AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 6 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 130 of 332 Commanding Officer “SIR, YEH DIL MANGE MORE” This spontaneous and appropriate quote from Batra became a punch line for the remaining Kargil operations. I am reminded of Squadron Leader astronaut Rakesh Sharma’s reply to our then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s query “How does India look from your space ship? Replied “SARE JAHAN SE ACCHA”. Nine days after the victory at Pt 5140Captain Batra again got an opportunity to lead his men on an urgent and dangerous mission of capturing the enemy occupied peak Pt 4875 in theMushkoh valley (now renamed as BATRA TOP). It was a treacherous peak at 16000 feet with a climb gradient of 80 degrees. The mission became more difficult with intense fog reducing the visibility. During an interview by a TV channel the previous evening asking him “What would pass through your mind while you would be engaged fighting the enemy early morning?” His reply was” I will think of my Mummyji, Papaji my teachers, my unit and my friends.” As planned, the next day morning, 7 July1999, D Company advanced towards the objective Point 4875 Captain Batra fought ferociously cleared the enemy bunkers, egged his men forward, engaged in hand to hand combat and forced the Pakistanis to retreat. The mission was almost over and Pt 4875 was captured with the enemy retreating. He saw his colleague writhing in pain with his legs blown up due to an explosion. Captain Batra ran out in the open to save his life. As he ran to pick up his colleague, a Pakistani bullet pierced through his chest. He breathed his last saying the Battalion’s war cry DURGE MATA KI JAI. The President of India honoured him with the nation’s highest gallantry award the PARAM VIR CHAKRA. The bravery, patriotism, compassion for his men and the devotion to his motherland were some of the trademark qualities of this brave soldier who gave his life while attempting to save the life of his comrade. This action is a true symbol of steadfast resolve, leadership and supreme sacrifice. His saga of bravery is truly inspirational and he continues to be a SHERSHAH a title that will remain legendary in the military history of the Kargil war. Rifleman Sanjay Kumar PVC Sanjay born on 3 March 1976 hails from the village Bakain, Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh. His story as to how it all happened is explained in his own words and narrated below: - ”I never ever dreamt that in such a short span of time, I would be fighting a war and win the Param Vir Chakra. My Chacha (uncle) was in the Army and I would hear stories from him about his actions in the Indo Pak war of 1965 and how Pakistan was defeated. Other villagers who had served in the