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Lest we FORGET...
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"We want peace and our neighbours should realise that we are capable of producing thousands of Vikram Batras as and when required."
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Indian Soldiers preparing to leave for Kargil.
The plaque in the cenotaph that is constructed in remembrance of the slain soldiers in the Kargil, boldly proclaims: "When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today."
The modest appeal still reverberates in the serene hills and it makes every officer or jawan on duty, clutch his rifle and swear by the name of their motherland with every thud of an artillery shell from across the Line of Control (LOC) or with every crack from a militant's AK 47. It was just beginning to fade in the plains, when J.P. Dutta released his bigger than screen, multi-starred, celluloid opus, `LOC', with a very apt punchline, "Before we forget them."
Dutta's `LOC', happened just when cross border handshakes and bear hugs were systematically erasing the memory of M-16 helicopters dropping men in uniform, packed in their sleeping bags, day in and day out for months in 1999.
So, before one could forget that famed wireless message "Yeh dil maange more" that Capt. Vikram Batra of 13 JAK Rifles used to radio after conquering every enemy bunker and the contributions made Anuj Nayyars and Mangal Pandeys, here is one from this district to add up to the list of hundreds of such unsung heroes who gambled with their lives at sub-zero temperature and inched to glory braving heavy enemy fire.
A still from the film 'LOC'.
Though S. Adi Sankara Narayana Rao was born to peasant parents in a village near Anakapalle, he had the urge to join the Armed Forces since his childhood. He was inspired by freedom-fighters like Chandrashekar Azad and Bhagat Singh, and by the time he reached the age of 18 years he was already serving in the Artillery Regiment as a gunner. The wish to be in the midst of action impelled him to volunteer for the Special Forces in the Indian Army. His tall athletic frame and stamina helped him get inducted into the prestigious 2 Para, a special commando force unit. And in no time he became an all-terrain armed and unarmed combat professional.
Ever since his induction into 2 Para, he was always on the move from Assam to Nagaland and from Jammu and Kashmir to Manipur seeking and destroying terrorist hideouts. He even operated in Operation Pawan in Jaffna as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).
He was on the 17th year of his service when the nation beckoned him once again, but this time for a different purpose. It was for pushing back the infiltrators who had the audacity to cross the LOC with the intention of gaining control over National Highway 1-A, so that they could cut Ladakh from Kashmir and stifle the lifeline of the Indian Army personnel posted in Siachen.
"It was on April 30, 1999, when we were busy packing our bags in Srinagar, for the much awaited holidays that we got an urgent message to move to the Kargil sector. At that time our unit was drafted under the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and we were engaged in a counter- insurgency operation. Within 48 hours, we were airlifted and dropped in the Batalik sector in full combat gear. We were informed that a few mujhahideens had crossed the LOC and occupied our vacated bunkers and we have to throw them out.
"The Special Forces were the automatic choice to move ahead of the rest as we were rained in high altitude warfare and had the capability to cover more distance swiftly and survive for a number of days with minimum amenities in the most hostile ambience. We were backed by the 18 Grenadiers, the regiment that finally took over the Tiger Hills with maximum casualties and had heroes like Col. Kaushal Thakur, Lt. Col. R. Viswanathan, Lt. Balwan Singh and the Subedar duo of Yogendra Singhs (potrayed by Raj Babbar, Mohnish Behl, Akshaye Khanna, Manoj Bajpai and Ashotosh Rana respectively in the movie) and 2 Rajputana Rifles that had Major Padmapani Acharya (enacted by Nagarjuna).
K. Sankara Narayana Rao.
"Seek and destroy were our orders. Moving cautiously for days in formation of 19 commandos and one officer we came under heavy medium machine gun (MMG) and mortar fire on May 19. The enemy was unseen, hidden behind dense fog and safely holed up in our bunkers. For a moment we felt that every head was in the cross hair of the enemy weapon. Firing from our AK-47s in staccato we inched towards the bunkers. When we were a few metres away from the first bunker an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) shell exploded a few feet away from me, instantly blowing my colleague to smithereens and a splinter from the grenade severed two of my fingers on the left hand. Not realising the gravity of the wound, I held on to my position giving cover fire to my unit men for 48 hours. The bunker was destroyed and the enemy who looked like Afghans were killed. But it was only then that we realised that the problem was much bigger. They were not just some Afghan mercenaries who crossed the border but it was a combined force of Pakistan's northern light infantry, men from its Special Services Group and a few battle-scarred Afghans. At the end of the engagement when I glided down the slopes I realised that my other two fingers had got benumbed and it was later in the makeshift hospital in the base camp I became conscious that they had to be amputated due to frostbites.
"Thereafter I was discharged from services with compensation and today I am without a job," says Narayana Rao.
This district had contributed many such people who exhibited exemplary bravery in the battlefield right from World War II to the present insurgency movement in various States, especially Jammu and Kashmir.
K. Simhachalam of Madras Regiment, who was drafted into the RR for counter-insurgency operation, died of a gunshot wound on July 12, 2002, in the Poonch sector. Sepoy Simhachalam was a member of `Operation Prachand Prahar' that was part of `Operation Rakshak III', on that day. The RR men, along with 9 Para (SF), were engaged in a seek-search-and-occupy operation when they came under heavy automatic fire from militants entrenched in a building in the Ranjoti area of Poonch. Giving cover fire to his commanding officer, Major Yogesh Gupta, Simhachalam was hit by a bullet in the abdomen. He continued firing while crawling forward until he killed one terrorist. That act of bravery allowed his company to move forward and kill all the other four terrorists. He is survived by his mother who lives in Kancharapalem.
The list and the stories of bravery could be enduring, Chucka Somi Reddy (35) of 96 Field Regiment died in a snowstorm in Siachen. His body was discovered a week later buried in three feet of snow. Similarly both K. Venkat Ramana of (RR) and Ali Hidayat of 18 Maratha Light Infantry were victims of `Operation Rakshak' in J&K.
Be it `Operation Vijay' in Kargil or `Operation Rakshak' in J&K the citation in the memorial reminds us of the sacrifice of officers and jawans. And it would not be soothing to the ears to hear once again the same fearsome war cry of the Gorkhas: `Jai maa Kali- ayo Gorkhali' or see the jawans of 13 JAK Rifles charging with their unsheathed bayonets against the hail of bullets.
"We want peace and our neighbours should realise that we are capable of producing thousands of Vikram Batras as and when required. But "yeh dil maange no more", says Havaldar Narayana Rao.
Too little for them
With every war fought or military operation undertaken, the story is the same. It leaves behind a trail of sorrow and sad memories. But apart from that, the most important factor is building a life after that, be it a widow or a mother, a fatherless child or an incapacitated soldier.
The question is who should take care of them, the Government or society or both?
"When it comes to the question of taking care both take a reverse turn," says C.S.Rao, a
Zilla Sainik Welfare Board member.
The board that is headed by a retired army officer or a gazetted officer from the Union Government in every district throughout the country is engaged in supervising the welfare of the families of such soldiers and retired service personnel.
"Programmes are there on paper but they are hardly implemented despite our requests. Welfare measures like allotment of house sites to ex-servicemen and war widows take years to materialise, exemption of house tax is not heeded by municipal authorities and banks do not process loans for self-employment without collateral security," says Rao.
Apart from these welfare programmes that take years to reach the beneficiaries, the pension that they get is too meagre even for sustenance. And the chance of employment in a decent company is very little. Most companies have abolished the ex-servicemen quota or do not follow the right percentage of quota system, he adds.
SUMIT BHATTACHARJEE
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