explosive specifically hit him, yet he carried on till his last breath
to secure the strategic mountain peak. A bit of trivia: Saif Ali Khan played
Captain Nayyar's role in J. P. Dutta’s movie LOC Kargil. 2. Colonel Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair: Colonel
Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair of 16 Maratha Light Infantry was deployed in
Nagaland in 1993. On December 20 of the same year, his convoy was ambushed by
Naga rebels. Col N. J. Nair displayed exemplary valour and took on the rebels
on his own in order to break the ambush. He sacrificed his life to save his
men. For his outstanding courage, the Colonel has been awarded the Ashoka
Chakra and Kirti Chakra, the only Indian to have won both the prestigious
awards.
TWO
3. Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri: J.P Dutta's famous war film Border
was based on the Battle of Laungewala on the fateful night of December 4-5,
1971. On that night, Brigadier Chandpuri headed a team of 124 soldiers of the
Indian Army and 23 officers of the Punjab regiment against a Pakistani ambush
and held them off. He was later honoured with the Mahavir Chakra by the Indian
government for his administration and valour. The Brigadier's character was
played by Sunny Deol in Border. 4. Gurbachan
Singh Salaria: After Belgium left Congo, the UN interceded to stop a bloody
civil war raging through the African nation. Chief Gurbachan Singh Salaria was
a part of the UN’s group to spare the nation from Katangese rebels who were
wrecking destruction, and participated in an operation that left the foe
totally dampened. Salaria died at the young age of 26 in an unknown land.
However, his actions were recognized by the Indian government, and Chief
Salaria was honored with the Param Vir Chakra, India’s most astounding wartime
military honor, for his grit in the Congo War in 1961.
THREE
5. Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat: The story of Rifleman Jaswant Singh
Rawat is stunning, and the man himself is a legend in the Indian Army. He was a
part of the fourth Battalion of the Garhwal Rifles in the Indo-China War of
1962. Due to heavy casualty and circumstances, the company was asked to retreat
from their position. Jaswant, however, insisted on staying back and fighting
off the Chinese. All the other soldiers retreated and Jaswant was left alone to
deal with enemy. What he did then was truly brave. He got some help from two
Monpa tribal girls named Sela and Nura. Together, they set up weapons at
separate points and maintained a volume of fire that fooled the Chinese into
believing that they were faced with a huge battalion. The Chinese were left frustrated
and this went on for 3 days. Finally the Chinese managed to capture the man who
was supplying rations to Jaswant. On learning that he would be captured soon,
Jaswant shot himself in the head. The Chinese were so furious to find that they
had been fighting a lone soldier all this while that they cut off his head and
carried it back to China. The fate of the brave girls who helped him is
unknown. What a hero! 6. Lieutenant
Vikram Batra: Lieutenant Vikram Batra, another champion of India’s 1999 Kargil
War, was instrumental in recovering Peak 5140 situated at a height of 17,000
feet from the enemy. Batra knew the vital criticalness of the crest and
completed a challenging mission in power to recover the peak. An enemy
counterattack cut short his life but not before he had recaptured Peak 5140
with his last words – Jai Mata Di. Here's a bit of trivia: Abhishek Bachchan
played Batra’s part in the film LOC Kargil.
FOUR
7. Arun Kumar Vaidya: This Maha Vir Chakra awardee was part of the
action during the 1965 war with Pakistan at the Battle of Chawinda where the
first Armored Division of the enemy was destroyed. In 1971, Arunkumar Vaidya
navigated a dangerous landscape loaded with mines and pushed ahead to refute
the Pakistani counter-assault in the the battles of Chakra and Dahira. In the
same clash, in the Battle of Barapind, he appropriated tanks crosswise over
minefields and got his second Maha Vir Chakra. In 1984, he planned Operation
Blue Star, which sought to evict Sikh militants hidden inside the Golden Temple
in Amritsar. 8. Nand Singh:
During World War 2, Nand Singh led his troops up a steep ridge in Burma and
captured major trenches despite carrying multiple injuries. In 1947, upon
Independence, he took part in India’s first war with Pakistan. In the same
year, he got severely injured in Uri, after which his body was paraded in
Pakistan and thrown into a dump. Sadly, his body was never recovered. Nand
Singh has the distinction of receiving the British Victoria Cross, the highest
and most prestigious award for gallantry awarded to British and Commonwealth
forces.
FIVE
9. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan: “Do not come up, I will handle them.”
These were probably the last words spoken by Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan to his
men as he was hit by bullets while engaging terrorists inside the Taj Mahal
Palace Hotel during the Black Tornado operation in the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
Unnikrishnan was a Major in the Indian Army serving in the elite National
Security Guards (NSG). During the operation, when a commando got injured, Major
Unnikrishnan arranged for his evacuation and started chasing the terrorists
himself. It was during this chase that he got seriously injured and succumbed
to his injuries. 10. Captain
Mahendra Nath Mulla: Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla, the captain of the INS
Khukri, died after his ship was hit by torpedoes fired from the enemy submarine
during the 1971 war. Mulla gave away his own life-saving jacket to a sailor and
tried to save as many lives as he could before he went down with his ship. If you
ever end up travelling to Diu, you'll find a memorial in Mulla’s name along
with a full-case model of INS Khukri.
Idea: Shri Ashok Chowgule
OOOOOOOOOO
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