Digendra Kumar Paraswal MVC, SM (born 3 July 1969) is a former soldier of the 2nd battalion of the

Rajputana Rifles The Rajputana Rifles is the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army, having been founded in 1775. It traces its origins to the British Indian Army, when six previously existing regiments were amalgamated to form six battalions of the 6th ...

regiment of the

Indian army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. He was awarded the

Mahavir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military Medal, 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 ...

on 15 August 1999, for his acts of bravery in the

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

. He retired from the army on 31 July 2005.

Early life

Kumar was born to Shivdan Singh and lived in the village of Jhalara Jat, Tehsil

Neem-Ka-Thana Neem Ka Thana is a city in Sikar district located 73 km from Sikar City in the Shekhawati region in the Rajasthan state of India. Sikar, Udaipurwati, Khandela, Sri Madhopur, Kotputli, Khetri, and Narnaul are some major cities and t ...

, in the

Sikar District Sikar district is a district of the Indian state Rajasthan in northern India. It is a part of the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan. Rao Daulat Singh laid down the foundation stone of Thikana Sikar in 1687. District Collector of Sikar is Shri Mu ...

in Rajasthan, India. His mother's name was Rajkaur. Shivdan Singh was a strong follower of

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...

. Digendra Kumar joined the Indian Army and was badly wounded in

Indo-Pakistani War of 1999 The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also ...

. Kumar has a daughter (Samita) and two sons (Japender and Mahaveer). Mahaveer studied in Sanskar School Jaipur and is a national basketball player and the former captain of Rajasthan. Japender studies in Delhi Technological University (formerly DCE). Samita is a national

Kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...

player..

Career

Kumar joined the 2nd Battalion of the

on 3 September 1985. After training was completed, his battalion was posted to Kashmir. In 1987 he was selected for the

Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lanka ...

and took part in

Operation Pawan Operation Pawan ( ''Kãryvãhi Pavan'', lit. "Operation Wind") was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), better known as the T ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Operation Pawan

was the code name assigned to operations by the

to take control of

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

from the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam ...

in late 1987.Operation Pawan. The Battle for Jaffna.
Kumar and his group were assigned to patrol dominant areas in Tamil. Five Tamil militants fired and killed five soldiers from Kumar's squad. In return, Kumar and the remaining soldiers of his squad followed the militants into the house of an MLA. However, the MLA opposed the action, and in the ensuing firefight the MLA, along with the five Tamil militants, was killed. This caused some controversy, and Kumar was penalised and remanded. Meanwhile, 36 soldiers of the 10th Parachute Regiment were surrounded by all sides expect a canal held by the LTTE. Lt. Gen. A.S. Kalkat assigned the task of freeing them to Kumar. Kumar took with him 50 kg ammunition and some biscuits and sailed up the river. Kumar saved the soldiers (who had been held in the forest for 72 hours), destroyed an important ammunition depot, and killed 39 militants.

Kargil war

Major Vivek Gupta, of the 2nd Battalion of the

and his company were given the task of recapturing Point 4590 on Tololing Hill in the

Dras Dras (also spelt Drass, ISO transliteration: '), also known locally in Shina as Himababs, Hembabs, or Humas, is a town and hill station in Kargil district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. It is on the NH 1 between Zoji La pass and ...

sector. The objective was to capture the enemy post, located at high altitude (15,000 feet). Kumar commanded the Light Machine Gun Group during his company's assault. Besides Kumar, the commando team included Major Vivek Gupta, Subedar Bhanwar Lal Bhakar, Subedar Surendra Singh Rathor, Lance Naik Jasvir Singh, Naik Surendra, Naik Chaman Singh Tewatia, Lans Naik Bachchan Singh, CMH Jashvir Singh, and Havaldar Sultan Singh Narwar. The Pakistani army had made 11 bunkers on the Tololing hilltop. Kumar was to target the first and the last bunkers. The other commandos were to target the remaining 9 bunkers. On 13 June 1999, while nearing its objective, the Assault Group came under enemy fire and took casualties. Subedar Bhanwar Lal Bhakar, Lance Naik Jasvir Singh, Naik Surendra, and Naik Chaman Singh were all killed. Major Vivek Gupta himself was killed by a bullet wound to the head. Although Kumar was hit by a bullet in his left arm, he kept firing on the enemy with his

light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridge (firearms), cartridges of the same caliber as the othe ...

. His fire facilitated his men's advancement, allowing them to physically assault the enemy position and clear the area after a hand-to-hand fight. He was responsible for killing 48 Pakistani soldiers single-handedly and received total 18 bullets on his body armour.Naik Digendra Kumar (2883178A)

Medals and awards

Mahavir Chakra

The nation's second-highest wartime gallantry award, the

, was awarded to Kumar on 15 August 1999, for daring actions and service to his country during the

, specifically by occupying Tololing Hill.

Other awards

Kumar was awarded the

Sena Medal The Sena Medal () is awarded to members of the Indian army, of all ranks, "for such individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage as have special significance for the Army." Awards may be made posthumously and a bar is authorized for ...

in 1993 for his anti-terrorist operations in the

Kupwara Kupwara ( ; ) is a city, District headquarter and a municipal council in Kupwara district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Municipal council Kupwara is an Urban Local Body with elected members which administers the city Mun ...

area of Jammu-Kashmir. In 1994 his services were appreciated for recapturing the

Hazratbal Hazratbal is a notified area situated in the Srinagar district of Jammu and Kashmir. It is about from the Srinagar city center. The area became famous after the construction of Hazratbal Shrine, where hundreds of thousands of people visit ev ...

Shrine from terrorists.

In popular culture

The 2003

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

war film ''

LOC Kargil ''LOC Kargil'' is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language historical war film based on the Kargil War fought between India and Pakistan, produced and directed by J. P. Dutta under his banner "J. P. Films". The film features an ensemble cast of Bollywoo ...

'' is based on the

. It was written and directed by J. P. Dutta. Actor

Avtar Gill Avtar Gill (born 14 May 1950) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the De ...

played the role of Digendra Kumar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Digendra Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra People of the Kargil War People from Sikar district Rajasthani people Military personnel from Rajasthan 1969 births Living people 20th-century Indian military personnel 21st-century Indian military personnel Indian Army personnel