Remembering the braveheart from Mandi

Col Dilbag Dabas (Retd)

Valour is valour, be it during war or peace and it is invariably recognised and awarded. 

Himachal surpasses many other larger states not only in the medals earned by its bravehearts during war time, but even during peace time. Himachalis have earned for themselves many peace-time gallantry awards namely Ashok Chakras, Kirti Chakras and Shaurya Chakras. 

Chander Pal, son of Thakur Hari Singh, was born on March 12, 1953, at Kot village in Mandi district of Himachal. After matriculation from the village high school, he got enrolled in the 16th Battalion of The Dogra Infantry Regiment, which has a sizable representation of Himachali Dogras.

Militancy in the border state of Punjab had reached its peak by early 1984. After being chased from all around the state, the militants, considering the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar a safe haven, occupied it in the garb of devotees and sevadars and gradually converted it into a fortress with well-stocked armoury. After all negotiations failed, the Government in 1984 decided upon Army action against militants to restore law and order.

The Army set about the execution of the task based on meticulously planned operation codenamed ‘Bluestar’. The aim was to evict militants from the holy complex and make them surrender in front of the Indian Army. 

Operation ‘Bluestar’ in June 1984 has undoubtedly been the most difficult internal security operation conducted by the Army, for it was not only the test of the soldier’s devotion to duty and mental robustness, but more than that. The 16th Dogra Battalion formed part of the operation, in which a fierce close-quarter battle raged on for nearly three days and nights. During one of the most crucial phases of the operation, Havildar Chander Pal Thakur of the 16th Dogra Battalion went way beyond the call of duty and earned for himself the coveted Kirti Chakra.

“During the first phase of the operation on the night of June 5/6, 1984, Havildar Chander Pal Thakur of Mechanical Transport Platoon of the 16th Dogra Battalion was allotted a rifle section with the task of clearing militants from an important building complex. The complex was heavily fortified and strongly held by militants. While the section approached the building, it came under heavy and effective fire, in which Havildar Thakur was hit by a machine gun burst on his left shoulder, which made him unconscious for a while. On recovering, even though badly shaken, Havildar Chander Pal Thakur, unmindful of his grave injury and personal safety, crawled to the machine gun post and destroyed it by lobbing a hand grenade inside it. Noticing another machine gun firing from a window of the adjacent room, he, under the covering fire by his buddy, crawled near to the window and destroyed the second machine gun by lobbing another hand grenade. Thereafter, even in the injured state, he led repeated charges to clear militants from other fortified rooms in the building. In the process, he was again hit by a machine gun burst, this time on his chest and the brave Himachali Dogra breathed his last instantaneously.”  

The battle account of his bravery...

"During the first phase of the operation on the night of June 5/6, 1984, Havildar Chander Pal Thakur of Mechanical Transport Platoon of the 16th Dogra Battalion was allotted a rifle section with the task of clearing militants from an important building complex. The complex was heavily fortified and strongly held by militants. While the section approached the building, it came under heavy and effective fire, in which Havildar Thakur was hit by a machine gun burst on his left shoulder, which made him unconscious for a while. On recovering, even though badly shaken, Havildar Chander Pal Thakur, unmindful of his grave injury and personal safety, crawled to the machine gun post and destroyed it by lobbing a hand grenade inside it. Noticing another machine gun firing from a window of the adjacent room, he, under the covering fire by his buddy, crawled near to the window and destroyed the second machine gun by lobbing another hand grenade. Thereafter, even in the injured state, he led repeated charges to clear militants from other fortified rooms in the building. In the process, he was again hit by a machine gun burst, this time on his chest and the brave Himachali Dogra breathed his last instantaneously. In this action, Havildar Chander Pal Thakur displayed indomitable courage and conspicuous bravery and laid down his life in the highest traditions of the Indian Army, for which he was deservedly awarded the Kirti Chakra posthumously.”

Second highest peace-time military decoration

Kirti Chakra is equivalent to the Maha Vir Chakra and is the second-highest peace-time military decoration in India. It is awarded for conspicuous act of bravery or some act of daring or pre-eminent valour or self-sacrifice other than in the face of the enemy.

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