The Defence minister Rajnath Singh along with chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat will dedicate to the nation a revamped memorial of the Rezang La battle in Ladakh. 59 years ago, Major Shaitan Singh and 114 of his men from the Charlie company of 13th Kumaon Battalion had defeated many waves of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the 1962 Indio-China war at this place before making the supreme sacrifice.
The inauguration will take place on November 18 which is the anniversary of the legendry battle of Rezang La when a well-equipped PLA had attacked an Indian post. The Indian Army, ill-equipped but full of bravery, led by Shaitan Singh inflicted heavy casualties upon PLA. Nearly 400 intruding PLA troops were neutralised. Charlie Company, 13 Kumaon, had repulsed seven attacks by the Chinese before the entire company was martyred in combat.
The original memorial structure was erected in Chushul in 1963 close to the site of the battle. Now the expanded Rezang La war memorial has an auditorium and a photo gallery to honour soldiers of Charlie Company of 13th Kumaon regiment. In addition to this, the memorial will inscribe the name of the 20 soldiers also who made a supreme sacrifice during the Galwan Valley clash last year.
The auditorium will be named after Major Shaitan Singh whereas the photo gallery will display rare photographs to depict the valour of the Charlie Company. A model of the battlefield area is also being set up to let people know how the Indian Army had fought a difficult battle on a high altitude with minimum resources and crushed the Chinese army.
Successive governments remained reluctant to recognize and celebrate Rezang La
Commemorating war heroes of Rezang La and upgrading the memorial is a significant policy shift made by the Narendra Modi government. Although India had lost the 1962 war, the soldiers of the Indian Army had displayed indomitable courage.
Even after decades of the debacle, an important battle like Rezang La remained absent from the official calendars of the Indian government. The Congress which mostly remained in power after the 1962 battle had ignored the anniversary of 1962. It was only in 2012 that a formal function was held to commemorate the 1962 war at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate.
The Battle of Rezang La
It was a unique and unprecedented battle fought on a Sunday, November 18, 1962, which witnessed unusual cold and light snowfall with the breaking dawn. Despite Chinese invaders having numerical superiority and advanced weapons, Major Shaitan Singh and his company foiled the attack and inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy.
PLA attack on the isolated post of 1800 feet Rezang La had begun at 4 am with the intention to block the road link between Leh and Chushul via Dungti to cripple the garrison at Chushul.
Major Shaitan Singh and his company fought with three-inch mortars, then rifles, bayonets and then bare hands without having any artillery or air support. Months after the battle, Indian Red Cross recovered their body. There were no bunkers left at the hill and the martyrs were found frozen stiff in the trenches, holding their broken and blown off weapons.
The mortal remains of Major Shaitan Singh were flown to his village Banasar, in Jodhpur and cremated with full military honours. Major Shaitan Singh was conferred with the nation’s highest gallantry award, Param Vir Chakra, posthumously.
The “Veer Ahirs” fought till the proverbial “Last Man, Last Round” at the icy peaks of Rezang La and embraced death to surrender. Out of the 123 soldiers of Charlie Company, 114 were martyred and 6 were captured by the Chinese Army and kept as PoWs. They later miraculously escaped. Every man of the company, who fought Rezang La, was a hero and the grateful nation continues to remember each one of them.
