Bullet in his chest, victory in his grip

On a biting July morning in 1999, in the frozen wastes of Kargil’s Mushkoh Valley, Rifleman Sanjay Kumar of the 13 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles found himself staring at the impossible. Ahead loomed Point 4875, a fortress of sheer rock and fortified Pakistani bunkers raining relentless fire. For India’s assault team, the mission was clear — capture Area Flat Top or the battle would stall.

But the enemy had the advantage of height, cover and firepower. Every attempt to advance was shredded by machine guns spitting death. In the chaos, a single young soldier from Himachal Pradesh, carrying nothing but his rifle and an unbreakable will, decided to take on death head-on. His name was Sanjay Kumar.

Born on March 3, 1976, in the small village of Bakain in Bilaspur, Sanjay was no stranger to hardship. The son of Durga Ram and Bhag Dei, he grew up tilling fields, herding cattle and walking dusty village trails to school. After his 10th grade, he moved to Delhi to make ends meet, driving a taxi through the choking traffic of the capital. But even behind the wheel, his heart was set on one dream—wearing the olive green uniform of the Indian Army.

It was a dream that faced rejection after rejection. Yet, Sanjay refused to give up. Finally, on June 26, 1996, he was inducted into the 13 JAK Rifles. Three years later, fate would call upon him to justify that dream in the fiercest trial by fire—Kargil.

On July 4, 1999, as the leading scout of his team, Sanjay saw the assault falter. The Pakistani bunker barely 150 metres away was shredding his comrades. At that moment, he chose audacity over survival. Crawling across open ground under a storm of bullets, he was hit twice — once in the chest, once in the arm. Any other man would have collapsed. Sanjay did not.

Bleeding and gasping for breath, he dragged himself into the bunker. What followed was pure grit and raw hand-to-hand combat. In a flurry of desperate blows and unwavering rage, he killed three enemy soldiers, wrested their heavy machine gun and turned it back on the defenders.

But Sanjay’s fury was not yet spent. Ignoring his wounds, he charged the second bunker. With the captured gun blazing, he scattered the enemy, who fled in panic. The tide of the battle turned. Inspired by his lone charge, his comrades surged forward. Within hours, Area Flat Top was India’s.

That day, Sanjay Kumar rewrote the dictionary definition of courage. For his heroism, he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military honour. Remarkably, the same operation also saw Captain Vikram Batra honoured with the same award—making it the first time in history that two soldiers of the same unit were decorated with the PVC in a single battle.

Beyond medals and headlines, Sanjay remained a man rooted in simplicity. In 2000, he married Pramila Devi, building a family grounded in the same values of discipline and humility that defined his life. His son, Neeraj, graduated in computer science; his daughter, Muskan, is pursuing forensic science. For Sanjay, these achievements are as valuable as his military honours.

Today, he serves with the honorary rank of Lieutenant (Subedar Major), his retirement slated for February 28, 2026. Yet his spirit remains immortal. In 2022, as part of a national initiative, an island in the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago was named Sanjay Dweep in his honour, a permanent testament to the man who bled, fought and triumphed for the nation.

Flat Top stands captured, but it was more than just a battle won. It was the moment a village boy with iron resolve proved that courage isn’t the absence of fear. It is charging through it, bullets in your chest, determination in your soul. Rifleman Sanjay Kumar did not just win a peak. He claimed immortality.

Sanjay Dweep: An island named after immortality

In 2022, as part of a national initiative, an island in the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago was named Sanjay Dweep in his honour, a permanent testament to the man who bled, fought and triumphed for the nation.