Sudhir Kumar Walia

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Counter-Insurgency in Kashmir
Awards Ashoka Chakra
Sena Medal (Bar)
Sena Medal
Alma materIndian Military Academy
National Defence Academy
Sainik School, Sujanpur Tihra

Major Sudhir Kumar Walia, AC, ADC, SM & Bar (24 May 1969 – 29 August 1999), was an officer of the Indian Army, who served in the elite 9 Para (SF).[1] He was posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime military decoration, by the then President, late K. R. Narayan, in January 2000.

Early life

Sudhir was born on 24 May 1969 in Banuri, a village in the

Sainik School at Sujanpur Tihra
. He then gained admission into the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla.{(fact|date=February 2023) }

Army career

Sudhir graduated from the Indian Military Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Battalion, The Jat Regiment on 11 June 1988.[3] He was a member of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), who were sent to Sri Lanka on a peace mission.[1] After he returned from Sri Lanka, he opted for the 9th Battalion, Para (SF), a special forces unit of the Indian Army that specializes in mountain operations. He also served two six-month terms at the Siachen Glacier.[1] He was promoted as a lieutenant on 11 June 1990.[4]

Walia was promoted as a captain on 11 June 1993,

Pentagon during this mission.[1] For his competence, he was respectfully called 'Colonel' during that course.[6]

He was later deputed as an Aide-de-camp (ADC) to the then Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), General Ved Prakash Malik. When the Kargil War broke out, he obtained a special permission from the COAS to go to the battlefield. Within ten days of his departure from Delhi, he led his team to capture Zulu Top at 5200 metres, in the Mushkoh Valley sector. When asked about his attack on Zulu Top without needing to acclimatize, Major Sudhir said: "Sir, you know that I'm a pahari (from the mountains). I don't need acclimatization."[7]

After the Kargil War ended, his team was assigned the duty of fighting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.[1]

On 29 August 1999, he led an assault on a militant hideout in the Haphruda jungles of

Ashoka Chakra, the highest peacetime military decoration in India.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "This soldier died for us". Rediff.com.
  2. ^ "Sudhir Walia — a braveheart who went beyond the call of duty".
  3. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 20 May 1989. p. 723.
  4. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 27 March 1993. p. 514.
  5. ^ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 16 October 1993. p. 1946.
  6. ISBN 9788172239671
    .
  7. ISBN 9788172239671
    .
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