Manoj Kumar Pandey: Difference between revisions

{{Template1|image=Manoj Kumar Pandey-01.jpg|image2=Indian Army.png|name=Captain Shri Manoj Kumar Pandey|title1=PVC (Posthumous)|title2=Uttar Pradesh, Bharat|Service No=IC-56959W|Date of Birth=25 June 1975|Place of birth=Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh|Service=Indian Army|Last Rank=Captain|Unit=11th Gorkha Rifles|Martyrdom=3 July 1999 (aged 24) {{!}} Bunker Ridge, Khalubar, Batalik Sector, Kargil, Ladakh, Bharat}}

Manoj was born on 25 June 1975 in Rudha village, in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh in a Kanyakubja Brahmin family. He was born to Gopi Chand Pandey, a small-town businessman living in Lucknow, and Mohini. He was the eldest child, and was educated at Uttar Pradesh Sainik School, Lucknow and Rani Laxmi Bai Memorial Senior Secondary School. He had a keen interest in sports with boxing and body building in particular. He was adjudged the best cadet of junior division NCC of Uttar Pradesh directorate in 1990.

Prior to his selection, during his Services Selection Board (SSB) interview, the interviewer asked him, "Why do you want to join the Army?" He replied, "I want to win the Param Vir Chakra." Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey did win the country's highest gallantry honour but posthumously.

Entry in Pandey's personal diary<blockquote>"Some goals are so worthy, it's glorious even to fail!"</blockquote>He graduated from the National Defence Academy in 90th course and belonged to Mike Squadron (Mustangs).^{[''citation needed'']} Pandey was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 1st battalion, 11th Gorkha Rifles on 7 June 1997.

Pandey, as part of the battalion, was involved in a series of attacks, including those which led to the capture of Jubar Top. Manoj Pandey died securing the Dras Valley.

=== Param Vir Chakra Action ===

Entry in Pandey's personal diary<blockquote>"If death strikes before I prove my blood, I swear, I will kill death!"</blockquote>In early July, 'B' Company of 1/11 GR was assigned the task to capture Khalubar top. Pandey was commanding a Platoon in this company. Quickly sizing up the situation, he killed two enemy personnel and destroyed the second position by killing two more.^{[''citation needed'']}

Although wounded in the shoulder and leg, he pressed on his solitary charge with serious determination, until he closed in on the first bunker. The two armies engaged in a ferocious, hand-to-hand combat. The troops charged at the enemy and fell upon them. Undaunted and without caring for his grievous injuries, he continued to lead the assault on the fourth position urging his men and destroyed the same with a grenade, even as he got a fatal burst on his forehead. He collapsed at the final bunker and succumbed to his injuries.

Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey, thus showed most conspicuous bravery, indomitable courage, exemplary personal valour, outstanding leadership and devotion to duty of an exceptionally high order, in the face of the enemy and made the supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Army.</blockquote>

=== Gallantry award ceremony ===

On the occasion of Independence Day 1999, a month after the war ended, the President of India approved the award of the Param Vir Chakra to Pandey and three others - Captain Vikram Batra, Rifleman Sanjay Kumar and Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav. His father, Gopichand Pandey, received the award from the President of India K. R. Narayanan during the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi on 26 January 2000.

=== Honours and legacy ===

* They constructed an auditorium in his name, which was inaugurated by his parents.

'''UP Sainik School'''

* The Captain Manoj Pandey Stadium is a sports arena located at village Garkon, Aryan Valley Batalik Sector in the Kargil district of India. The stadium is dedicated to the memory of Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey, an Indian Army officer who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the highest military honour in India, for his bravery during the Kargil War in 1999.

'''Roads and buildings'''

* Officers Training Academy Cadets mess is named as Capt Manoj Pandey mess

* A graphic novel titled ''Param Vir Chakra by Amar Chitra Katha'' dedicated their eighteenths story written by Prabha Nair and drawn by Harsh Mohan Chattoraj in 2015

* A graphic novel titled ''Param Vir Chakra Manoj Kumar Pandey'' by Roli Books written by Ian Cardozo and drawn by Rishi Kumar in 2019

== '''कैप्टन मनोज कुमार पांडेय''', परमवीर चक्र (बलिदानोपरांत) ==

'''(तत्कालीन लेफ्टिनेंट, बाद में कैप्टन)'''

'''1/11 गोरखा राइफल्स | भारतीय सेना'''

स्कूल के बाद उन्होंने '''राष्ट्रीय रक्षा अकादमी (NDA), खड़गवासला''' तथा फिर '''भारतीय सैन्य अकादमी (IMA), देहरादून''' से प्रशिक्षण पूर्ण किया और '''7 जून 1997''' को '''1/11 गोरखा राइफल्स''' में कमीशन प्राप्त किया। कारगिल संघर्ष के दौरान उन्हें '''कैप्टन''' के पद पर पदोन्नत किया गया।  

=== 1/11 गोरखा राइफल्स: शौर्य परंपरा ===

=== कारगिल युद्ध, 1999: कालूभार रिज की ऐतिहासिक लड़ाई ===

कारगिल युद्ध के दौरान '''बटालिक सेक्टर''' की '''कालूभार रिज''' सामरिक दृष्टि से अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण थी।

'''02/03 जुलाई 1999''' की रात, '''नंबर 5 प्लाटून कमांडर''' के रूप में लेफ्टिनेंट मनोज कुमार पांडेय को आदेश मिला कि वे आसपास की ऊँचाइयों से हो रही शत्रु की घातक फायर को समाप्त करें, ताकि उनकी बटालियन दिन निकलने से पहले आगे बढ़ सके।

=== परमवीर चक्र ===

लेफ्टिनेंट मनोज कुमार पांडेय ने शत्रु के सामने '''अत्यंत विशिष्ट वीरता, अदम्य साहस, अनुकरणीय व्यक्तिगत पराक्रम, उत्कृष्ट नेतृत्व और कर्तव्यनिष्ठा'''का परिचय देते हुए सर्वोच्च बलिदान दिया। इसी के लिए उन्हें '''परमवीर चक्र (मरणोपरांत)''' से सम्मानित किया गया—जो भारतीय सेना की सर्वोच्च परंपराओं का प्रतीक है।  

=== स्मरण एवं विरासत ===