On June 2, 1999, General V. P.
Malik, the then army chief held a " Sainik Darbar" at Gumari in the
Drass sector after three failed attempts to recapture Tololing Hill, which
stands at 15,000 feet. Fifty- nine Indian soldiers from different regiments had
already died, following which Gen Malik summoned the commanders of the 2
Rajputana Rifles to present their plans.
The Army chief was just not
convinced by their plans when a 30-year- old commando from the last row got up,
summoned all the courage that an Army Naik would need to speak to the general,
and said: "I am Naik Digendra Kumar known as Cobra, the best commando of
the Indian Army. Sir, I have a plan that guarantees our victory." "Explain,"
said the General. "Sir, the hill is straight," Digendra offered.
"We will take the same route as the enemy." A surprised General Malik
countered saying death is certain on this route. Digendra wouldn"t back
off. "Death is unavoidable otherwise too. Leave this to me.
Give me the tools, and I shall
win the battle. "He got what he wanted"
1. 100 metres of Russian rope
that can bear up to 10 tons of weight,
2. Russian nails that can easily
be put into rocks, and
3. high-powered injections to get
rid of fatigue.
The story of Digendra, who was
later promoted to havaldar and received the Mahavir Chakra for his valour, is a
tale of real and unparalleled courage.
For two days starting June 8,
Digendra and his colleagues recced the area before putting rope all over, a
task that took 14 hours. On June 12, Digendra and nine fellow commandos began
the mission to free Tololing. He was carrying an AK-47 rifle with 360 bullets,
18 hand grenades, one pistol and a commando dagger dipped in cyanide. Each of
them was assigned to blast one bunker each of the 11 that the Pakistani army
had built. "I assigned myself the first and the last bunkers," says
Digendra.
The group began to climb the hill
in the dead of night. "It was pitch- dark," Digendra remembers.
"At one point, I thought I touched a stone. It wasn"t; it was actually
the barrel of an enemy machine gun. I pulled it, and threw a grenade in the
bunker. It caught fire. We knew that the Pakistanis would retaliate. And they
did.
Around 250 soldiers and artillery
tanks began firing upon us." Digendra and his team were unable to move due
to the intense firing. "I asked that cannons be made to fire a metre above
by changing the angle. "It worked and the team moved under the raining
bullets.
As they were moving ahead,
Digendra was hit by three bullets in the chest, one in the left thumb and
another in the lower waist. Four of his colleagues died. Soon, the Pakistanis
overwhelmed Digendra’s team with sheer numbers, and all nine died.
Before they died, they handed
over their guns and grenades to Digendra who threw 18 grenades in all the 11
bunkers. All of a sudden Major Anwar Khan appeared to confront him. Digendra
targeted his gun. "He jumped on me”.
I lost my gun. So, I grabbed him
with his hair and beheaded him with my dagger." He was soon able to take
the hill and place the Indian flag on top. By then, he was unconscious. He woke
up in a military hospital. He was officially a disabled soldier after receiving
five bullets.
Perhaps the only live soldier to
receive the Mahavir Chakra in the Kargil War, Digendra received his medal on
January 26, 2000.
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