25th June 1975, this date is probably one of the darkest day in the history of independent India. Just in order to stay in power, the then PM Indira Gandhi imposed a National Emergency over the nation and gave way to a dark period, no one could ever forget. Throwing out every democratic rule to the winds, the Congress government, the rule of tyranny in a way that would make even the likes of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin look like amateurs.
However, this day also was a blessing in disguise. For on this day, a boy was born to small time hosiery trader Gopi Chand Pandey and Mohini Pandey. They weren’t well off by any standard, and had a hand to mouth existence. Little did they know that their son would rise to become a hero whom none can forget that easily, a hero who would soon be the role model of millions of Indians, a man, who achieved what he wished, though he did not live to wear that honor on his chest. Yes, we’re talking about the heroic Captain from 1/11 Gorkha Rifles, Param Vir Chakra recipient Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey.
Born on the same day when Indira Gandhi declared the infamous National Emergency, in Rudha village of Sitapur district, Uttar Pradesh, Manoj, though poor, was not destitute. The hardships and the struggles of early life had molded him into a simple man with frugal means. He wouldn’t ask for new clothes, until his old ones were damaged beyond repair. He would save every single penny, and would pay utmost attention to his handwriting, so that a scribble or an error wouldn’t spoil his notebooks. Needless to say, young Manoj was a boy of modest means, who would leave no stone unturned to lessen the burden of his struggling parents.
When he was returning to Lucknow after the graduation ceremony of NDA, he spotted an old lady stretching out her arms for food. Manoj quickly gave away his piping hot plate of chhole bhature to the old lady, as the train moved out of the Jhansi station. When his mother scolded him for the same, given that Manoj hadn’t eaten well for two days, Manoj cheekily replied, ‘I’m a young, strong man, and I can go without food for two days, but the old woman was hungry, and she needed to eat.’
Manoj was equally brilliant in sports and studies. He won several scholarships, and enabled himself to study in the famous UP Sainik School, Lucknow. By 1990, he was adjudged the Best Cadet of NCC in Uttar Pradesh, and soon enough, he was admitted into the prestigious National Defence Academy, from where he graduated in the 90th course, as a part of the MIKE squadron. He was further trained at the equally prestigious Indian Military Academy, and by 1996, Manoj Kumar Pandey became a Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army.
For the next three years, Manoj was posted in Kashmir Valley, where he was involved in counter insurgency operations against the dreaded Islamic terrorists. He was even posted in the challenging arena of Siachen Glacier, which is one of the coldest base camps for any armed forces in the world. Not only was Manoj academically brilliant, he was also a brilliant sportsman, he was an adept in boxing and bodybuilding. Few know that Manoj also was an accomplished flute player. He had once pestered his mother to buy a flute from a fair in Lucknow. Skeptical of whether he would even maintain it, his mother reluctantly bought the flute. Contrary to her expectations, not only young Manoj kept the flute, he also maintained it well, playing a tune every now and then.
However, the hero in him was brought out by a war, that none expected.
Year 1999: A routine check on his flock led a shepherd in Drass sector to discover unusual phenomena. Unidentified people were occupying positions in the Indian sector surrounding the National Highway 1D. Given that the Indian soldiers didn’t return to their posts until early June, the shepherd found it unusual and reported it to the nearest army picket.
Little did anyone know that the shepherd had just spotted the tip of iceberg. Scores of Pakistani commandos and terrorists, disguised as Pathan tribesmen, had taken advantage of the freezing cold, and had occupied the posts way ahead in February 1999. The objective was to occupy the positions around National Highway 1D that connected Leh Ladakh to the rest of India. Once cut off, the Pakistanis could then force their Indian counterparts to negotiate the Kashmir issue on a better note. Their actions, followed by the brutal murder of a patrol of Indian soldiers, led by Captain Saurabh Kalia, triggered a full scale war, famous as ‘Operation Vijay’ that took place in the Drass – Kargil sector of the Leh Ladakh region.
In such a tense situation, 1/11 Gorkha Rifles, under the command of the then Colonel Lalit Rai was one of the first regiments to reach ground zero. Soon enough, they were tasked with bringing back the bodies of the dead soldiers, who were murdered in early attempts to flush out the intruders. Soon enough, the battalion was ordered to remove the intruders from the Kukardhang posts, a task which Manoj Pandey and his men did successfully.
The act which finally introduced us with the heroic warrior, Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey came with the objective of capturing Khalubar’s Jubar Top in the Batalik sectors from the Pakistani invaders. On 3rd July 1999, battling the freezing cold temperature and screaming winds, Manoj led a daring daylight assault on the Pakistani fortifications, demolishing most of them with relative ease. Though the Pakistanis had a clear advantage, both by height and ammunition, they forgot to take one thing into account- raw courage.
Like warriors for eternity, a large section of Gorkha soldiers unsheathed their lethal khukris [a carved knife used by Gorkha soldiers in hand to hand combat] and attacked the enemy with full force, yelling their battle cry ‘Jai Mahakali Ayo Gorkhali!’ Despite being shot in the shoulder, Manoj boldly walked through the hail of bullets and in a fierce hand to hand combat, slashed the throats of the rival soldiers, clearing the first bunker.
By the time he entered the third bunker, he was shot again in the legs. Despite the unbearable pain, Manoj trudged on, killing the soldiers and clearing the way for his men to follow. Inspired by his actions, the men charged ruthlessly upon the enemy, slaughtering them like carrots. Unfortunately, while clearing the fourth bunker, a fatal MMG [medium machine gun] burst hit him in the forehead, but not before Manoj had brutally destroyed it with a grenade. His last words to his battalion were, ‘Na Chhornu’ in Gorkhali’, which meant ‘Don’t Leave Them.’ Manoj, who had just celebrated his birthday with the soldiers a week ago, was now dead. However, by that time, the enemy was vanquished, and Khalubar was recaptured by the Indian Army under 1/11 Gorkha Rifles.
A couple of years ago, before Manoj Kumar Pandey attained martyrdom, when an interviewer at the SSB Selection Board in Allahabad asked him, ‘Why do you want to join the Indian Army?’ Pat came Manoj’s reply, ‘I want to win the Param Vir Chakra!’ For his daring actions at Khalubar, Manoj Pandey did get a Param Vir Chakra. Unfortunately, he didn’t say he wanted to wear that alive!
The nation is indebted to this hero, he had penned down once in his diary, ‘Some goals are so worthy, it is glorious even to fail.’
