Palampur (Himachal Pradesh): “Na intezar karo ae azadaaro, Shaheed jaate hain jannat ko..ghar nahi aate”, the famous couplet of Sabir Zafar, which ask people not to wait for martyrs as they do not return home but go to heaven, truly defines the Bravehearts of the Kargil war who made their supreme sacrifice for the pride of India.
Kargil Vijay Diwas: 'Sher Shah' of Kargil, Capt Vikram Batra The story of Kargil Vijay Diwas is incomplete without the name of Captain Vikram Batra who was famously known as 'Sher Shah' while his parents used to call him Luv.
After attaining martyrdom, Captain Vikram Batra has become a landmark of Palampur in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. On 9 September 1974
G.L Batra and his wife Kamlakanta were blessed with twin sons whom they fondly named Lav-Kush. The family remembers Vikram with pride as not everyone is destined to die for the nation.
The early days:
Right from childhood, Vikram was passionate about joining the Indian Army. Even after getting selected in Merchant Navy at Hong Kong shipping company on a great salary he chose to be an Army officer and passed the Indian Military Academy exam in 1995.
The Kargil War:
During the Kargil war, Vikram Batra's code name was Sher Shah and he was assigned the task to capture the peak of 5140 and he accomplished the task along with his comrades by defeating the Pakistani Army. After the victory, his popular saying 'Yeh Dil Maange More - This Heart Wants More’ filled every Indian with excitement and he was promoted to the post of Captain.
Kargil witnesses these stories of such bravery of Vikram Batra even today. A peak here in Kargil has been named after Vikram and is known as the Batra Top.
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After winning the peak of 5140, the next mission was to hoist the tricolour on the peak of 4875 and during this time Batra was ill but still, he embarked on the mission.
Keeping his oath of serving the nation unconditionally till the last breath, Vikram faced the enemies with full valour and was killed while he was attending a fellow soldier who sustained bullet injuries. He received martyrdom during the mission and even Pakistani Army saluted his bravery.
Extending his condolences, the then Army Chief V.P Malik had said, "Vikram was so talented that if he had not been a martyr, he would have sat on my chair one day and become the Army Chief."
The 'Sher Shah' of Kargil is still alive:
It has been 21 years since Captain Vikram Batra got martyred, but the stories of his bravery, courage and patriotism are still famous right from the streets of Palampur to the corridors of Indian Military Academy. The
Vikram's parents have appealed the government to involve the life history and biographies of prominent martyrs of the nation into the school syllabus so that children can get inspired through their stories and can contribute in building the nation. The stories will act as a medium to keep their spirit alive.
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