Greatest ever tribute to a mother of the brave!
By: M S Nazki/ANN NEWS
Rajnath Singh the Minister of Defense’s gesture was probably the greatest ever tribute to the mother of a courageous war hero! He had to be from 3 Grenadiers Indian Army!
-‘Hoshiar believed in only one thing and that was to be courageous in life. You have nothing to lose.’ He was not wrong, he could not have been’!
-‘We all were courageous in the starting moments, few of us stayed courageous till the final moments and the world called them successful men. The man was a fighter and in the 1971 war he showed what he could do. What he did3 was sheer brilliance!’
-‘In the heat of the battle he kept telling his men, life is uncertain. Show your gracious courage to face the uncertainty of life. This battle is just one of them’! So Courageous: succeed or fail monumentally! That day 3 Grenadiers never failed because they could have never!
-‘The battle was in Shakargarh sector, Jammu During the Indo-Pak war of 1971, the Grenadiers regiment was spearheading the Shakargarh area under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel V.P.Airy. On 15th December, Col Hoshiar Singh’s (Major at that time) regiment, the 3rd Grenadiers was assigned the task of establishing a bridgehead across the Basantar River in the Shakargarh Sector. Although this was not an easy task, as the river had deep minefields on both sides and was heavily guarded by the Pakistani army. Major Singh was the commanding officer of the C Company (left forward) which was instructed to capture the locality of Jarpal, held under Pakistani control.’ It had to be a fiery and ferocious battle and it was but it had to be won! Hoshiar ensured that it was!
-‘The history of the Indian Grenadiers is linked to the troops recruited for the army of the Bombay Presidency. The very first mention of a grenadier company hails back to 1684, when a little army of English troops, which had taken possession of the island of Bombay and comprising three companies of Europeans and local Christians, had a grenadier company, but nothing was heard about this unit subsequently. In 1710, the Bombay Army consisted of five companies of Europeans, topasses (Indian Christians), and coffrees (Kaffirs) of which the first company was a European grenadier company. This company was merged into the Bombay European Regiment, which was later disbanded. In 1757, Robert Clive had raised the 1st Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry of which two companies were grenadier companies, however, no regiments of grenadiers were formed from the Bengal Army until a battalion was formed in 1779. In 1759, as a response to French manoeuvring in South India, the strength of the Bombay Army was enhanced, and the first company of sepoy grenadiers was raised with the best of Bombay sepoys “paying a regard to those having families on the island”. It had only native officers and all sepoys wore red coats faced with blue. Later on, an adjutant was appointed to the corps.Later the Bombay Army comprised a number of sepoy battalions, each having one or two grenadier companies. These were clubbed together as a composite battalion comprising the grenadier companies of the Bombay sepoy battalions, and they won the famous battle of Talegaon in 1778. So impressive was the performance of this composite battalion that the Bombay Presidency ordered the permanent raising of a grenadier battalion which duly took place on 12 March 1779, thirty-six years before the first time that a British battalion was given the honour of calling itself “grenadiers”. The Governor General of Bombay made an Order dated 12 November 1779, according to which the grenadier companies of the following regiments combined to form the very first Grenadier Regiment in the world, namely The Grenadier Battalion, First Regiment of Infantry in India!
‘Courage, will-power and confidence in your abilities will carry you to greater heights and some brave people look for impossible paths to travel to prove that they are possible for travelling!’ That night Major Hoshiar Singh the company commander had decided to take it’
Col Hoshiar Singh was born on 5th May 1937 in a village of Sisana on Rohtak-Sonipat road. His father Chaudhary Hira Singh, was a respectable farmer and mother, Mathuri Devi, a kind-hearted housewife. Col Hoshiar Singh married Dhanno Devi while he was still studying in the 7th standard and had three sons. He completed his schooling in his hometown and after studying for one year at the Jat College in Rohtak, he joined the Indian Army. On 30th June 1963, Col Hoshiar Singh was commissioned in the 3rd Grenadiers Regiment and was first posted in the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA). As a young officer he also participated in Indo-Pak war of 1965, but it was 1971 war where he proved his mettle and won the revered Param Vir Chakra.
The Battle at Basantar:
As it was a heavily fortified enemy position, the company came under intense shelling and crossfire from medium machine guns. Undeterred, he led his troops and engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand fight. The enemy responded with three counterattacks on 16 December 1971, two of them supported by Armour. Despite the heavy bombardment and tank fire, the then Major Hoshiar Singh went from trench to trench, motivating his troops and encouraging his men to fight. Inspired by his courage and leadership, his company countered all the attacks and brought on heavy casualties on the enemy. On 17 December 1971, the enemy made yet another attack with a battalion backed by heavy artillery fire. Major Hoshiar Singh was seriously wounded by the enemy fire, but unflinching, he went from trench to trench motivating his men. As he was encouraging his men, an enemy shell landed near the medium machine gun post injuring the crew and rendering it useless. Major Hoshiar Singh, realising the importance of machine-gun fire, immediately rushed to the machine-gun pit and though seriously wounded himself, manned the gun inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. The attack was successfully combated and the enemy retreated leaving behind 85 dead including their Commanding Officer and three other officers. Though seriously wounded, Major Hoshiar Singh refused to be evacuated till the ceasefire. Major Hoshiar Singh was awarded the nation’s highest gallantry award, Param Vir Chakra for his absolute bravery and steadfast devotion in the line of duty.
He retired from the army as Colonel and left for his heavenly abode on 6th December 1998. His bravery in the face of the enemy went above and beyond the call of duty and was an embodiment of a true soldier.
He perhaps always said to his troops, dare to be courageous in life. You have nothing to lose. Be yourself, be brave. He lost nothing but left several memoirs to be reproduced but it was the gesture of the Defense Minister that moved me and3 the gesture was that Rajnath Singh touched the feet of wife of Colonel Hoshiar Singh who was decorated with Param Vir Chakra for exhibiting exemplary courage in the 1971 war. The incident happened when the defence minister met her at Vijay Parv Samapan Samaroh in New Delhi. Great gesture indeed!
