16/02/2020
Col Dilbag Singh Dabas (Retd)6th RajRif
Nand Ram, son of Ramji Lal, was born on August 8, 1933, at Khorda village in the then Jind Riyasat.
During reorganisations of the districts after Partition, the village came under the jurisdiction of Hisar district of Punjab. On October 1, 1966, Haryana was carved out of Punjab and made a separate state. Since then, Khorda village forms part of Bhiwani district of Haryana.
Since there was no school in his village, Nand Ram took admission to Primary School at Badhra village, which was 7 km from his village. After trekking 14 km up and down daily for five years, he passed his fifth standard. Nand Ram was barely 17, when he was enrolled in the 6th Battalion of the Rajputana Rifles on August 8, 1950.
With one Param Vir Chakra awardee (Company Havildar Major Piru Singh), two Maha Vir Chakra awardees, one Kirti Chakra awardee, four Vir Chakra awardees and three Shaurya Chakra awardees on its roll of honour, the 6 Rajputana Rifles (Raj Rif) is the most decorated battalion in Rajputana Rifles Group post-independence. The 6 Raj Rif is also referred to as the 'PVC Battalion'. Nand Ram carried forward the legacy by winning the Shaurya Chakra for the battalion.
Rifleman Nand Ram, with his devotion to duty and utmost loyalty to his Battalion's Naam, Namak aur Nishan, steadily rose through the ranks and was a Junior Commissioned Officer within just about 17 years of colour service.
After a relatively uneventful tenure at Dehradun, the 6 Raj Rif was moved to Hashimara in West Bengal in 1976. After a short stay there, on September 16, 1976, it reached Silchar for deployment in insurgency infested areas in Mizoram.
The 6 Raj Rif battalion was not a novice at tackling insurgency since in its earlier tenure in the North-East. It had almost contained the Naga movement, the mother of insurgency among the Seven Sisters in North East India.
In the late '50s, Mizo hills, also known as Lushai hills district of Assam, faced an acute famine called 'Mautam'. Mizos (people of the present day Mizoram) asked for relief from Assam as well as Indian government and waited for long, but the relief never came and their miseries kept on increasing. The Mizos felt alienated and rose in revolt against the state. As a protest against the inaction of the Indian government towards the famine situation, the people of Mizoram, under Pu Laldenga staged a major uprising followed by underground activities against the state and the movement soon turned secessionist.
After realising that the situation in the hill state was getting out of control or was already out of control, the government decided to deploy the Army in the state in strength to crack down on the organised insurgency and help restore law and order. By the time the 6 Rajputana Rifles (Raj Rif) battalion was inducted, the insurgency in Mizoram (the hill district of Assam) bordering Bangladesh in south west, was at its peak. The battalion quickly familiarised itself with the terrain and modus operandi of the hostiles and based on credible intelligence, set about doing its task in earnest. It was during one such operation, that Subedar Nand Ram of the 6th Raj Rif, for his bravery, was awarded the Shaurya Chakra.
The number and category of gallantry decorations awarded; Sena Medal to patrol leader Capt Lal Chand, Shaurya Chakra to the patrol second-in-command Subedar Nand Ram and Kirti Chakra, the second highest peace-time gallantry award, to the leading section commander Naik Hoshiar Singh, is testimony to the raw courage and determination displayed by the chivalrous 'Jo Hukams' of Rajputana Rifles in this short yet intense operation.
Subedar Nand Ram, SC, incidentally, is one of the elderly recipients of the award for gallantry. He was in his mid-40s, when he earned the coveted Shaurya Chakra. For some, Haryanvis especially, age is just a number. After 31 years of meritorious service, Subedar Nand Ram, SC, retired from the Army in 1981 in a well-deserved rank of Honorary Captain.
The citation of his bravery reads…
“On November 3, 1976, Subedar Nand Ram was second in command of a special mission patrol tasked to intercept a gang of 70 Mizo hostiles, led by self-styled (SS) Mizo Colonel Biakvela, reported to be moving towards the border through south-west Mizoram with the intention of crossing over to Bangladesh. After a forced march for four hours, the patrol sighted the hostile's camp and a quick raid was mounted by the patrol leader. The hostiles opened up with light machine gun with bullets flying all over. Subedar Nand Ram waited for a few minutes for the intensity of the fire to come down and then led the assault on to the hostiles on the war cry "Raja Ramchandra ki Jai" and silenced the machine gun by seriously injuring its firing crew. Realising the ferocity of the assault, some hostiles took to the heels, but a sizable number stood fast and continued to cause casualties on the patrol. Though injured by a bullet and bleeding profusely, Subedar Nand Ram continued to press forward the assault on another machine gun, which had opened from another flank. Even after receiving another bullet, which hit his left shoulder, Subedar Nand Ram, undeterred by his injuries, crawled forward through the undergrowth and lobbed a hand gr***de thereby destroying another machine gun of the hostiles. The undaunted courage and leadership of Subedar Nand Ram led to the apprehension of five hostiles and capture of a large quantity of weapons and ammunition. During this action, Subedar Nand Ram displayed gallantry and leadership of a high order, for which he was awarded the Shaurya Chakra.”
