Jodhpur: November 18 is etched in the history of the Indian Army as a day when just 114 soldiers under Major Shaitan Singh Bhati braved the bone-clattering cold in the Chushlu sector to take on 1,300 Chinese soldiers in the Battle of Rezang La in 1962. The PLA soldiers never imagined this small contingent of the Indian Army would become impregnable. In the battle, Major Bhati, the valorous son of a Marwar, attained martyrdom. His heroic deed was posthumously recognised with the bestowal of Param Vir Chakra -- the highest military award during wartime.
The famous battle ended with a ceasefire, but the bodies of many soldiers, including Major Bhati, were not found. After three months, the army received information about the bodies buried under the snow. The body of Major Bhati was found lying next to a stone with a rope tied to the feet with a machine gun. It was assumed that when his hands were not working, he fired the machine gun with his feet. It was due to his indomitable courage and sacrifice that the border remained safe.
Major Bhati was born on December 1, 1924, near Phalodi in Jodhpur. His father, Lieutenant Colonel Hem Singh Bhati, participated in World War I and was given the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the British. His son was commissioned into the Kumaon Regiment on August 1, 1949. In the 1962 war with China, he was posted in the Chushlu sector, where hundreds of Chinese soldiers were killed in the fierce Battle of Rezangla.
The statue of Major Bhati is installed at the Pavta Circle of Jodhpur. Every year on this day, the Indian Army organises a program to pay tribute to its hero, in which officers and former soldiers offer floral wreaths to the bust.
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