The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories

by Rachna Bisht Rawat

  They had to return to the camp disheartened, where they were met by a furious Col Rai, who had arrived by helicopter. ‘Hamari joota parade hui,’ Sub Maj Bana Singh now recollects with an embarrassed smile. ‘Aur honi bhi thi. Hamara kaam tha, hame karna tha.’ (We were summonedfor a dressing-down. And it was right too. It was our job. We had to do it. ) Col Rai told the men in no uncertain terms that he wanted the post. ‘The post has to be captured. We cannot let the deaths of Rajiv and his men go unavenged,’ he thundered as the men listened silently.

  The very next day (24 June), the ropes were tied once again, this time in the same direction that Pande’s ill-fated patrol had taken. At 8 p. m., the climb began once again. The task force commander Maj Virender Singh was the first to go, saying he would not hesitate to shoot anybody who turned back. ‘The mission will be completed this time,’ he said, his voice colder than the wind. With that he turned and pulled himself up by the rope dangling in the snow. The men followed.

  They reached the exact spot where the earlier patrol had been massacred. The bodies of their comrades lay buried in the snow around them. All discomforts were forgotten in the rush of adrenaline and the desire to seek vengeance. Right above the men was the critically positioned overhang from where the Pakistanis had shot the entire team. Luckily the snowstorm and cold winds that had reduced visibility drastically also made the enemy complacent in their confidence that the Indians would never think of an attack in such bad weather conditions. The terrible pall of grey around them was deadly for the climbing soldiers, since it hid the gaping mouths of treacherous crevasses. Two of the men slipped and fell to their deaths. Some were injured and had to be left behind. Some fell, but climbed back to rejoin the attack team. But no one waited for anyone this time. They just kept moving ahead. One by one, more soldiers were lost or evacuated because of injuries, chest trouble and frostbite.

  Finally, only Bana Singh and two others managed to reach Quaid Post. About 15 m away from it, they sat huddled together in the shelter they had cut in the snow and waited for the other soldiers so that they could attack the next day.

  Quaid Post, 26 June

  Bana and his comrades had spent the night in the snow. They had hardly been able to sleep in the extreme cold. Soon they saw three hazy figures walking in their direction. In their white snow suits and shoes, they looked like ghosts. Bana’s blood froze and he reached for his rifle, but then he realized that the reinforcements had reached them. All five waited in the snow for a while and it was decided that they would attack the enemy post by 4. 30 pm. They closed their eyes in prayer, and then Bana told them to start moving. The heavy, persistent snowfall did not abate and they trudged on, keeping a sharp watch for craters that had been covered by falling snow and meant a painful death.

  Nb Sub Bana Singh led his men alone along the extremely dangerous route, climbing in near darkness. He inspired them with his indomitable courage and leadership. Despite the bad weather and the screaming winds the six brave men reached the post and stormed it. Flinging grenades into the enemy bunker, the men charged at the enemy soldiers. Bana Singh reached for a grenade and flung it inside a bunker, latching the door from outside. He didn’t let the screams of the dying men distract him and charged with all his might, bayoneting those who were outside, taking them completely by surprise. Some ran down the slope into the Pakistani side, some were killed, others injured. Maj Virender Singh and two more soldiers had also joined Bana by then. With their light machine gun on single-shot mode since the guns had stopped firing more than once at a time in the extreme cold, Bana directed the fire at enemy soldiers who were trying to climb back. The soldiers were either killed or scared away. However, realizing that their post had been captured, they started shelling it.

  Maj Virender received four bullets in his chest and stomach but refused to be evacuated. He told Bana Singh to try and capture the enemy alive, to which Singh shook his head and famously replied: ‘Sir, these bastards are not my cousins!’ It made the injured officer smile even in those moments when they were courting death. Rifleman Om Raj’s arm was blown off by a shell and hung loosely by his side as he gasped in shock and pain. Bana Singh tried to stem the bleeding with bandages from his first-aid kit, but he couldn’t. Both Om Raj, who was losing blood fast, and Maj Virender were taken a little lower down, where the weather had opened up and a helicopter could land to evacuate them. While Maj Virender survived and later rose to the rank of Brigadier, Om Raj died on the glacier in the arms of the men he had climbed up with. Both the men received Vir Chakras for their bravery.

  On 27 June 1987, Brigade Commander Brigadier C. S. Nugyal climbed up to the post. In a rare, emotional moment he hugged fiercely the dirty and war-ravaged Bana Singh and his men. The post would thereafter be called Bana Top, he declared. Nb Sub Bana Singh was awarded the PVC for conspicuous bravery and leadership under the most adverse conditions. Operation Rajiv also resulted in the award of one Maha Vir Chakra, seven Vir Chakras and one Sena Medal, besides the PVC. The CO and the commander were awarded Uttam Yudh Seva Medals.

  Sixty-five now, Sub Maj Bana Singh, PVC, who was born in Ranbir Singh Pora tehsil of Jammu and Kashmir on 6 January 1949 in a Sikh family, sits in his small house, amid emerald-like green wheat fields. He finishes his story with a sigh. ‘I was 19 when I joined the Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry. I wouldn’t say what I did in Siachen was an act of bravery. I just fulfilled my responsibilities as a soldier. We succeeded. Had we not succeeded I would not be sitting here before you alive, ‘ he says.

  Srinagar, 16 March 2008

  A dark, slightly portly Sikh gentlemen in a light-coloured suit and turban watches keenly as the marching contingent of the passing-out parade stomps across the Bana Singh Parade Ground of the JAK LI Regimental Centre at Rangreth. He smiles when the Bana Singh Medal is announced for the recruit with the best drill and a slim, young, sprightly boy marches up smartly to collect it. Among the young soldiers is Rajinder Singh, who his father Bana Singh has come to watch. Two decades after Bana performed an act of unmatched heroism on the freezing heights of Siachen, his 18-year-old son joined 8 JAK LI, the regiment Bana began his career in.

  Parade over, the proud father smiles to himself and gets up to join the other parents for tea. He will return to his village and a retired life. A baton has been passed on.

  This story is based on conversations with Sub Maj (Retd) Bana Singh

  OPERATION PAWAN 1987-90

  The strained relations between the Sinhalese, in a majority in Sri Lanka, and the Tamils, who constitute less than 20 per cent of the population, was the reason for the Sri Lanka crisis.

  In the 1970s, the Tamil United Liberation Force, a separatist Tamil nationalist group, started demanding a separate state of Tamil Eelam that would give the Tamilians more autonomy. When all peaceful initiatives failed they resorted to violence.

  The movement found support with the Tamils in Tamil Nadu, who gave sanctuary to the rebels and supported them with financial aid, arms and ammunition. In 1986, the Sri Lankan government stepped up their action against the insurgency. In 1987, the Sri Lanka Army laid siege on the town of Jaffna, resulting in many civilians dying.

  India feared a backlash from the Tamils living in south India and decided to intervene. On 29 July 1987, an agreement was signed between the Sri Lankan government and India in which Tamil leaders were also involved.

  In keeping with this, an Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was inducted into Sri Lanka in August. The militants were to surrender their arms to this force, which was meant to be a peaceful procedure, in which elections would follow and Tamils would be given more autonomy. The IPKF’s role was to ensure the return of peace. However, the move backfired. While other militant groups laid down their arms, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) surrendered very few weapons and some of them even committed suicide by swallowing the cyanide capsules they wore around their necks while they were in Sri Lankan custody.

  The LTTE now unleashed a wave of violence ag
ainst the IPKP who were left with no option but to retaliate. On 10 October 1987, the Indian force went into action in north Jaffna. They faced heavy losses due to lack of proper intelligence backup, unfamiliar terrain and guerilla attacks by the LTTE, which used children and women as soldiers, against whom the Indian Army found it very difficult to retaliate. Though initially only 54 Division had gone into action; soon three more divisions—4, 36 and 57—were inducted.

  Without proper maps or guidance, troops had to fight at a disadvantage. They were also demoralized by the fact that the LTTE were being supported by Tamils in India.

  A very difficult war was fought where many brave soldiers lost their lives. Maj Ramaswamy Parameswaran of 8 Mahar was decorated with the Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his valour and leadership and extreme devotion to duty under such trying circumstances.

  Ramaswamy Parameswaran

  North Jaffna

  24 November 1987

  The time is 7 p. m. Dusk has fallen over north Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The sky is dark with rain clouds when the men of Alpha Company, 8 Mahar, start marching towards Kantharodai, ready to fire the self-loading rifles in their hands. They are deployed at Uduvil Girls College, and are now out on patrol since information has come that a consignment of arms and ammunition is being unloaded at the house of the headman of Kantharodai village, a man called Dharmalingam. The patrol of10 soldiers is being led by Captain D. R. Sharma, A Company’s second-in-command.

  Kantharodai is a small village that comprises a few huts surrounded by dense coconut groves. The soldiers walk as quietly as they can, finding their way in the darkness. The area around them is swampy and filled with coconut trees and deep undergrowth; there are no street lights and they have been told not to use any lights as they will draw attention to them. As they trudge along, Sharma has this nagging feeling that they are being watched by LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam).

  A few single-storied houses nestle among the clusters of trees. Sharma reports to his company commander Major Ramaswamy Parameswaran—or Parry sahab, as his troops affectionately call him—that they have been fired at by the LTTE militants from a temple and the militant strength appears to be much larger than anticipated. Parry has been posted to 8 Mahar for less than two months. He has been picked since he is a Tamilian and can speak the local language. Also officiating as the battalion quarter master after the battalion lost Capt. Sunil Chandra in an earlier operation, he is raring to come to the aid of his men. He has been functioning as quarter master during the day, looking after rations and stores, and taking on the mantle of A Company commander at night. He quickly puts together another patrol of 20 jawans and junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) Sampat Sable and joins up with the first patrol.

  It is around midnight when the combined patrol of30 soldiers starts moving towards Kantharodai. It has begun to rain and the soldiers cover the mouths of their guns with polythene sheets. Some of them have ponchos but since they are inconvenient to wear, most prefer to get wet in the slow-falling rain.

  They keep walking in a column in the pitch dark, cautiously covering 4. 5 km while making sure that the coconut groves and swamp around the road are free of LTTE. Around 1. 30 a. m., the patrol reaches Dharmalingam’s house. It is set in an acre-plus compound and has a pond, coconut trees and even a garden. Everyone appears to be sleeping since the house is in darkness. The weather has worsened. The rain is now coming down in a thick downpour and the night sky is streaked with flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder. The men are soaking wet by now, water is seeping out of their heavy wood-soled DMS boots that have become bulky with moisture.

  They surround the house and squat about 800 m from it in groups of 10. No movement is detected, but they see an old truck parked nearby, next to what appears to be a garage. This lends credibility to the reports of the weapon consignment being unloaded there. Not risking attacking in the dark, the men wait for dawn. They squat in the grass even as the rain falls and are told not to move, cough or get up even to relieve themselves.

  Around 5. 30 a. m., the family’s dogs start barking and Parry decides to search the house. While the rest of the soldiers close in, he, Sharma and radio operator Dilip Maske go in and bring out Dharmalingam and his family. But even a thorough search yields nothing suspicious and it is decided that the patrol will return to headquarters. The officers shelter in a deserted house and discuss the route they should take to go back, deciding on the tarred Kantharodai-Uduvil road again since they want to avoid the waterlogged marshy terrain where LTTE ambushes are expected.

  Unfortunately for them, the road goes past a pond with three temples around it, where LTTE militants have sought shelter. Later, much later, it is surmised that since Maratha Light Infantry were operating west of the 8 Mahar area, the LTTE cadre that Parry and his men run into may have accidentally drifted on to the path of this returning patrol. Now, however, the soldiers do not know all this or even that they have been spotted by LTTE, who are watching them silently, waiting for a chance to attack.

  It is 6. 30 a. m. when the tired, rain-soaked and sleep-deprived soldiers are passing the pond. A burst of heavy machine gunfire (HMG) hits Sepoy Jeevan Athawale. Sepoy Jagan Lal, who is behind him, shoots and kills one militant but is caught in a burst of light machine gunfire (LMG). At this moment, the militants open fire from all three temples, scattering the entire patrol.

  ‘We were walking on the road, spread out over 300 meters. Sampat Sahab was leading with 10 jawans; he was followed by Capt. Sharma Sahab with 10 jawans and Parry Sahab was bringing up the rear with 10 jawans. Just then the HMG fire came and hit two of our men,’ says Subedar (Retd. ) Dilip Maske, who retired as a JCO and now works as assistant manager with a security firm in Aurangabad. The two soldiers responsible for the LMG are badly injured in the legs. They fall and their LMG drops on the road. The soldiers walking in front also get pinned down because the fire starts coming from all directions and suddenly the air is full of deadly flying bullets.

  The soldiers drop to the ground and Parry orders them to take immediate cover in the forest on the other side of the road. Picking up the dropped LMG, the men crawl into the thick undergrowth, taking their injured comrades along. Both are bleeding profusely from the bone-shattering shots. The soldiers go about 5 m into the forest and take cover in a thicket of coconut trees. From there, they try to return the fire, but it is a futile exercise since the militants cannot be seen. Parry and Sharma decide that former will move in from the east and the latter from the west and north.

  Capt. Sharma and Sepoy Jarnail Singh pick up their rocket launcher and walk into the pond since they need open space to use it. Standing in the water, they direct a few bursts at the temple from where the most fire is coming; they can’t do much since the HMG fire keeps coming and have to return looking for cover. During this exercise, Jarnail is hit by an LMG burst on his left leg that cripples him, but he drags himselfinto an under-construction house. Sharma’s team decides to take shelter there. There are two more houses in the area and the soldiers have unknowingly walked into an ambush. Naik Appanna Sarje comes out of the house to fire and almost walks into two militants. He kills one but the other manages to escape. As he tries to fire at the fleeing militant, he is shot and falls down, mortally wounded. Capt. Sharma asks Jarnail to fire a rocket at the house sheltering the LTTE militants, but the round misfires. The aerial of the radio set with them breaks and they are not able to make any transmissions either. Just then, they spot two militants looking in through the window, and before they can react, the militants lob a grenade inside. Sharma, who is trying to get through to the battalion HQ by hooking his set to a radio aerial in the house, miraculously gets through. He shouts at Jarnail to pick up the grenade and throw it out of the window, but even as the injured Jarnail bends to do so, the grenade bursts and the flying shards slash into him. Sharma escapes unhurt and starts lobbing grenades at the militants. Two of them fall and the soldiers watch from inside the house as their bodies are dragged away by the
ir compatriots.

  The soldiers face heavy firing from all directions. They have inadvertently walked into an LTTE hideout. The militants are holed up in spaces under the ceiling and even on top of the coconut trees. ‘We did not know much about hideouts in those days and didn’t realize that the rebels were hiding all around us. Capt. Sharma and Sampat Sahab, along with their columns, were caught in the ambush. There were immediate casualties,’ remembers Maske. Radio operator Vidyasagar Dongre and Ramesh Athawale are injured in the fire; Rajan, who is trying to return the attack with mortar fire is hit by a burst that kills him on the spot. Ganesh Kohle, who is handling the LMG, is also shot dead. LTTE are using AK-47s, grenades, explosives and the deadly HMGs that inflict the maximum damage. They have even mined the area, which restricts the movement of the soldiers, who were completely at a disadvantage.

  Parry sees the firing from his location and decides to step in to save the men. ‘Sahab told us that our soldiers had walked into an ambush and we would go from behind and do a counter-ambush so that our men could be rescued,’ recounts Maske.

  Taking 10 men with him, Parry moves forward. Sepoy Raj Kumar Sharma and Naik Pandurang Dhoble are with him but the group breaks up under the intense fire coming at them. Parry does not lose his cool even for a moment. He fixes the LMG and tells Raj Kumar to fire at the militants. He decides that the rest shall move forward under cover of that fire. Raj Kumar has just started firing when an AK-47 burst from a treetop hits him, and he falls. The soldiers are pinned down by the incessant fire.

  Parry refuses to be cowed down and with absolutely no concern for his own safety, drops on his stomach and crawls forward through the coconut grove where many of the trees have been chopped down to about five feet. Taking cover behind a tree stump, Parry fires the LMG in the direction of the ambush. He startles the LTTE militants, who realize they have been surrounded.