Late Col AS Cheema’s rare feat to be remembered

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 19

Sports aficionados are celebrating the 50th anniversary of scaling the Mount Everest by first Indian late Col AS Cheema.

Colonel Cheema was the first Indian to lead a successful expedition to climb the Mount Everest. He led an extraordinary life. His preparations to climb the Mount Everest started in 1964 and led up to the arduous journey to the summit on May 20, 1965.

His son Ajay Singh Cheema, director, Impact Gardens, while talking to Amritsar Tribune said: “It is indeed a proud day for Indians to mark the achievement in ultimate sport and adventure and an example for the youth that nothing is impossible when you put your heart into it.”

He said his father was a part of the third mission undertaken by the Indian Army in 1965 to climb the Mt Everest after two failed attempts. He was a Captain in the 7th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment then and was later promoted to the rank of Colonel. He was awarded the Arjuna Award and Padma Shri for his stupendous achievement. Sharing some excerpts from his personal diary on the day are, “A long last dream was going to come true at last. I was reminded of our expedition motto, ‘Now or never’ and I was determined to live up to it…”

Ajay Singh said his family would be present tomorrow at the reunion of the 1965 summiteers at New Delhi. The representatives and families will be felicitated at a function in Delhi by President Pranab Mukherjee and later by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Colonel Cheema was born on January 15, 1938. He was a highly decorated paratrooper in the Indian Army and a forward-thinking farmer who revolutionised life in the small town of Ganganagar in Rajasthan.

A brave soldier, but Cheema fought a losing battle with leukemia and passed away on November 16, 1989.