2/Lt Nagar inspired 16 Sikh to clear Jaffna Fort of LTTE ultras

Col Dilbag Dabas (Retd)

“One star on my shoulder is brighter than all the stars in the galaxy put together,” said Second Lieutenant (2/Lt) Rajinder Singh Nagar after his commissioning in the Indian Military Academy on June 14, 1986.

2/Lt Rajinder Singh Nagar was a second generation soldier in uniform; his father Col Charat Singh Nagar was commissioned in 16th Battalion of Sikh Infantry Regiment and had also commanded it in early eighties for three years. Rajinder belonged to Machhgarh village in Faridabad district. He had his schooling at stations wherever his father was posted. After graduation from University College, Kurukshetra, he joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and on June 14, 1986, he was commissioned in 16th Sikh Battalion, which was also his father’s battalion.

Consequent to the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in July 1987, the Indian Army was sent to the island nation for peacekeeping duties. At the time of induction, the troops were ill-equipped, ill-mapped, had no knowledge about the terrain in the alien land and most importantly, had no clue of the modus-operandi of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Against the backdrop of all these constraints, the troops were tasked with neutralising the well-indoctrinated cadre of the LTTE; an ill-conceived tall order handed down by the planners in Delhi. The operation was codenamed ‘Pawan’.

Immediately after induction, the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) found itself engaged in a bloody police action on the northern part of mainland Sri Lanka. And by the time the troops learnt the nuances of this highly specialised warfare, the Army had suffered heavy casualties. However, the Indian Army still did a commendable job in conducting the mission against all possible odds before the troops were de-inducted to avoid further loss of lives. 

After the operations, though every effort was made to carry the dead to original peacetime locations for the last rites to be performed by their families. However, there were unfortunate exceptions where this was not successful; young subaltern 2/Lt Nagar was one. The battalion though planned to recover his body later since at that time it was heavily engaged by the LTTE. A few days later, the monsoons arrived and the whole area became a lake, making the recovery of the body impossible. The young officer’s father, Col CS Nagar, who had commanded the same battalion, wished to be taken to the site to see if some more effort could be made to recover the body. A fresh search was launched but unfortunately the site could never be located.  

Nagars had already seen a bride for Rajinder and he was to get engaged during his planned leave around Diwali the same year. But that was not to be since destiny had something else, much bigger in store for him. 2/Lt Rajinder breathed his last as a bachelor but made proud not only his Nagar clan, but also 16 Sikh and the entire Indian Army. Col CS Nagar, and his son 2/Lt Rajinder Nagar, incidentally, had together served for almost a year and a half in the glorious Sikh Regiment with dignity and honour. What a feat!

(The writer is a veteran Gunner, 6 Field Regiment)

An account of his gallantry in War Diary of 16th Sikh Battalion reads 

During ‘Operation Pawan’, 16th Sikh Battalion formed part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). On October 17, 1987, the battalion was tasked with establishing a link-up with the Jaffna Fort. En route, the battalion came under intense militant fire from Manippe village and the advance came to a grinding halt. Second Lieutenant (2/Lt) Rajinder Singh Nagar, leading the advance, took the initiative and urged his men to move forward and himself went ahead of his column, braving all odds. He spotted a heavy machine gun position from where the fire was coming. He charged onto the machine gun bunker with a grenade in hand, went closer and lobbed it inside the bunker, destroying the gun and presumably killing its entire crew. However, when one surviving militant came out, 2/Lt Nagar charged at him and shot him dead at point-blank range. Before fleeing, the militants fired indiscriminately, killing the young officer on the spot. 

The courage shown by 2/Lt Nagar enthused the whole battalion with so much fighting spirit that 16 Sikh was the first battalion to enter the Jaffna Fort and clear it of all the Tamil militants. 

For dauntless courage, indomitable fighting spirit and supreme sacrifice, 2/Lt Rajinder Singh Nagar was awarded the Vir Chakra, posthumously.