Rajnath Singh honours Rezang La battle hero in Ladakh

TIL Desk/National/Ladakh/ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh shares a picture with Rezang La battle hero Brigadier (Retd) R V Jataar, who was the company commander during the time.  Rajnath said he saluted Brig Jataar’s courage and prayed for his long life.

Today, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, along with chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Vice Chief of the Army Staff Lieutenant General Chandi Prasad Mohanty and Northern Army Commander YK Joshi, inaugurated a newly-revamped war memorial in Ladakh.

The memorial is to honour the heroes of the epic battle of Rezang La and the Galwan braves. The Galwan braves were led by Col Santosh Babu who took on the PLA on June 15, 2020 and did not allow the Chinese to forcefully change the LAC line in Galwan sector. Since Army Chief MM Naravane is in Israel on an official visit, Vice Chief Mohanty attended the ceremony.

The 18,000 feet Rezang La is a desolate wind-swept pass lying 11 kilometres south of Spangur Gap, from where nearly two thousand Chinese troops attacked mere 114 men of Charlie Company of 13 Kumaon led by Major Shaitan Singh at 4am on November 18, 1962.

In the next 18 hours, virtually the entire Shaitan company was decimated but not before the 13 Kumaon inflicted massive casualties on the PLA troops and also saved the Chushul Garrison from being run over by the marauding Chinese.