The passing of Lieutenant General Madan Mohan Lakhera (retd), former Governor of Mizoram and former Adjutant General of the Indian Army in Uttarakhand on June 29, is certainly a loss not only to the military fraternity, particularly the Fourth Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment with which he had gone to war and later commanded, but also to the Himalayan state that is among the largest contributors of officer and men to the Armed Forces.
Among the Army’s oldest and most illustrious infantry battalions, it is closely associated with decisive post-Independence military operations in Kashmir, Goa and Siachen, being the first to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra and the first to entrench on Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield.
Born in the village of Jakhand in Tehri Garhwal in 1937, he had served as the 8th Governor of Mizoram from July 2006 to September 2011. Prior to this, he was the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from July 2004 to July 2006 and also held the additional charge as Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from February 2006 to December 2006, becoming the first person from the Garhwal region to hold a Governor’s appointment.
An alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, and the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, he was commissioned in June 1958, and participated in the 1961 campaign for the Liberation of Goa, 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars and several other important operations, including high-level appointments in counter-insurgency environment in Jammu and Kashmir.
As a Lieutenant Colonel, Lt Gen Lakhera had commanded the illustrious Fourth Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment in Jammu and Kashmir from December 1975 to July 1978. Also known as the Fighting Fourth, it was this battalion that was awarded the first Param Vir Chakra, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy.
The recipient, though posthumous, was Major Somnath Sharma, who was killed in action during the Battle of Badgam on November 3, 1947, while repelling Pakistani infiltrators near the Srinagar Airport.
In October 1947, the 4 Kumaon was deployed in Delhi in aid of civil authority when it was ordered to move to the Kashmir Valley. The battalion’s D-Company, under the command of Major Somnath Sharma, was airlifted to Srinagar on October 31, 1947. At that time, his left hand was in a plaster cast because of an injury sustained on the hockey field, but he insisted on being with his troops in combat.
The company was deployed on patrol duty west of Srinagar. On November 3, a group of around 700 infiltrators approached Badgam and the company position was surrounded from three sides and came under heavy mortar fire. Major Sharma realised the importance of holding onto his position as both the city of Srinagar and the airport would be vulnerable, if lost.
In his book, “Operation Rescue: Military Operations in Jammu and Kashmir, 1947-49", Lt Gen SK Sinha, former Vice Chief of Army Staff and Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, wrote that despite being heavily outnumbered and under intense enemy fire, Maj Sharma urged his men to fight on bravely. Frequently exposing himself to danger as he moved from post to post, he continued to lead from the front. Despite the forward two platoons falling, he clung to his position with the depth platoon.
While he was busy engaging fighting the enemy, a mortar shell exploded on the ammunition near him. His last message to the Brigade HQ received a few moments before he was killed was, “The enemy is only 50 yards from us. We are hopelessly outnumbered. I will not withdraw an inch, but fight to the last man, last round."
“Major Sharma’s company held its ground, and the survivors withdrew only when they were almost completely encircled. His inspiring leadership delayed the enemy for six crucial hours, allowing reinforcements to take up positions at Hum Hom and stem the enemy advance,” states the citation accompanying his award. Sepoy Dewan Singh Danu was decorated with the Maha Vir Chakra in the same battle.
Besides being associated with India’s first Param Vir Chakra, 4 Kumaon also shares a distinguished link with two successive Chiefs of the Army Staff — General SM Shrinagesh and General KS Thimayya — who served as Army Chief from May 1955 to May 1957 and from May 1957 to May 1961, respectively. Both officers had served with the 4th Battalion of the 19th Hyderabad Regiment in the erstwhile British Indian Army, which was reorganised as the 4 Kumaon after Independence.
Tracing its origins to 1788, when it was raised to maintain order in Berar and safeguard the northern frontiers of the princely state of Hyderabad, the battalion has since participated in numerous campaigns, both in India and overseas.
It was the 4 Kumaon that spearheaded the induction of Indian troops into Siachen Glacier when the Operation Meghdoot was launched by the Indian Army in 1984 to pre-empt Pakistan from taking control of the strategic high ground that has since remained the world’s highest and coldest battlefield and India’s longest continuing military operation.
In March 1984, the battalion, under the command of Lt Col DK Khanna and supported by elements of the Ladakh Scouts, undertook a perilous march across the snowbound Zoji La pass. Carrying full battle loads and maintaining strict radio silence to avoid detection, the troops trudged for days through treacherous terrain, according to historical accounts of the operation. At the time, Lt Gen Lakhera, then a Brigadier, was commanding an Infantry Brigade based in Kanpur.
The first column led by Major RS Sadhu was tasked with establishing a position on the heights of the glacier. The next column, led by Captain Sanjay Kulkarni, secured Bilafond La, a 17,880 feet high mountain pass that is a tactical choke point and vital for retaining control over the glacier.
The remaining columns, led by Captain PV Yadav, advanced further and, after four days of arduous movement, secured the other key heights along the Saltoro Ridge. By the conclusion of the mission, about 300 Indian troops had dug in on the glacier’s crucial peaks and passes.
When Pakistan launched its ill-fated Operation Ababeel in April 1984, its troops approaching the Saltoro Ridge found the Indian Army firmly entrenched and in control of all major mountain passes and commanding heights along the ridge on the glacier’s western flank.
