How enemy was thwarted: Proud families recount stories of valour
BRAVEHEARTS On silver jubilee function of The War Decorated India, family members of gallantry awardees remember their indomitable courage while battling the adversary
We are poor farmers. My three sons work with me. I also want them to join the Army as porters. GHULAM HAIDAR, grandson of porter Mohammad Ismail
From page 1 PANCHKULA: The parents of Second Lieutenant Rajiv Pandey, awarded Vir Chakra posthumously, who died for the country while fighting the enemy on Siachen Glacier, remember each and every detail about their son’s battle, and that “emotional cremation”. Vir Chakra is the third highest gallantry award.
Second Lieutenant Rajiv Pandey’s parents, Col RP Pandey (retd) and Shakuntla Pandey, are based in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. “He died on May 29, 1987, and was just 25-year-old and unmarried at that time. His body was brought to Udhampur for cremation on July 4,”said Shakuntla.
Deployed at the Siachen Glacier, he was tasked to recapture a feature called “Left Shoulder” at the height of 21,000 feet, lying between two Indian posts. The task involved negotiating a 3km stretch on the glacier, and thereafter a climb of a near vertical ice wall of 12,000 feet. The patrol of one officer and eight other ranks was inducted on May 23, 1987, for the operation. According to Col RP Pandey, his son was told to launch an attack on Eid as inputs suggested no one would be present there, but Pakistani soldiers were present there.
According to the citation, “Second Lieutenant Pandey, using all his skill and motivation, took his party inch-byinch, crawling, traversing the unknown and impassable ice ridge within 25 metres of the adversary’s first bunker and personally led his men to charge on the adversary.”
“He had taken nine hours to reach there,”said Shakuntla. “The Army Commander later got the area surveyed and decided that they must recover my son’s body,”said Col RP Pandey.
“The army mounted two-three attacks after the incident, but succeeded only when they followed the path created by my son,”added Col Pandey.
‘I WAS JUST 13, AND HE WAS IN CLASS 7 WHEN WE GOT MARRIED’
“It is a long story,” said Dhanno, wife of Param Vir Chakra (PVC) awardee Col Hoshiar Singh, when asked about her husband. The PVC is the highest gallantry award. “He was in Class 7, and I was just 13. We had got married in early childhood in 1954,”she said, adding Col Hoshiar Singh had joined the Army in 1962.
“His school principal had told he would become famous with this name one day; he was a good volleyball player,”she said.
On December 15, 1971, a battalion of the grenadiers was given the task of establishing a bridgehead across the Basantar River in the Shakargarh Sector. Major Hoshiar Singh, who was commanding the left forward company, was ordered to capture the enemy locality at Jarpal.
According to the citation, during the assault, his company came under intense shelling and effective crossfire. “Undeterred, he led the charge and captured the objective after a fierce handto-hand fight.
The enemy reacted and put in three counter-attacks on December 16, two of them supported by armour. Major Hoshiar Singh, unmindful of the heavy shelling and tank fire, went from trench to trench, motivating his command to stand fast and fight. Inspired by his courage, his company repulsed all the attacks inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy,”stated the citation, adding that on December 17, the enemy made another attack with a battalion supported by heavy artillery fire.
“Though seriously wounded, Major Hoshiar Singh again went from trench to trench moving about in the open when an enemy shell landed near the MMG post injuring the crew and rendering it inoperative. Major Hoshiar Singh immediately rushed to the machine gun pit and, though seriously wounded himself, manned the gun inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.
The attack was successfully repulsed and the enemy retreated leaving behind 85 dead, including their Commanding Officer and three other officers. Though seriously wounded, Major Hoshiar Singh refused to be evacuated till the casefire.
‘I ALSO WANT MY SONS TO JOIN ARMY’
There are only two civilians who received gallantry award – washerman Ram Chander and porter Mohammad Ismail – Maha Vir Chakra ( MVC), the second highest gallantry award, for saving the lives of soldiers during the 1948 IndoPak war.
Ghulam Haidar, grandson of porter Mohammad Ismail, who hails from Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir, was honoured on Saturday at the Silver Jubilee Function of the War Decorated India (TWDI).
According to Mohammed Ismail’s citation, “On June 23, 1948, in the Zojila Pass area in Jammu and Kashmir, a reconnaissance patrol was ambushed and a man was severely wounded. He rolled down the side of a hill, and was unable to get back to the picket. All attempts by the section to recover the wounded man failed as the enemy had covered the area.”