The Naga Regiment is an infantry regiment of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. It is among the youngest regiments of the Indian Army - the first battalion was raised in

Ranikhet Ranikhet ( Kumaoni: ) is a hill station and cantonment town, nearby Almora Town in Almora district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the home for the Military Hospital, Kumaon Regiment (KRC) and Naga Regiment and is maintained by the I ...

, Kumaon in 1970. The regiment recruits mainly from

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

, in

northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

History

Formation

The first battalion of the regiment (1 Naga) was raised at the Kumaon Regimental Centre,

on 1 November 1970 under the command of Lt. Col. R.N. Mahajan, VSM. Being the only battalion, it was then designated as the Naga Regiment. The manpower to raise this battalion was provided by battalions of the

Kumaon Regiment The Kumaon Regiment is one of the oldest infantry regiments of the Indian Army. The regiment traces its origins to the 18th century and has fought in every major campaign of the British Indian Army and the Indian Army, including the two world war ...

Garhwal Rifles The Garhwal Rifles, formerly known as the Royal Garhwal Rifles, are an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1887 as the 39th (Garhwal) Regiment of the Bengal Army. It then became part of the British Indian Army, and a ...

and

3 Gorkha Rifles The 3rd Gorkha Rifles or Third Gorkha Rifles, abbreviated as 3 GR is an Indian Army infantry regiment. It was originally a Gurkha regiment of the British Indian Army formed in 1815. This regiment recruit mainly Magars and Khas/Chhetri tribes. T ...

. 69 Nagas were enrolled directly from rehabilitation camps of underground Nagas. However, the regiment's troops were to be 50% Nagas and 50% of an equal number of Kumaonis, Garhwalis and

Gorkhas The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recr ...

. Since many Kumaon battalions had been associated with Nagaland, particularly in the years preceding the raising of the Naga Regiment, it was affiliated to the Kumaon Regiment for all regimental matters. The second battalion (2 Naga) was raised on 11 February 1985 at

Haldwani Haldwani ( Kumaoni: ''Haldvānī'') is the largest city of Kumaon. It is also the third most populous city and largest commercial market in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Haldwani is said to be the financial capital of Uttarakhand, having the ...

and the third battalion (3 Naga) was raised on 01 October 2009 at Haldwani. The traditional Naga weapons viz the Dao, the Spear and the prestigious Mithun have been integrated into the Regimental Crest. The regiment's colours are gold, green and red - the gold signifies the rising sun, the green signifies the infantry and red is the colour of authority among Nagas. 1 Naga was presented with 'Colours' on 6 May 1978 at Dehradun by Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, the President of India and 2 Naga was presented with 'Colours' on 10 May 1990 by General V.N. Sharma, PVSM, ADC, the Chief of Army Staff.

Operation Romeo

The 2nd battalion of the regiment (2 Naga) was inducted into Keran sector of Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir, where it was responsible for ensuring the sanctity of approximately 24 kilometres of

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...

(LoC) and also to counter anti-national elements and their operations. It was in this sector that 2 Naga participated in one of the landmark operations - Operation Romeo. The goal of this operation was to dominate the LoC. The entire operation was carried out with clockwork precision and without any casualties to Indian troops.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The 1st battalion (1 Naga) took part in operations in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

and earned a name for the regiment. It was awarded one Vir Chakra and three Sena Medals.

UN Mission

2 Naga has been deployed on the UN mission in Sudan and was awarded with UN Force Commander's Appreciation Card.

Kargil War

2 Naga was deployed as part of Operation Vijay in order to push back Pakistani infiltrators who had crossed the LoC in

Kargil Kargil ( lbj, ) is a city and a joint capital of the union territory of Ladakh, India. It is also the headquarters of the Kargil district. It is the second-largest city in Ladakh after Leh. Kargil is located to the east of Srinagar in J ...

, Jammu and Kashmir. It was one of the first units to be inducted into the theatre of conflict. An assault group from 2 Naga attacked and destroyed a heavily guarded Pakistani mortar position and ammunition dump on Twin Bump in the Point 4875 complex, an action for which Sep. Imliakum Ao was awarded the

Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the Br ...

. 2 Naga also took part in the assault on Tiger Hill, where it attacked the mountain from its left flank.

Issues

Although two battalions of the Naga Regiment were raised as per the historic 16-point 1960 agreement that facilitated the formation of Nagaland state, as of 2001 there were complaints that there was no proper representation of Naga youths in the regiment, headquartered at Ranikhet in Uttarakhand. Nagaland comes under dispensation category and the education standard required for soldier general duty (GD) category is only class-V standard for tribal candidates. The Army then conducted a special recruitment drive for all category of posts to recruit 325 Naga youths across the state. GOC Nagaland, Major General R. N. Kapur, said at least 3,000 Naga youths would be recruited in the Army, Assam Rifles and reserve battalions in 2014 and hoped the youth would avail the opportunity to join the armed forces.

ZAPAD 2021

Third Battalion The Naga Regiment represented India and Indian military in the Multilateral Joint Strategic Exercise ZAPAD 2021 which was held at Russia.

Units

*1st Battalion *2nd Battalion *3rd Battalion *164 Infantry Battalion (TA) (

Jakhama Jakhama is a Southern Angami Naga village located 18 km south of Kohima, the capital of Nagaland. It hosts the St. Joseph's College, Jakhama. Demographics Jakhama is located in Jakhama Circle of Kohima District, Nagaland with total 95 ...

)

Decorations

*1 Maha Vir Chakra *8 Vir Chakras *1 Kirti Chakra ( Major David Manlun), posthumous. *6 Shaurya Chakras *1 Yudh Seva Medal *1 Vishist Seva Medal *48 Sena Medals

References

Naga Regiment on Bharat-Rakshak
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Infantry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947 Military units and formations established in 1970