Except for family, Major HP Singh who laid down his life fighting infiltrators in 1999, remains a forgotten hero

Shaurya Chakra awardee Major Harminder Pal Singh’s family at his house in Sector 70, Mohali, on Thursday. Tribune photos: Vicky Gharu

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 13

It has been 18 long years since the Kargil conflict. Fighting the enemy, many a valiant soldier had laid down his life in the operation to protect his motherland. For the family of Kargil martyr, the time span, however, has not done anything to make the memories, of times spent together, any dim.Initially, there used to be special functions by the community and the local administration also to commemorate Shaurya Chakra awardee Major Harminder Pal Singh, the 31-year-old, 6 feet 2 inch lad from Kharar, who was killed in a fierce encounter with militants in Baramullah district of north Kashmir on April 13, 1999, but 18 years down the line, it seems that all others have forgotten the supreme sacrifice of the brave soldier, who had laid down his life for the motherland, except the wailing family.When The Tribune called upon the Kargil martyr’s family now shifted to Sector 70 in Mohali, it has no regrets. While the countrymen have recognised the supreme sacrifice made by their brave son, the government has also done its bit for the family. On this day in 1999, even as lakhs of Sikhs were thronging Anandpur Sahib to revel in the spirit of the Khalsa on the occasion of the tercentenary of their birth, a modern-day Sikh warrior was living up to the Sikh military traditions in the Kashmir Valley.Major Singh had been wounded in the left arm but had recovered to encourage three militants armed with Kalashnikovs and grenades in an eyeball-to-eyeball encounter in a remote North Kashmir on April 13.The 18 Grenadiers Major was shot through the temple by the third militant, but not before he had gunned down two of them. Harminder led the commando platoon of his battalion in what has been described as a “dare-devil” operation in a congested locality of Sadurkotbala village in Manasbal.The Grenadiers revere Harminder as a ‘sant-sipahi’ and his loss made even a tough Haryanvi Jat like Havildar misty-eyed. “Our welfare was uppermost in his mind,” he recollects, adding that perhaps valour ran through his blood.Major’s father Harpal Singh, who had also served the Indian Army and retired as a Captain, has already decided to make his 18-year-old grandson Navteshwar follow in the footsteps of his father. Navteshwar had appeared in Class XII exams from Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, here this year.Harminder’s mother Surinder Pal Kaur said her son’s sacrifice was an honour for her and the family. “It was Pintu’s (Harminder’s nickname) childhood dream to join the Army and do something for the country,” she adds.“Apne liye to sabhi jeeten hain, aadmi to woh hai jo auron ke liye jiye, auron ke liye mare (Everybody lives for self, the man is that who lives and dies for others),” says Rupinder Pal Kaur, late Major’s young widow, who has been serving as a District Food and Supplies Controller (DFSC) in Fatehgarh Sahib, after she completed her B.Ed following her husband’s death. She adds that Harminder had even written in the birth certificate of Navteshwar that he wants him to earn a name for the family, by serving the nation as defence personnel. Rupinder had given birth to Navteshwar, three months before the death of her husband.The Major’s father Capt Harpal Singh (retd) says, “The Shaurya Chakra award in anyway cannot compensate the loss we have suffered. But then, I am among those fathers who can take pride even in his son’s death”.Major had got married only 18 months before his death to Rupinder, who hails from Sri Ganganagar. Harminder’s younger brother, Ravinder Pal Singh, is an officer in the Merchant Navy.Harminder was twice recommended for decoration and received letters of appreciation from his Corps Commander who had also sent his name for the Army Chief’s commendation certificate.

Commissioned in March 1992

• Harminder was an alumnus of Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Kharar, and Government College, Mohali. He got his commission in the Army in March 1992 and was promoted shortly before his death to the rank of Major. He had qualified for a pilot’s job with the Air Force, but decided against it.

What they said

• Apne liye to sabhi jeeten hain, aadmi to woh hai jo auron ke liye jiye, auron ke liye mare. — Surinder Pal Kaur, Harminder’s mother
• The Shaurya Chakra award in anyway cannot compensate the loss we have suffered. But then, I am among those fathers who can take pride even in his son’s death. — Capt Harpal Singh, Harminder’s father