From encounters to rescue missions — Same uniform but a new role

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“We rescued 60 men, women and children. Though the number is small as compared to the intensity of the tragedy, we are contended. We worked round-the-clock and did whatever we could,” said Major General B. D. Dhillon, GOC of the 11 Division based here. “In Bhuj, where we had a full brigade with around 600 families accompanying our men, their initial reaction was to jump into the rescue operation for the civilian population,” he said.

The first unit to reach Ahmedabad was 27 Madras, which returned from the militant hotbed of Kupwara in mid-December. “We watched heaps and heaps of rubble everywhere. We were in Sangmarmar apartments at Friends Colony. With two officers, seven JCOs and 162 men, we started, hoping against hope,” said Major S. Bannerjee of 27 Madras. “And we rescued four, one of them 120 hours after the quake.”

Captain Y. D. Mallur recalled the moments when the troops dug a three-metre-deep tunnel for almost 13 hours to reach a voice inside the rubble at Sangmarmar apartments. “She was a 12-year-old girl, Priti Desai. Her hand was stuck in the rubble and finally the doctors had to amputate it,” he said. Mallur was injured recently in Poonch when militants opened fire from a Kalashinkov at him. “I am not well enough to work with the men and so I am co-ordinating. But when we managed to rescue anybody alive, we had a feeling of victory,” he said.

These men found the latest challenge here much more rewarding and less stressful than Kashmir. “There we were fighting the enemy, we had to be vigilant and cautious all the time. Here, I feel as safe as in my own village,” said havaldar Manika Vasagam. The commandant of the 3 GR, Col. T. R. Nial added: “The people here show so much faith in the Army that one has no choice other than to put everything at stake in the rescue operations.”

“They (civilians) treated us as if we are super human beings,” he said. But to be politically correct, Col. Nial emphasised that the civilian population back in the Valley were not hostile either. He put the blame on the complexity of the conflict there. “It is the situation that compels them to behave in a different way,” he said. Nial and his battalion returned from J&K recently.

The troops of 27 Madras still have the Kashmir hangover. “This rescue operation is the first major outing of my troops after we returned from Kashmir,” said Col. R. S. Khandpur, who heads the battalion. “It is difficult to adjust to peace after being in the thick of a proxy war,” he said. “I was driving in my Gypsy alone and suddenly I felt there is no escort for me.”

Khandpur said though his battalions has been in active combat for years together, he still feels that he and his troops will always cherish the memory of the war against the natural calamity.

“We are trained as soldiers and fighting the enemy and dominating him is part of our grooming. But helping a hapless person to win the battle of survival gives you a great feeling,” he said. “My men cleared the debris with their naked hands and put their lives at risk even to dug out dead bodies,” he said, “But then that is the pride of the uniform.”

In contrast to the civilian authority, which is being criticised for being slow and disorganised, the Army received praise from across the devastated region. “We trust them. They have the guts to take risk and are disciplined,” said Natwarlal, a resident.

Residents were even arranging food for the soldiers who were involved in the rescue work. “Though we have our own arrangements, I asked the troops to accept this kind gesture,” said Maj. Gen. Dhillon.