Saga of a Kargil Braveheart

Noted military historian John Keegan once wrote, “Soldiers, when committed to a task, can’t compromise. It’s unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until its been done.” 

It was this uncompromising attitude of retired havildar Digendra Singh – a native of Jhalara village in Sikar district, that won him the second highest war time gallantry award – MahaVir Chakra and the same attitude has helped him flourish in life after retirement even though with an 80 percent disability.

During the 1999 Kargil war, then 32-year-old Digendra Singh fought in the most decisive battle – the battle of Tololing – and made sure he won it for the country.  “Ek junoon sawar thha Tololing wapas hasil karne ka, apni injury kitaraf dekhne ka khayal hi nahin aaya” (There was an obsession to win back Tololing, the thought of my injury did not cross my mind) – Singh says, remembering the days of the war.

Picture this: The mighty Himalayas where snow rules even when the plains reek under soaring temperature. A height of 16,000 feet where the oxygen level is low and even a single feet’s climb can have severe effects on the body. The temperature ranges from -5 to -12 degrees Celsius at night and a wind speed that can easily knock you over, and enough snow that can result in a frostbite, if exposed. 

An enemy that is waiting for you armed with formidable weapons and you are tasked with not only climbing the hill against all odds nature can throw at you, but also defeating the enemy and winning back the position, all in the pitch dark of night.

These were the circumstances when Digendra Singh not only scaled the height along with his platoon, but won it even though being severely injured in the process.

“We were scaling slowly in the snow when I felt a metal object near a bunker. What appeared to be an iron rod protruding out of the snow was actually a light machine gun barrel with a Pakistani soldier on the other side,” Singh, who was made the commander of Ghatak Platoon of the 2 Rajputana Rifles during the mission, remembers.

Havildar Digendra Singh tried to take support and got an entire burst of bullets on his shoulder. “One bullet hit me in the hand and three got lodged in my chest. I took out a grenade and threw it inside the bunker and as it burst we heard someone crying – “Kaafir ka attack” – and I thought someone has been hit inside,” he said. Gravely injured and bleeding profusely, he kept on fighting, lobbing grenades and clearing enemy bunkers. “We were 10 men and we killed 30 enemies. We crawled in 11 bunkers and threw 18 grenades in the bunkers by 4 am,” Singh said. Just when he thought the worst was over, his weapon developed a snag and a Pakistani Major, with a pistol in his hand, was staring into his eyes. Digendra took another bullet on his waist, took out his dagger and knocked of the Pakistani Major before falling unconscious.

“In the first victory of the war, we won Tololing on June 13, 1999,” Singh said with pride. However, it was his life after the battle of Tololing that needed a similar never say die attitude. “Here, I was back home with 80 per cent physical disability and 100 per cent unfulfilled responsibility towards my family.” He recounts that with a smile today life has been a struggle as a disabled person. What kept him going was his never say die attitude which the Army had imbibed in him. He stood up and fought back to script another victory, this time for his family. With his eldest son becoming an engineer, the younger one a national sportsman and the daughter pursuing her MA it has been a long journey and a successful one despite the disability. Singh was awarded the MahaVir Chakra – the second highest War Time Gallantry award. A gas agency was awarded to him for his services which he runs till date and has supported the family consisting of his wife, two sons and daughter.

THE TOLOLING MOUNTAIN

The mountain, that overlooks the town of Drass, rises to a formidable height of 16,000 feet. Devoid of any cover for efficient movement of troops, the mountain has a single steep track that snakes its way to the top. Since there was no cover available for Indian Troops, the Pakistanis could see every inch of the mountain from their concrete bunkers and reinforced sangars. This vantage point was used for heavy artillery fire on the National Highway (NH) 1A ultimately bringing a halt to the vehicular and other movement. Thus, it was necessary that Tololing be recovered so as to reduce the threat to the highway and for recovering other peaks.