‘I will kill death!’

 

 

 

 

By Kartik Lokhande 

 

Alegend is made of a different mettle. Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey was one such legend. Though he made the supreme sacrifice in service of his motherland, his story has left many inspired. In them, his legend lives on. Born on June 25, 1975 in Rudha village in Kamlapur tehsil of Sitapur district in Uttar Pradesh, Manoj Kumar Pandey was the eldest among his siblings. His early schooling took place at Sainik School, Lucknow. Since childhood, he dreamed of donning the uniform of the Indian Army. He had the habit of writing in his personal diary. Among many things he wrote in the diary was, “Some goals are so worthy, that it is glorious even to fail”. This very well reflected his character of standing up to a challenge and not quitting trying till achieving the goal. After graduation, he joined the Indian Military Academy, completed training, and was commissioned in the first Battalion of the 11 Gorkha Rifles (1/11 GR, for short), on June 7, 1997. His unit was deployed in Siachen Glacier when the Kargil war stared and it was inducted into the Batalik sub-sector on May 9, 1999. In June, his unit was employed to degrade the enemy defences at Jubar and Churubar Sispo, west of the Khalubar ridge. The Khalubar ridge dominates the Batalik area. Hence, it was important to evict the enemy from the Khalubar ridgeline.

 

During the Kargil war, Lt Manoj Kumar Pandey was promoted to the rank of Captain. He was No 5 Platoon Commander. He fearlessly participated in a series of boldly led attacks at Khalubar. On July 2/3, 1999, as his platoon approached its final objective after an arduous climb of several hours, it came under intense fire from the enemy-held positions on surrounding heights. He quickly moved his men to an advantageous position. He then sent one section to clear Pakistani sangars on the right, and displaying great courage himself surged to clear four other enemy sangars. Even the hail of bullets fired from the enemy positions could not stop his advance. He fearlessly attacked the first enemy position, killed two enemy soldiers, and proceeded to the second position. He captured it also by killing two enemy personnel. While clearing the third sangar, however, enemy fire inflicted shoulder and leg wounds on him. Still undaunted, the spirited young officer led the assault on the fourth position that he had set eyes on. Despite injuries, he rallied his men and destroyed the fourth enemy sangar with a grenade. While he hurled the grenade inside the sangar, a medium machine gun burst on his forehead at virtually point-blank range proved to be fatal for him. For his bravery, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra (PVC) posthumously.

 

The officer was lost, but the objective was achieved providing a firm base for the battalion to capture Khalubar ridge eventually on July 6, 1999. The PVC citation for Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey reads, “(He) displayed the most conspicuous bravery, indomitable courage, exemplary personal valour, outstanding leadership and devotion to duty of an exceptionally high order, in the face of enemy and made the supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Army”. Today, his bust is placed at the entrance of the Photo Gallery at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass. Also, in remembrance of this brave officer, the Sainik School in Lucknow adopted the name ‘Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey PVC Dwar’. His friends still remember an entry from his personal diary in which he had written, “If death strikes me before I prove my blood, I swear, I will kill death!”