'Sepoy K Ashuli displayed nerves of steel, exemplary courage, fearlessness under enemy fire, unparalleled devotion to duty and camaraderie of the highest order in keeping with the finest traditions of the Indian Army.'
Every weekend, Ashuli Hriiyio Mao dusts the framed picture and medal of his father Sepoy K Ashuli Mao who was decorated with the Vir Chakra in the Kargil War.
The Vir Chakra is the third highest medal for bravery in wartime. Sepoy Ashuli was the only Manipuri soldier to receive the Vir Chakra posthumously in the 1999 conflict.
"I keep his photograph in my room and share his stories with people my age or born after me," says Hriiyio Mao, 23, who is the same age as his father when he was killed in action in the Drass sector.
Hriiyo was just six months old then.
His father never got a chance to see his only child.
As he grew up, Hriiyio heard stories about his father from his mother.
Then fate struck another cruel blow: Hriiyio lost his mother.
"At 15, I became an orphan," he tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com over the phone from Taphou Naga village in Manipur's Senapati district where he lives with his maternal uncle.
"My mother had told me that dad was a courageous man who knew no fear."
In the summer of 1999, young Indian soldiers displayed exemplary acts of valour across the peaks of Kargil to stitch together a hard-fought victory against Pakistan.
Five Manipuri soldiers were killed in action.
527 Indian soldiers fell in the war.
Hriiyio Mao has kept his father's Vir Chakra in the same box in which it was given to his mother by the Government of India in New Delhi.
"It is my duty to look after it and give it the honour it deserves," he says politely during the phone conversation.
"Every time I do that, I feel my dad is still with me."
A picture of his father hangs in his room in the house where he lives with his maternal uncle.
"In his last call to my mother, he told her he was going for an operation and would not be able to keep in touch for a few weeks."
At the other end of that phone call, Sepoy Ashuli Mao's 1 Naga battalion was at the heart of the battle.
According to an account by Colonel Prakash Bhatt (retd), 1 Naga was in fact the first battalion of the Indian Army to be inducted into the battles in Kargil.
The fierce warriors of 1 Naga were adept at climbing mountains. The unit also played a crucial role in the capture of Tololing which turned the tide of the war.
Soon after the capture of Tololing, 1 Naga was tasked to capture Black Rock, a steep cliff close to Tololing.
Pakistan had set up well-fortified bunkers with automatic weapons covering all approaches. From its vantage point, the enemy was targeting the National Highway.
But the attack had to be temporarily halted because of the near impossibility of scaling the mountainous terrain.
According to the Indian Army's official account, Sepoy Ashuli Mao volunteered to fix a rope on the cliff unmindful of personal safety.
'Braving fearful odds of enemy fire and terrain, Sepoy K Ashuli clung to mere cracks on the cliff and slowly made his way up to the feature. His strength and courage shaped the way for the company to follow. On reaching the top he effectively kept the enemy engaged and along with his comrades assaulted the enemy bunker at Black Tooth and captured it. In this brave action, he was grievously injured and later succumbed to his injuries on 23 July 1999.
'Sepoy K Ashuli displayed nerves of steel, exemplary courage, fearlessness under enemy fire, unparalleled devotion to duty and camaraderie of the highest order in keeping with the finest traditions of the Indian Army.'
The above account is testament to the young warrior's valour that is enshrined forever in the nation's ultimate roll of honour.
"My mother had visited the Kargil Memorial in Drass once, but I have not been there. I have vowed to go there when I have enough money to make the trip," says Hriiyio who receives a monthly pension of Rs 13,840 as Sepoy Ashuli's next of kin.
He is yet to complete his graduation and has made three unsuccessful attempts to join the Indian Army -- once in the General Duty category and twice as a clerk in the Assam Rifles.
He has been invited by the Manipur Sainik Board to attended the Kargil Diwas commemorative memorial 4-5 times. The last time he was there was before the Covid pandemic.
In 2016, Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan, then the Eastern Army Commander, visited his residence and gave him a school bag and books, Hriiyio remembers.
He says he has never met anyone from his father's battalion/unit; neither has anyone from the regiment contacted him.
He hasn't received any information or invitation to attend the annual Kargil Vijay Diwas on July 26 this year.
To his knowledge, there is no statue or plaque in honour of Sepoy Ashuli Mao in the district or the state.
"My mother and people from the village told me he was humble, hardworking and a good man. I am sure he carried all these values with him as a soldier," says Hriiyio who planted a sapling in his mother's memory on her first death anniversary.
"In years to come, I hope to sit under its shade and find comfort from it."
Hriiyio says it is difficult to survive on the small pension he receives and is in urgent need of a job.
He has only been able to complete the first year of graduation in the Tadubi Hill College which is one-and-a-half hours away from his home. He says he is unable to afford the Rs 20,000 annual college fee on the pension he receives.
In a subsequent conversation on Friday, July 8, night, Hriiyio says the central government had granted his mother a flat under the Kargil widows housing scheme in Delhi. It used to fetch a rent of Rs 20,000 per month for 3-4 years after his mother's death in January 2014, but there has been no tenant since before the lockdown.
The Manipur government had also given his mother a plot of land, he adds in the conversation on Friday night. He hopes to build a house and settle down there someday.
"My dream is the military or the uniformed services, and I am looking for a state or central government job."
"My father was a hero. He is a source of motivation to many who joined the army from his village."
"I had hoped to follow in his footsteps in the military, but I haven't so far."
This feature was updated on Friday, July 8, night.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
