Remembering the brave hearts!

What has saints and soldier have in common? Well, a saint has the power to save us from the evil and so does a soldier. Yes, I am referring to Amar Shahed Param Vir Chakra Capt. Vikram Batra and Amar Shahed Maha Vir Chakra Lt. Anuj Nayyar and a countless number of other men who gallantly fought and retained India’s glory and pride at the cost of their lives in dragging the enemy away during the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan. July 8, 2015 was the 16th anniversary of Capt. Vikram Batra’s supreme-sacrifice to nation. I do not know how many of us remember these life heroes’s on their anniversary. Unfortunately the short memory of human beings tends to forget those gone by.

While this piece discusses the courage of the two young Indian soldiers the centre point of the 1999 Kargil war, the bravery of countless others for the nation at different times is no less and deserves the same respect and gratitude from all Indians.

What made me pen down this piece was a result of an incident which saddened me. It was during my evening walk in the Cantonment area recently that I found a plastic board of one of the gallant Indian soldier purposely torn from its place of hanging and thrown on the ground by some mischievous youngsters. The Cantonment has put up many boards of deceased soldiers with short script of their heroic deeds as a mark of respect and for public viewing. While I reported about the torn poster to one of the military guards who was on duty nearby, this incidence compelled me to write this piece specially targeted to our youngsters many of whom may have been born post Kargil war not knowing the pain of the families of those who laid down their lives for our comfort. The present generation needs be told about the acumen and sacrifice of our soldiers.

The incidents quoted here are all from what we heard from various sources only for retelling in national interest with respect to the departed.

It would not be wrong to credit Capt. Batra and Lt. Nayyar for India’s victory at the Kargil war. Peak 5140, the highest point on the Tololing Ridge, was one of the most arduous and crucial peaks in the Drass region of Jammu & Kashmir. If it fell, it would clear the Pakistanis from that sector and make the way for further Indian victories.

It was the night of June 19, 1999, few weeks after the Kargil war broke out, when the then Lieutenant Vkram Batra who later picked up the rank of Captain and Captain Sanjeev Jamwal  had set out with their men to recapture the peak in the cover of darkness. The mission was risky for the Indian soldiers, but it had to be accomplished.

I remember news flashing during those days which detailed every bit of the crucial nail-biting battle. India finally pushed the enemy out of her territory. Bunkers reported destroyed, many enemy soldiers killed but India won a decisive victory with all his men alive. Vikram overjoyed as he led the troops at this decisive victory. 'Yeh Dil Maangey More' (the Pepsi TV commercial catchline those days) he said while interviewed by a TV crew from the war front on how he and his men did the arduous task and his growing eagerness to conquer more peaks existed as a result of the victory achieved. His triumph was telecast from television screens across the country. The capture of Peak 5140 led to the decisive fall of Tiger Hill which led to India's eventual victory.

Such was the size of the task accomplished by Capt. Batra and his men that not only his men swore by him but even the then Chief of the Army Staff, General V.P. Malik called to congratulate him for leading a brilliant operation in one of India's toughest campaigns in mountain warfare. Capt. Vikram Batra turned into a hero for the nation.

Photographs of him and his men striding the captured peak and Pakistani gun at the base camp made it to every newspaper. His code name was Sher Shah 'The Lion King'. Two weeks after his conquest of 5140, people would remember him as the Lion of Kargil.

A fortnight after he became the face of the Indian soldier in the Kargil war, Capt. Vikram Batra and his other colleague Lt. Anuj Nayyar laid down their lives while successfully recapturing Peak 4875, another very important place for India.

Bravest of the brave Capt. Vikram Batra was mortally wounded on the morning of July 8 after fighting through the night while recapturing Peak 4875. It is learnt, he was ill but had insisted that he was fit for the mission and completed it in a way that put him today along some of India's greatest military heroes.

Capt. Vikram who had earned an instructor's grade as a commando began a tortuous climb with his men to strengthen the flanks of the Indian troops fighting the invaders at 16,000 feet. The conditions were extremely tough, the climb steep. With steep gradient, the thick fog made the task even more precarious. Capt. Vikram with another young officer, Lt. Anuj Nayyar, fought the enemy's counter-attack ferociously. They cleared enemy bunkers, engaged in a hand-to-hand combat and forced the Pakistani retreat, it is learnt.

The mission was almost over when Vikram ran out of the bunker to rescue the junior officer who had injured his legs in an explosion when a bullet pierced through his chest. By the morning India won back Peak 4875, but lost Capt.Vikram Batra.

For his sustained display of the most conspicuous personal bravery and leadership of the highest order in the face of the enemy, he received India's highest decoration in battle -- the Param Vir Chakra, posthumously. His comrade in battle, Lt. Anuj Nayyar, also died while clearing his fourth enemy bunker. He received the Maha Vir Chakra -- the nation's second highest honour.

It’s been 16 long years since the duo performed this heroic deed for the nation that was un-thinkable and almost impossible to do. But for gallantry of Capt. Batra and his men Kargil war may have been different for India.

I feel Capt. Batra and his men truly respected motto of the Indian Military Academy which had taught them, “The safety, honor and welfare of your country come first always and every time. The honor, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time”. The young men honored each word of the motto.

The government should see the supreme-sacrifice made by our defense force people or others towards the country be remembered such that their presence is always omnipresent and not just remembering them on anniversaries or at times not even then. What a pity!

On humanitarian ground the society at large should try to stand by the families of such soldiers in whatever capacity they can, least to give them moral support in their loneliness. My God rest the departed souls in peace and give their families the courage to cope with the irreparable loss. India will always be indebted to them!