Maha Vir Chakra for Galwan hero Col Babu
NEW DELHI: Colonel B Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of 16 Bihar, and five other soldiers who displayed outstanding courage during the Galwan Valley skirmish with Chinese troops last year have been awarded war-time gallantry awards, the first for army men in two decades. While Babu has been awarded a Maha Vir Chakra on the eve of Republic Day, the other five soldiers — Naib Subedar Nuduram Soren, Havildar K Palani, Havildar Tejinder Singh, Naik Deepak Singh and Sepoy Gurtej Singh — have been awarded Vir Chakra.
But Babu’s father, Bikumalla Upender, said: “We are disappointed. I was expecting that my son would be conferred with Param Vir Chakra, the highest military award.”
NEW DELHI: Colonel B Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of 16 Bihar, and five other soldiers who displayed outstanding courage during the Galwan Valley skirmish with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army last year have been awarded war-time gallantry awards, the first for army men in two decades.
While a Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) was announced for Babu on the eve of Republic Day , the other five soldiers have been awarded Vir Chakra. The MVC is India’s second-highest war-time gallantry award followed by the VRC, which ranks first. The MVC and four of the Vrcs have been awarded posthumously.
The VRC awardees are Naib Subedar Nuduram Soren (16 Bihar; posthumous), Havildar K Palani (81 Field; P), Havildar Tejinder Singh (3 Medium), Naik Deepak Singh (16 Bihar; P) and Sepoy Gurtej Singh (3 Punjab; P). Deepak Singh, a nursing assistant, helped saved the lives of at least 30 Indian soldiers.
Babu’s citation said: “Undaunted by the violent and aggressive action by overwhelming strength of enemy soldiers, the officer, in true spirit of service before self, continued to resist the enemy’s attempt to push back Indian troops. Despite being grievously injured, Colonel Babu led from the front with absolute command and control despite hostile conditions to deter the vicious enemy attack at his position.”
The soldiers involved in the skirmish fought off numerically superior Chinese troops at the cost of their own lives in the remote Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020. Colonel Babu, then 37, was among the 20 Indian soldiers killed in the seven-hour deadly conflict near Patrolling Point 14 in Galwan Valley, where outnumbered Indian troops inflicted heavy casualties on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Beijing has not disclosed the number of fatalities it suffered.
Apart from 16 Bihar, soldiers from 3 Punjab, 3 Medium Regiment and 81 Field Regiment were involved in the first deadly conflict between Indian and Chinese troops along the LAC in at least five decades.
Of the awardees, Tejinder Singh is the only alive to receive his VRC.
Col Santosh Babu’s family says disappointed
The announcement of Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest military award of India posthumously to Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu as part of Republic Day honours, came as a major disappointment for his family members. “We are thoroughly disappointed. I was expecting that my son would be conferred with Param Vir Chakra, the highest military award of the country, for the kind of sacrifice he made for the nation,” Santosh Babu’s father Bikumalla Upender, a retired employee of State Bank of India staying at Telangana’s Suryapet town, said.
He reminded that Santosh Babu’s sacrifice was not an ordinary one. “He was leading the 16th Bihar battalion under peculiar climatic conditions. In fact, climate was his first enemy at Galwan valley. Yet, he had been stationed there for 13 months, keeping himself physically fit while combating the enemy forces,” he said.
Secondly, Babu fought the enemy with bare hands, without using any weapons and inflicted heavy casualties. “My son displayed tremendous courage to encounter the Chinese forces, which were in larger numbers. It was because of his bravery that Chinese forces had to beat a retreat,” he said.