#KargilVijayDiwas: ‘Wanted to visit the place where bhaiya laid down his life for the country’

It was just another day in July when Param Vir Chakra (posthumous) Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey led a series of bold attacks on the enemy during Operation Vijay in 1999. He and his platoon captured Jubar Top (Kargil), where Captain Pandey, 24, made the supreme sacrifice for his country. 24 years later, his youngest brother (among four siblings), Manmohan Pandey, is visiting ground zero for the first time today, on Kargil Vijay Diwas. 

“I’ve been to the War Memorial in Dras (Ladakh) twice (2009 and 2021) before, but had never visited Bunker Ridge or Khalubar Hills in the Batalik Sector of Kargil, where Captain Pandey achieved martyrdom. I really wanted to go to the point where bhaiya laid down his life for the country. This time, my wife Anuradha, our kids and I will visit the point after the Vijay Diwas function on Wednesday,” shares Manmohan, a deputy marshal at the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, who is in Dras for the two-day Kargil Vijay Diwas event. 

Remembering his brother, who was an officer of the first battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles (1/11 GR), Manmohan recalls the day they got the news of his death. “I was 18 when the army personnel came to my house on July 4 (1999) to give us the news. My family was devastated. Gradually, as people gathered at our place, we realised what exemplary courage he had shown. We were sad but also very proud — a mixed feeling that can’t be put into words,” he shares, adding, “His mortal remains reached Lucknow on July 7. Lakhs of people turned up to pay their respect to bhaiya at the crematorium.”

Manmohan, who is six years younger to Captain Pandey, feels his brother will “keep inspiring” many. “Generations will visit Dras and other memorials and get inspired by those who laid their lives for the country.” 

The 42-year-old admits that he would have liked to join the Indian Army. “But if my daughter Shambhavi (14), or son Dev (12), wish to join, I will support them fully,” he ends.