On May 3, 1999, Pakistan forces were detected along with anti-India terrorists in the heights of Kargil in Kashmir. Their presence there had only one meaning, that Pakistan has decided to push its terror agenda from covert to overt. With India carrying out an all-out offensive against the infiltrators, there was bloodbath on both sides. The war raged on till July 14 when then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared the victory of Indian forces.
It all started in the Batalik sector of Kashmir, when a local, Tashi Namgyal, spotted some men setting up camps atop the hills. Namgyal, while taking its cattle for grazing, saw six tall men in black outfits patrolling the hills. Sensing danger, he reported it to Third Punjab Battalion, deployed in the sector. By then, the security alarms had started to blare. According to the intel, Pakistani soldiers have trespassed the border and entered Indian territory.
Within a few days, the reports had revealed that close to 800 Pakistani soldiers have gathered in the hills, well equipped with arms and ammunition. The enemy forces also enjoyed an upper hand due to terrain, as it was quite a challenge for the Indian forces to climb the hills braving a barrage of fire-spitting guns and shells.
Army then decided to assign this crucial task to the valiant and aggressive Gorkha regiment. Lieutenant Manoj Pandey was a part of this regiment. After serving at the Siachen Army camp, Lt. Pandey was about to visit his family, when the war broke out and he was assigned to guard the Khalubar Post.
Led by Lt. Pandey, this unit of four, which included Subedar Sant Bahadur Rai, Subedar Ganesh Pradhan and Subedar Lal Kumar Sununwar, fended off the enemies at Khalubar Post. Twenty years later, the three soldiers recalled those brave moments.
“The enemy force stood at an altitude of 16,000 feet above sea level. As soon as we climbed the hill during midnight, they fired at us,” said Subedar Rai. “However, we continued to scale the peak. Under the able leadership of Lt. Pandey, we countered the offensive mounted by the enemy and raged on,” he continued.
According to the three soldiers, Lt. Pandey launched the counterattack by destroying enemy ranks at the Khalubar Post by lobbing grenades followed by blowing off three Pakistani bunkers. However, the gallant lieutenant sustained a lot of injuries during this attack. But Lt. Pandey knew no defeat. Subsequently, he destroyed the fourth bunker but could not save himself from the fatal bullet which came zooming at him and penetrated his head. “As he breathed his last, his last words were ‘na chodnu’, which means ‘do not spare anyone’ in Nepali,” said one of the Subedars.
Lt. Pandey fought bravely and exterminated all the Pakistani forces from the Khalubar Post. However, it came at a very heavy price. Lt. Manoj Pandey was commemorated with the Param Vir Chakra for his outstanding bravery posthumously.
Zee Media Newsroom
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