CHEWANG RINCHEN, MVC a Legendary Soldier by Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere, VSM**

CHEWANG RINCHEN, MVC A legendary soldier By Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere, VSM** Unconventional soldier December 1971. Hostilities between India and Pakistan had spread into the remote vastness of the high mountains of Ladakh. The two armies faced each other in the valley of River Shyok, occupying posts at dizzying altitudes of over 18,500 ft (5,000 m), their common enemy being the extreme high altitude and the mind-numbing cold. The Indian vanguard comprising four companies of the Ladakh Scouts reached Biagdang under the calm and experienced command of a Lt Col, a Ladakhi son of the soil. Most of the officers were in favour of attacking the Pakistani positions conventionally from the river bed, but the Lt Col had already decided to use the rugged mountain route, to attack from above to achieve surprise. His off- beat thinking did not end there. Practical experience and sound Ladakhi good sense overcame military orthodoxy; he ordered his troops to remove their steel helmets and don woolen caps as steel can cause frostbite besides being noisy in a silent attack. Water in the canteens which would have quickly frozen was substituted with a stiff mix of rum and water, and hob-nailed ammunition boots were exchanged for the warmer and silent Ladakhi “pabbo” shoes. The loyal villagers of Biagdang led by Hassan Maistry and the headman readily provided them with the shoes and caps. (Some officers who insisted on wearing their boots later lost their toes due to frostbite). The Lt Col halved the soldiers load of bedding, food and ammunition on the basis of a very rugged logic – the defeat of the enemy, he said, will provide all these, and the movement of lightly loaded troops at night would be both rapid and silent. Armed with very little ammunition and with utter confidence in their leader, the Ladakhis used the enemy’s own routes, surprising them at nights from the heights above. With their battle cry of “Ki ki so so lhargyalo” and their bayonets, the Pakistani posts were flushed out one after another with virtually no Indian casualties, but gaining a cache of Pakistani weapons and ammunition, food and bedding. They finally won their objective at 0645 hours on December 8, 1971, capturing 800 sq km of Pakistani-held territory and going down in the annals of military history as having captured the highest enemy posts ever. Mahavir Chakra For his valour, 41-year old Lt Col Chewang Rinchen was awarded the Mahavir Chakra again. Again? Yes, in 1948 he won the award first at the tender age of 17 years, the youngest-ever recipient, in the same area against the same enemy, to save the beautiful valley that was his home and which he loved. As a mere school-boy then, he was given a special commission in the Indian Army to make him eligible for Independent India’s second highest award for gallantry and conspicuous bravery in the face of the enemy. And as if that were not enough, he was awarded the Sena Medal (SM) in the Sino- Indian conflict of 1962 in the same region. 1 In 1962, he was commanding a company of Ladakh Scouts, and he along with his troops constructed a rough airfield at Chushul, marking it with the bleached skeletons and bones of humans and animals collected along the ancient Silk Route to Chinese Turkistan (Sinkiang). Sqn Ldr (later Air Marshal) Raje was the first to land at this rough and dusty airfield on July 21, 1962. It is the world’s highest altitude airfield at over 17,000 ft (5,200 m) above mean sea level. Rinchen was also Mentioned-in-Despatches for gallantry in the Indo-Pak conflict of 1965. The Lion of Nubra Who was this man who made a habit of gallantry and displayed outstanding courage in every military action in which he participated? When I first met him in 1982, this fearless soldier struck me as a simple, unassuming son of Ladakh. And so he was. Known affectionately as the Lion of Nubra, he came from an old family which was given the title of “Stakre”, the Lion, by the King of Ladakh, nearly 200 years ago for a fore-father’s gallantry against raiders from Turkistan. Notwithstanding his martial background, his transparent simplicity always comes to the fore, and when pressed to relate his deeds, he does so with modesty and with not a trace of undue pride, always attributing his success to the grace of Buddha and the devotion, determination and dare-devil nature of his dear Ladakhi troops who are affectionately known as “nunus” or younger brothers. Early days The eldest son of Kunzang and Jamyang Dolma, Chewang Rinchen was born in the village of Sumur in the lap of the Siachen Glacier mountains on the left bank of River Nubra, on the auspicious day of the first month of the Ladakhi calendar in the Year of the Horse. That works out to November 11, 1931. Coming from a devout Buddhist peasant family, his naming has a little story to it. When he was barely a month old and as yet unnamed, the Patwari of the Revenue Department had, in the process of taking the census, written down the infant’s name as Chewang Rinchen on his own initiative. Later, when according to the custom he was taken to the Holy Lama Padma to be formally named, the name coincidentally chosen by the holy man was again Chewang Rinchen, which means “hero” or “full of life”. Thus, while his parents were very happy with his name, later in life he was to prove how appropriately the Holy Lama had named him. And events were to show that it was to be soon. Colonel (that was his rank when he retired in 1986) Rinchen did not like to talk about himself, but when I asked him about his early life, he related with disarming candour how, during boyhood fights in Sumur, his playmates used to tease him by calling him “banthugu” which means “son of a lama”. (A lama is a celibate Buddhist monk). It was later that he learned that his father was once a novice lama who renounced his pledges of celibacy and devotion to the scriptures after several years of study in the gonpa (monastery), to lead a normal married life as a farmer in Sumur. As a boy, Rinchen had a marked stammer, and his brother used to tease him, calling him “khaldik”. He had seen guns and other firearms as a boy in the tough frontier area and his pre-occupation was to make and play with pistols, guns and rifles, and try to make bombs with purloined 2 gunpowder. An intelligent student, his father recognized his worth and at the tender age of 13 years, Rinchen was sent to Leh where he attended high school, staying with his father’s friend the Kalon (Vazir of Ladakh). Again coincidentally, the Kalon’s name was Chewang Rigzin and his brother’s, Chewang Rinchen. The Kalon and his wife Spaldon looked after him as they did their own son Rigzin Namgial. Teenage hero It was during his stay with the Kalon that he was exposed to the military, and young Rinchen used to hear tales of courage and bravery of the Second World War and watch soldiers parade at Leh. A good student, he continued his studies, but when in 1948 news trickled in that Pakistani regulars and irregulars were threatening Ladakh, advancing eastward up the River Shyok to his beloved Nubra valley, his fighting spirit was aroused. Rinchen gave up his studies and school and volunteered for military training at Leh with the National Guards formed by Lt Col Prithvi Chand of the regular Indian Army. But time was short and the enemy was close. So with just 10 days of the most elementary weapon training, during which his keenness and competence were already noticed, Rinchen collected a few weapons and set about his assigned task of raising a local force in the Nubra valley – the Nubra Guards – with the help of Stanzin his uncle and headman of the village, to reinforce the pitifully small contingent of State Forces troops. And he had not yet seen his 17th birthday! July 1948 saw Rinchen with only 28 untrained Ladakhi youths as a volunteer force, holding a numerically superior and trained enemy at Skuru for one month and 23 days. In recognition of his valiant action, Rinchen was given the rank of Jemadar (now Naib Subedar) to become the youngest JCO ever. In September he was ordered to attack and capture an enemy post called Lama House, and for the task, was given a small detachment of regular Indian Army soldiers in addition to his own platoon of volunteer Nubra Guards to command. The approach to the objective was very difficult. Over a snow-covered 17,000 ft (5,200 m) mountain pass and treacherous, precipitous slopes, the detachment took nearly four days to reach Lama House from an unexpected direction. The enemy was taken by surprise, the engagement was short and fierce, and they fled from their bunkers, suffering heavy casualties from Rinchen’s rifles, sten guns and bayonets. Rinchen found and over-powered the enemy platoon commander, Sergeant Major “Mota” Hassan of the Gilgit Scouts. Mota Hassan, as the name implies, was a huge, powerful man but was no match for the young, nimble Rinchen in the hand-to-hand engagement. Mota Hassan’s captured carbine is displayed in Leh's Hall of Fame. Following this, young Rinchen was repeatedly in charge of several engagements.

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