THE FIRST MEMORIAL FOR THE HEROES OF REZANG LA

Gurgaon , Thu, 15 Sep 2011ANI
Gurgaon, Sep.15 (ANI): On the occasion when the Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, is laying the foundation stone for the memorial for the heroes of Rezangla (tomorrow), I recall the occasion when as a young public relations officer of the army, I had the opportunity to cover the opening of the first memorial to the jawans of the 13th Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment at a location near Chushul by Major General Budh Singh, then Commander of 3 Division.  

The year was 1963. Newly inducted to cover the activities of troops in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, I had visited Chushul a couple of times earlier. We used to look at the mountain feature Rezang la located at a height of 5,180 meters, which was defended during the India-China War by a company of 118 jawans of the Kumaon Regiment commanded by Major Shaitan Singh.

Fresh in our minds those days was the dismal performance of our troops in the Eastern Sector. As compared to it, we felt very proud when we came to know that the 118 jawans resisted many attempts by the Chinese to occupy the feature.

Finally when the assault came after an artillery barrage, the Airs of the Kumoan Regiment charged the enemy with their war cry "Dada Kishan Ki Jai" and, in the ensuing battle, only nine survived. The gallant fight by the jawans prevented the Chinese from marching further towards Chushul.

Major Shaitan Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra . o cover the inauguration of the Rezang la memorial, I drove from Leh to Chushul via Karo and Dungti along the River Indus. The journey took nearly two days through rugged terrain and the high altitude desert of Ladakh.

One had to drive along the Indus till Dungti and turn westwards towards the Pangong Lake. I stayed for the night at Chushul.

The memorial, which was to be declared open the next day was nearby. I went to the memorial almost an hour before the start of the ceremony. What attracted my attention was the cover of a candy box with the photograph of Lord Krishna attached to the barbed wire around the memorial.

The Junior Commissioned Officer of the unit told me that all jawans of the 'C' Company were Ahirs, who worshipped Lord Krishna.

He said the jawan must have taken in his hand the cover of the candy box from his haversack when he knew he was about to die.

The JCO also vividly described the scene at Rezang la when he visited the place to collect the bodies of the dead soldiers. Many bodies had guns in their hands, some had mortars.

The battle was indeed fought to the last round. Lord Krishna world have been proud of the men for having kept up the traditions of the legendary battle of Kurukshetra.

During the function later, I positioned myself near the barbed wire fence and tried to capture in my Rolliflex camera, the memorial, the candy box, and Major General Budh Singh laying the wreath.

After the brief ceremony, I requested Major General Budh Singh that to take me with him to Leh. He agreed. By 11 in the morning, I was at the Leh airfield. Luckily for me, a C-130 aircraft of the US Air Force, which used to ferry goods and personnel from Delhi to Leh, was leaving for Delhi. I was back in Delhi early in the afternoon.

After quickly getting the picture printed, I rushed to the Military Intelligence Directorate for getting 'security clearance' before the same is sent to the newspapers.

There was much argument as to whether it could be released. I was told that I could not release it, in spite of my pleading that the whole function could be viewed through binoculars by the Chinese who were supposed to be occupying Rezang La. However, I secured the 'clearance' of the then Defence spokesman G. G. Mirchandani.

Next morning, all newspapers in the capital published the photograph and the report prominently. The Hindustan Times gave a six column display.

The next time, I visited Leh, Major General Budh Singh, offered me tea in his room, a rare honour for a captain.

I never thought I would be living in Gurgaon one day, which was have a memorial for the brave soldiers of the Kumaon Regiment.

I.Ramamohan Rao, former Principal Information Officer, Government of Indiamail; raoramamohan@hotmail.com. By I. Ramamohan Rao (ANI)
Read More....