A man who is honored by his enemy and revered by his fellow people

Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat, MVC (P)

When One Warrior Arose From His Abode

On the 19th of August, 1941, Jaswant Singh Rawat was born in the village of Baryun in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttrakhand. He was 19 years old when he joined Indian Army on 19 August 1960. He was recruited in the 4th Garhwal Rifles of the Garhwal Rifle regiment which was honored with several battle honors in various battles. Nobody has imagined that Rifleman Jaswant Singh will also become the reason to bring honor to the regiment. During his last operation, his unit was deployed in NEFA Region.

The fate of a Warrior: Battle of Nuranang

One Soldier who belongs to the Pauri district has been determined to beat the PLA Army. Indian soldiers were fighting their enemies valiantly, and they were able to subdue the enemies twice. However, PLA Soldiers came again with Medium Machine Gun to thwart Indian Soldiers. They brought MMG so close to the Indian post that they were able to fire at our positions.

These MMG was causing devastation to our Indian Troops. Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat along with Rifleman Gopal Singh Gusain and Lance Naik Trilok Singh Negi decided to take control of MMG and save the post. They were able to seize the MMG however, Rifleman Gusian and Lance Naik Negi got killed and Rifleman Jaswant Singh got injured.

He was the sole survivor to handle the 5 barracks to make the PLA Soldiers believe that there was a huge number of Indian Soldiers instead of one soldier for 3 days. Rifleman Jaswant Singh was getting ration from the locals to survive the harsh battle. PLA soldier has abducted one man from Indian soil who had revealed that PLA soldier is stopped by only one soldier. After this Rifleman, Jaswant Singh was surrounded by the PLA soldiers. His head was beheaded by them. His head was taken to the Chinese Commander, He eventually respected his bravery and returned the head of Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat with honor.

PLA soldiers suffered a huge loss in this battle. A total of 300 Chinese soldiers died at the hand of Rifleman Jaswant Singh where 4th Garhwal Rifles lost two men and eight got injured.

A Respected Glory: Honoring his Bravery

For his bravery Rifleman, Jaswant Singh Rawat was awarded the Mahavir Chakra. People of NEFA still celebrate the battle of Nuranang. They respect him and fondly call him Major Sahaab. His Battalion 4th Garhwal had been awarded the Battle Honour Nuranang. The post he served was named after him as “”Jaswant Garh”. A memorial has been made on the reverence of his bravery. Also, his clothes and shoes are maintained at the memorial situated at the same post he saved till now. He has been honored with the promotions as still serving.

“There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.”

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