New
Delhi, 15 November 2002
We
as a people lack a sense of history and adequate pride in our
abilities. One would suppose this to be so because of centuries of
foreign domination. Our rulers made sure that we forgot our glorious
past and were debilitated mentally to accept slavery as a virtue. As
if this was not enough, even after Independence, partly because of
the colonial legacy and more because of political naivete, the
Indian Armed Forces were treated as a necessary evil to be confined
to cantonements and their messes.
We
never fought a war for our independence. The majority of our
political class have had no experience of armed service and have
been quite happy to be guided by the advice of the civilian
bureaucracy. The latter have taken full advantage of the situation
by putting the fear of military dictatorship in the minds of the
former. This unfortunate mindset has resulted in our leaders’ lack
of due recognition of our war heros be they of the 1948 Kashmir war,
War with China in 1962 or with Pakistan in 1965, 1971 and lately the
Kargil War.
Except
for the Prime Minister paying a silent homage at the Amar Jawan
Jyoti on Republic Day, there is no tradition to remember either
those who laid down their lives in defence of the nation or served
in doing so –– the veterans.
In
most democracies where the Armed forces are subservient to political
leadership, the respect and gratitude shown by the people of all
walks of life to their war heroes, is not merely symbolic but
genuine to the core and displayed in more ways than one, especially
at all public and social celebrations. Their children are
consciously guided to respect the national flag, anthem and War
Memorials or Cemeteries. When our political leaders ‘go places’,
how many make it a point to visit a war memorial if one is there!
We
remember our soldiers only in times of a war. In order to help to
change this mindset, we bring you an article by Mohan Guruswamy,
which so vividly and simply describes the ultimate courage and
sacrifice of our inimitable Jawans. Led by Major Shaitan Singh in the
only battle that we may like to remember in our otherwise
forgettable encounter with the Chinese over the Himalayas –– the
land where hardly a blade of grass grows!
Remembering
Rezang La
By
Mohan Guruswamy
One
of the bitter ironies of life is that greatest acts of heroism and
valor mostly happen when the odds are hopeless and death and defeat
inevitable. Throughout history nations have always glorified such
episodes in their ballads and poems, by honoring the heroes and
commemorating the event. It is the common perception of these few
and far in between episodes in a people’s history that forge a
sense of nationhood. Why else would we celebrate the deaths of a
Prithviraj Chauhan or a Tipu Sultan? Or a Porus or a Shivaji who
battled great armies with little more than a handful of brave
comrades and immense courage? Of course we rejoice in the triumphs
of an Ashoka or Chandragupta or even an Akbar but that is about
greatness and not heroism.
Even
if it is true that the end of history is at hand, we can be sure
that the annals of heroism will never cease being written. However
endless these may be, the heroic stand of C Company of the 13 Kumaon
at Rezang La in 18 November 1962 will always be among the more
glorious chapters. The monument that stands at Chushul asks: “How
can a man die better/ Than facing fearful odds/ For the ashes of his
fathers/ And the temples of his gods.” C Company was fighting for neither ashes nor temples, for
they were none at Chushul. The loss of Chushul would not even have
had much bearing on the ultimate defence of Ladakh. But in those
dark days of 1962 Chushul became a matter of national honor.
Chushul
is only 15 miles from the border as the crow flies and even then had
an all weather landing strip. It was the pivotal point of our
frontier posts in this sector as it was astride the second route
into Tibet from Leh about 120 miles further west. The road built
after 1962 rises to nearly 17000 feet crossing the Ladakh range at
the desolate and wind blown Chang La pass, steeply descends into
Tangtse and then goes on to Chushul. Between the Chang La and
Tangtse the road takes the traveler though the most beautiful
scenery with matching beautiful wildlife. Golden marmots dart in and
out of their holes and in the distance you can sometimes spot a snow
leopard warily keeping a watch on mankind.
Chushul
itself is at 14230 feet and is a small village in a narrow sandy
valley about 25 miles long and 4 miles wide, flanked by mountains
that rise to over 19000 feet. At the northern end touches the
Pangong Tso, a deep saltwater lake nearly a hundred miles long and
that makes for one of natures most glorious sights. Also near
Chushul is a gap in the mountains called the Spanggur Gap that leads
to another beautiful lake, the Spanggur Tso that like the Pangong
extends well into Chinese territory. The Chinese had built a road
from Rudok in Tibet right up to the Spanggur Gap capable of carrying
tanks. In the first phase of their assault on Ladakh in October
1962, the Chinese had overrun many of our major border posts on the
line between Daulat Beg Oldi near the Karakorum Pass to Demchok
astride the Indus on the border with Tibet. Chushul was the solitary
Indian position east of the Ladakh range. Geography favored the
Chinese and they were able to make a major concentration of men and
material for an attack on Chushul.
Till
September 1962, the defence of all of Ladakh was vested with 114
Brigade commanded by Brig. TN Raina (later General and COAS). It
consisted of just two infantry battalions, the 1/8 Gorkha Rifles and
5 Jat. Initially, only the Gorkhas were deployed in the Chushul
sector and when the gravity of the Chinese threat began to be
realized 13 Kumaon, which was at Baramula in the Kashmir Valley, was
sent in to reinforce 114 Brigade. In the first week of October the 3
Himalayan (later Mountain) Division was formed for the overall
defence of Ladakh and the Chushul sector was entirely left to 114
Brigade. On 26 October, 114 Brigade set up its headquarters at
Chushul and braced for the inevitable Chinese attack.
The
newly arrived 13 Kumaon began deploying on October 24 in the lull
that followed the first phase of the Chinese attack. The forward
defenses of Chushul were on a series of hill features given
evocative names like Gurung Hill, Gun Hill and Mugger Hill, but C
Company of 13 Kumaon got Rezang La which was about 19 miles south of
Chushul. Rezang La as the name suggests is a pass and is on the
southeastern approach to Chushul valley. The feature was 3000 yards
long and 2000 yards wide at and average height of 16000 feet.
Digging defensive positions and building shelters was hard going for
the men were still not acclimatized and cold wintry winds life even
more hard. At this altitude it took hours to bring a kettle to boil
for tea and whatever fruit and vegetables that came were frozen
hard. Let alone potatoes even oranges acquired weapon grade
hardness. More than the thin air and cold the location of Rezang La
had a more serious drawback. It was “crested” to Indian
artillery because of an intervening feature, which meant that had
make to without the protective comfort of the big guns. Both sides
prepared feverishly, mostly within sight of each other, for the next
Chinese attack. That attack came on that cold Sunday that was 18
November.
The
Kumaon Regiment has an interesting history. It begins at Hyderabad
on 21 October 1798 when a British force took over Raymond’s corps.
Raymond was a French soldier who raised a formation officered by
non-British European officers for the Nizam of Hyderabad. The legend
has it that this force also consisted of a battalion of female
soldiers! Raymond himself continues to be remembered at Hyderabad by
the locality called Musa Ram Bagh (Monsieur Raymond) and his grave
has become a sort of a shrine. It became the Hyderabad Contingent
and marched under the command of Lt.Col. Arthur Wellesley, later the
Duke of Wellington, on Seringpatam where Tipu Sultan was killed on 4
May, 1799.
In
1811 it came to be called Russell’s Brigade after Henry Russell,
the British Resident at Hyderabad. After the departure of Russell it
became the Nizam’s Contingent under which name it joined in
crushing the 1857 revolt. Then it became the 19 Hyderabad Regiment
with its headquarters at Bolarum on the outskirts of Secunderabad.
During the First World War it saw action in the Middle East, and in
the Second World War it fought in Burma. Lt.Col. KS Thimayya (later
General and COAS) commanded the 8/19 Hyderabad that saw action in
Kohima and Arakan. In the course of its long history the composition
of 19 Hyderabad had long undergone a great change. It now comprised
mostly of Kumaonis, Ahirs and Brahmins from north India. To reflect
this composition its name was changed on 27 October 1945 to 19
Kumaon thereby becoming a part of the Kumaon Regiment.
13
Kumaon was the Kumaon Regiment’s only all Ahir battalion. The
Ahirs are concentrated in the Gurgaon/Mewat region of Haryana and
are hardy cattlemen and farmers. When the order to move to Chushul
came, its CO, Lt.Col. HS Dhingra was in hospital but he cajoled the
doctors into letting him go with his men. Maj. Shaitan Singh who was
a Rajput from Jodhpur commanded C Company of 13 Kumaon. C
Company’s three platoons were numbered 7,8 and 9 and had .303
rifles with about 600 rounds per head, and between them six LMG’s,
and 1000 grenades and mortar bombs. The Chinese infantry had 7.62 mm
self loading rifles; MMG’s and LMG’s; 120 mm, 81 mm and 60 mm
mortars; 132 mm rockets; and 75 mm and 57 mm recoilless guns to bust
bunkers. They were much
more numerous and began swarming up the gullies to assault Rezang La
at 4 am while a light snow was falling.
The
Ahirs waited till the Chinese came into range and opened up with
everything they had. The gullies were soon full of dead and wounded
Chinese. Having failed in a frontal attack the Chinese let loose a
murderous shelling. Under the cover of this intense shelling the
Chinese infantry came again in swarms. C Company, now severely
depleted, let them have it once again. Position after position fell
fighting till the last man. C Company had 3 JCO’s and 124 other
ranks with Maj. Shaitan Singh. When the smoke and din of battle
cleared, only 14 survived, nine of them severely wounded. 13 Kumaon
regrouped and 114 Brigade held on to Chushul. The battalion war
diary records that they were now “less our C Company.”
The
Chinese announced a unilateral cease-fire on 21 November but little
more than what
the survivors had brought back was known about C
Company. In January 1963 a shepherd wandered on to Rezang La. It was
as if the last moment of
battle had turned into a tableau. The
freezing cold had frozen the dead in their battle positions and the
snow had laid a shroud over the battlefield. Arrangements were then
made to recover our dead under International Red Cross supervision.
Brig Raina led the Indian party, which recorded the scene for
posterity with cine and still cameras. This tableau told their
countrymen what actually happened that Sunday morning. Every man had
died a hero. Maj. Shaitan Singh was conferred the Param Vir Chakra.
Eight more received the Vir Chakra while four others the Sena Medal.
13 Kumaon received the battle honor “Rezang La” that it wears so
proudly.
Few
events in the annals of heroism can match this. C Company gave its
all to defend Chushul, a small Ladakhi village, which for one brief
moment in our history came to symbolize our national honor. At
Thermopylae on 18 September 480 BC, 1200 Greeks led by King Leonides
of Sparta died fighting the Persian King Xerxes’ mighty bodyguard
called the Anusya or Companions. But Leonides was fighting for a
great prize. In July 481 BC the Oracle of Delphi told him that in
the next war with Persia either the King will die or Sparta would be
destroyed. Leonides thus died to save Sparta. But C Company
willingly sacrificed itself to save a little village and that makes
its sacrifice all the more glorious. That is why we must never
forget Rezang La.
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