Dhobi Ram Chander, MVC was a civilian who 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 ...

during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. He is one of only two civilians to have been awarded the Mahavir Chakra.

Early life

Chander was born in 1921 in Kot Kishan Chand,

Jalandhar Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

, Punjab to Faqir Chand.

Military career

Chander joined the 14 Field Company Engineers of the Madras Engineering Group of the Indian Army in May 1947. He was a civilian in the Indian Army and a washer-man (

dhobi Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba, Rajaka, a Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, scheduled caste in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are Clothes washing, washing, ironing, and Farmworker, agricultur ...

) by profession. He was part of a convoy proceeding to Jammu under the command of Lt F D W Fallon on 18 December 1947. When the convoy reached Bhambla, it was ambushed by the enemy who had created a roadblock by removing the decking on a bridge. He helped the convoy commander replace the decking while the bridge was under continuous fire. On Lt. Fallon being wounded, he took the officer’s rifle and helped in holding the enemy at bay and was responsible for inflicting five to six casualties on the enemy. He later helped Lt Fallon to get to the nearest post which was 13 km away.

Death

Chander died in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chander, Ram 1921 births 1998 deaths People of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948 Recipients of the Maha Vir Chakra Indian Army personnel