Documentary on Rezang La battle launched

CHANDIGARH: Coinciding with the 56th anniversary of the Battle of Rezang La, an epic battle where troops of 13 Kumaon fought to the last man, last round against overwhelming Chinese odds in 1962, a documentary "Sentinels of The Snow: The Battle of Rezangla" has been produced by a Delhi-based house.

Union Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh, Maj Gen GD Bakshi (retd) and Rachna Sharma, who hosted the event, at the launch of documentary in Delhi.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 3

Coinciding with the 56th anniversary of the Battle of Rezang La, an epic battle where troops of 13 Kumaon fought to the last man, last round against overwhelming Chinese odds in 1962, a documentary "Sentinels of The Snow: The Battle of Rezangla" has been produced by a Delhi-based house.

This is the sixth in the series of Famous Battles of India produced by Aditya Horizons Production.

The documentary was launched in New Delhi, with Lt Gen BS Sharwant, Director General Rashtriya Rifles and Colonel of the Kumaon Regiment, Lt Gen SS Mishra, Director General Infantry; Lt Gen Karan Yadav; Lt Gen SN Handa, Lt Gen Nanda, Maj Gen RK Arora, Maj Gen RK Khanna and Rear Admiral Radhakrishnan being present in the an audience comprising Harvard and Ivy League alumni, corporate honchos, veterans, government officials and entrepreneurs. The event was presided over by Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister of State for Planning.

Fought on November 18, 1962 at heights of 18,000 ft in the Chushul area of Ladakh, 114 Indian soldiers were killed in battle while Chinese casualties are estimated between 500 and 1,000. Officially recognised as a "rare battle in military history" with the fighting being hard and bitter and troops going beyond the call of duty, the company commander at Rezan La, Maj Shaitan Singh was decorated with the Param Vir Chakra, the highest gallantry award.

The documentary has been produced by Maj Gen GD Bakshi (retd), a veteran of operations in Kishtwar and Kargil, in collaboration with youth leader Rachna Sharma.

"We used to have an ecosystem for sustaining bravery through ballads and poets who sang war songs in the villages, which is dead and gone. We thought Bollywood would step in but it has done very little. So we, the former soldiers and veterans, decided to help ourselves to spread the ethics of duty, honor, courage and country," Bakshi said.