Soldier who recaptured siachen top from Pakistan

Hello aspirants,

We all know how important is a Siachin post from a defence point of view. In this post, I have discussed how the Pakistani army captured it and how the Indian army recaptured it bravely.

Early Life

• Bana Singh was born into a Sikh family in Kadyal in Jammu and Kashmir on 6 January 1949. His father was a farmer, and his uncles were soldiers in the Indian Army.

• He enrolled in the Indian Army on 6 January 1969 into the 8th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry(JAK LI).

• He was trained at the High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg and also at another school at Sonamarg.

Background

• In 1987, the strategically important Siachen area had been infiltrated by the Pakistani forces. The Pakistanis had captured a prominent position, which they called "Quaid post".

• The post was located at the height of 6500 metres on the highest peak in the Siachen Glacier area.

• From this feature, the Pakistanis could snipe at Indian army positions since the height gave a clear view of the entire Saltoro range and Siachen glacier. The enemy post was virtually an impregnable glacier fortress with ice walls, 457 metres high, on either side.

• On 18 April 1987, the Pakistanis from Quaid Post fired on the Indian troops at Point Sonam (6,400 m), killing two soldiers. The Indian Army then decided to evict the Pakistanis from the Post.

Operation Rajiv

• Naib Subedar Bana Singh was posted in Siachen on 20 April 1987, as part of the 8th JAK LI regiment, which was given the task of capturing the Quaid Post.

• Starting on 23 June 1987, Major Varinder Singh's task force launched multiple attacks to capture the post. After initial failures, the 5-member team led by Nb Sub Bana Singh successfully captured the Quaid post on 26 June 1987.

• Nb Sub Bana Singh and his fellow soldiers, including Chuni Lal, climbed the steep 457 m high wall of ice. The team approached the Quaid Post from an unexpected direction, using a longer and more difficult approach than the other teams.

• There was a blizzard, resulting in poor visibility, which gave cover to the Indian soldiers. After reaching the top, Nb Sub Bana Singh found that there was a single Pakistani bunker.

• He lobbed a grenade into the bunker and closed the door, killing those inside. The two sides also got involved in hand-to-hand combat, in which the Indian soldiers stabbed some of the Pakistani soldiers outside the bunker.

• A few Pakistani soldiers jumped off the peak. Later, the Indians found six dead bodies of Pakistani soldiers.

Post retirement

• On 26 January 1988, Nb Sub Bana Singh was awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the highest wartime gallantry medal in India for his bravery during Operation Rajiv.

• The peak which he captured was renamed Bana Top in his honour. At the time of the Kargil War, he was the only PVC awardee who was still serving in the Army.

• Nb Sub Bana Singh was promoted as Subedar and eventually as Subedar Major. 

• He was given the honorary rank of Captain. Hony Capt Bana Singh retired from service on 31 October 2000.

• The Punjab Government also offered him  2,500,000, a monthly allowance of 15,000 and a 25-acre plot, if he moved to Punjab. However, he refused the offer, saying that he is a resident of J&K.

• The J&K Government named a stadium in the RS Pura area of Jammu after him and sanctioned an amount of Rs 5,000,000 for its development in 2010.
  Stay tuned to DDE for more such post.

Jai Hind