Veer Gaatha Stories of Param Vir Chakra Awardees Select Commemorative Postage Stamps on Defence Theme 15 August 1976 30 July 1990 16 December 1996 16 December 1997 28 January 2000 28 January 2000 28 January 2000 28 January 2000 31 December 2003 24 October 2004 15 September 2015 15 September 2015 15 September 2015 Veer Gaatha Stories of Param Vir Chakra Awardees ISBN 978-93-5007-765-8 First Edition ALL RIGHTS RESERVED January 2016 Pausha 1937 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise Reprinted without the prior permission of the publisher. May 2016 Jyestha 1938 This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, June 2016 Jyestha 1938 by way of trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed of without the publisher’s consent, in any form of June 2019 Jyestha 1941 binding or cover other than that in which it is published. The correct price of this publication is the price printed on this page, Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or PD 10T RPS by a sticker or by any other means is incorrect and should be unacceptable. © National Council of Educational Research and OFFICES OF THE PUBLICATION Training, 2016 DIVISION, NCERT NCERT Campus Sri Aurobindo Marg New Delhi 110 016 Phone : 011-26562708 108, 100 Feet Road Hosdakere Halli Extension Banashankari III Stage Bengaluru 560 085 Phone : 080-26725740 Navjivan Trust Building ` 100.00 P.O.Navjivan Ahmedabad 380 014 Phone : 079-27541446 CWC Campus Opp. Dhankal Bus Stop Cover: Frontline troops of the Panihati Indian Army fighting in Kasur Kolkata 700 114 Phone : 033-25530454 sector during the 1965 War CWC Complex Maligaon Guwahati 781 021 Phone : 0361-2674869 Publication Team Head, Publication : M. Siraj Anwar Division Printed on 80 GSM Maplitho Paper Chief Editor : Shveta Uppal Published at the Publication Chief Production : Arun Chitkara Division by the Secretary, Officer National Council of Educational Chief Business : Bibash Kumar Das Research and Training, Sri Manager Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016 and printed at S.G. Print Production Assistant : Prakash Veer Singh Packs Pvt. Ltd., F-478, Sector-63, Noida - 201 301 (U.P.) Layout and Design Ritu Topa Foreword The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has developed this book, Veer Gaatha: Stories of Param Vir Chakra Awardees in the honour of those who fought against all odds to safeguard the honour of our nation. Veer Gaatha is a memoir of war heroes who will be remembered forever for their indomitable courage, dedication to duty and undying love for the motherland. This book is a collection of stories of great icons of the Indian armed forces who have been awarded the Param Vir Chakra. The award is the highest military decoration and it stands for the highest degree of conspicuous gallantry, supreme courage, leadership, exemplary devotion to duty and self-sacrifice in wartime. War as we know is the largest man-made catastrophe affecting humankind. But there is a bigger question, i.e., can we avoid war? Perhaps there is no certain answer to this question, but we should surely not glorify wars if wars do not entail the message of peace. The sincere tribute to our war heroes, some of whom laid down their lives for a noble cause, will be to ensure that peace and harmony prevail. Reading these stories will give you an opportunity to engage with history and take a stand on what the present should entail — war or peace forever! The stories that follow are inspiring and instructive. They will give the reader insights into our “Param Virs”, the bravehearts, their disciplined and determined characters and their commitment to responsibility. We are sure that you will be motivated to imbibe their sterling qualities and carry forward the glorious tradition set by them. Let us remind ourselves that the time has come that we resolve our conflicts amicably and rise as members of one human family. Director New Delhi National Council of Educational 15 January 2016 Research and Training Preface The Constitution of India states that the State shall endeavour to promote international peace and security, maintain just and honourable relations between nations, foster respect for international law and encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration. However, circumstances required independent India to engage in wars and conflicts with Pakistan in 1947-48, 1965, 1971, 1987, 1999 and with China in 1962. The armed forces were also called upon to serve in the peacekeeping operations in nations such as DR Congo (1960- 64) and Sri Lanka (1987-90). The personnel of all services sacrificed immensely to achieve the goals of national security and honour at home and abroad. This handy book comprises inspiring stories of the 21 bravehearts who were awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India’s highest wartime gallantry medal, for their service to the nation. Until now, only 21 war heroes were awarded the PVC since 1947. Out of them, as many as 14 were awarded the PVC posthumously and 16 took part in India’s wars and conflicts with Pakistan alone. The PVC Awardees hail from a wide range of socio-economic and educational backgrounds. While some come from the defence families, most are from other walks of life. While half of them are officers, the other half belong to JCOs/NCOs/Jawans. These heroes may belong to different communities, regions, services, regiments, units, ranks, age groups and different periods of post-Independence history of India. But what is common to all of them is the feeling of patriotism and the display of the highest level of valour on the battlefield. Symbolising the ethos and values such as devotion to duty, esprit de corps, honesty, honour, non- discrimination, and spirit of selfless sacrifice, they lived up to the motto: “One for all and all for one”. This is what is reflected in each story. The book introduces these outstanding patriots to young readers across the nation. Most of these readers may be termed as post-Kargil generation. Following a chronological order, the book provides snippets of military history of India since independence along with the stories of the PVC Awardees. Each story concludes with the citation, which describes valour of the Awardee. Readers can find out more print and audio-visual materials to know about the life and times of these awardees and about the wars and operations in which they took part and the leaders of those times. In these stories, it is neither intended to glorify the violence nor demonise the enemy. The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time. – Credo of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) Development Team M.V.S.V. Prasad (Coordinator) Assistant Professor of Political Science Department of Education in Social Sciences, NCERT (Stories 6, 12-15, 17) Meenakshi Khar Assistant Professor of English Department of Education in Languages, NCERT (Stories 7-11, 16) Sandhya Singh Professor of Hindi Department of Education in Languages, NCERT (Stories 1-5) Seema Shukla Ojha Assistant Professor of History Department of Education in Social Sciences, NCERT (Stories 18-21) मझेु तो蔼 लेना वनमाली उस पथ पर देना तमु फᴂक मातभृ मू म पर शीश चढाने मिस पर िावᴂ वीर अनेक ।। – माखनलाल चतवु 핇दी Acknowledgements The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) acknowledges all those who contributed – directly and indirectly – to the development of this book. We thank the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, for entrusting NCERT with the responsibility to bring out this prestigious publication. We are thankful to Professor B.K. Tripathi, Joint Director, NCERT, for initiating this programme, constantly guiding the development team members and providing them with an opportunity to learn more about the 21 war heroes. We express gratitude to Professor Neeraja Rashmi, Head, DESS and Professor K.C. Tripathi, Head, DEL for their words of encouragement. The staff members of the Library of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and of the History Division of the MoD are thanked. We also acknowledge the websites of the Indian armed forces (Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy), NDA and other defence institutions, the Gazette of India, the published and online materials by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and various other government agencies, private institutions and newspapers. The works of many institutions and authors were immensely useful for our book. This is primarily based on secondary sources. We are especially beholden to Maj Gen Ian Cardozo (Retd) and Ms Rachna Bisht Rawat for their interesting chronicles of the PVCs and also for finding time to meet us. We thank Col K. S. Grewal and Maj Marian Antony of the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI), MoD; Dr Indu Khetarpal, Principal, Salwan Public School, Rajendra Nagar, New Delhi (and her dedicated team of teachers); Ms Indu Rai, freelance editor, New Delhi; Dr P. C. Singh and Ms Rajul Tiwari of the JIMMC, Noida, UP; and Dr Rameshwer Singh, Associate Professor of English, Satyawati College (Evening), University of Delhi for providing incisive comments on different parts of the draft material in a review meeting held on 25-26 August 2015. Thanks to Ms Avantika Tripathi for translating the Stories 1-5 from Hindi to English. We want to record our sincere appreciation of the support extended wholeheartedly by many individuals and institutions to our endeavour in multiple ways.