Victory may give us happiness as well as teach a little about how to improve ourselves further but defeat definitely gives us tough lessons to learn and that too in a hard way. This statement perfectly fits when we talk about the defeat of Indian army against China in 1962. It is the only defeat that India, as a nation, has suffered but at the same time, it has given us lessons as to why we need to have a strong army which is well-equipped with modern arms and warfare.
We may have lost the war against China but one thing which we can still be proud of is – bravery of our soldiers, their determination and their dedication towards the country which made them fight the enemy bare hand when the ammunition was finished, like Jaswant Singh who killed 300 soldiers of China to save Arunachal Pradesh.
Another story which is not very popular but is one of the best examples of bravery of Indian soldiers is “Battle of Rezang La”…
On 18th November 1962, the Charlie Company of 120 Jawans of 13 Kumaon, which was led by Major Shaitan Singh took a stand against Chinese army to protect Chusul airfield, which was very important for India if it had to keep Ladakh under its control. The stand taken by 13 Kumaon can easily be said one of the greatest stands taken by any army across the world.
Around 5000-6000 soldiers of Chinese army attacked Chusul at 3.30 am, the early morning. They were supported by heavy artillery which made matter worse for the 13 Kumaon as they were deprived of artillery support because of the peak behind the ridge. Hence, they were all on their own against Chinese army.
Some other army may have thought about the option of retreating, but this was Indian army and an Indian soldier always prefers to take bullet on his chest rather than on the back. It is being said that the company of 120 soldiers led by Major Shaitan Singh fought ferociously and killed nearly 1300 Chinese soldiers. In this battle, 114 Indian soldiers lost their lives, 6 were taken as Prisoners of War (POW) but all of them escaped and 4 of them are alive now.
The Parma Vir Chakra awardee Major Shaitan Singh knew from the very beginning that it was a lost war but still he refused to bow down and with his soldiers, fought the enemy bravely. Along with the Parma Vir Chakra, the company was awarded with five Vir Chakras and four Sena medals.
One of the survivors, Honorary Captain Ramchander Yadav, recalls that Chinese army was very aggressive. They kept on charging despite being beaten twice and when the ammunition of Indian soldiers got finished, they fought with bare hands.
Ramchander told about Naik Ram Singh who was a wrestler as well; he killed many Chinese soldiers until he got shot in the head. On Nov 19, Ramchander reached the headquarters from where he was taken to army hospital, Jammu, on Nov 22.
Bollywood also paid tribute to the martyrs in the form of a movie entitled “Haqeeqat”, which was released in the year 1964. The film depicted the story of bravery of these 120 men; however, there were some factual mistakes in it. Who can forget the song, “Kar Chale Hum Fida”; it still brings tears to our eyes.
The soldiers of 13 Kumaon belonged to the Ahirwal area of South Haryana, Narnaul, Mahendragarh and Rewari districts.
The war memorials made in Rewari and Gurugram bear the names of these 120 Jawans and silently speak us about the daring attitude of these Jawans who fought bare hands after their ammunition got over.
Ramchander feels that it was his destiny to tell this story to the people and this is the reason he survived, now it’s our duty to tell each Indian about the bravery shown by these 120 soldiers.
A GRAND SALUTE TO INDIAN ARMY (y)
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