MAJ MARIAPPAN SARAVANAN VEER CHAKRA : HERO OF BATALIK
Remembering Kargil Heroes
MAJ MARIAPPAN SARAVANAN VEER CHAKRA : HERO OF BATALIK
The 21st anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas is being celebrated in Chennai by Headquarter Dakshin Bharat Area with a motto “Remember and Rejoice”. It is celebrated in honour of the officers and personnels who participated in the Kargil War.
The Dakshin Bharat Area made an endeavour to reach out to the martyrs of the Kargil War and while doing so a prominent name stood out which was Major Mariappan Saravanan, Veer Chakra (10 August 1972-29 May 19 99). Major Mariappan Saravanan was an officer in the prestigious Bihar Regiment of the Indian Army who was killed during the Kargil War. He was killed in hand-to-hand combat with intruders after killing four intruders in the Batalik area of Kargil Sector on 29 May 1999, along with 33 soldiers and four other officers. Major Saravanan had then just completed four years of service on 10 March 1999.
Born on 10 August 1972 of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, Saravanan began his schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Gaya district and continued his high school in Campion Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, Tiruchirapalli and later graduated from St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirapalli in 1992. Sara vanan was also the president of the student union at St. Joseph’s College in 1992 and was a ‘C’ certificate holder of NCC. His father Lt. Colonel Adi Ma riappan died in a road accident in Bangalore on 19 June 1989 while serving in the Indian Peace Keeping Force during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. He has two sisters.
Maj Saravanan Mariappan graduated from the OTA in 1995 and joined ‘1 Bihar’ unit as a lieutenant in 1995. After joining the army he was posted to Tamulpur, Cooch Behar and Bhutan before moving to Kargil. He was promoted to Captain in 1996 and to Major in 1999.
‘1 Bihar’ Unit was in Assam when the Kargil War broke out. They Unit ordered to move to Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir. On the night of 28 May 1999, Major Saravanan was assigned the task of capturing a well-fortified Pakistani position at 14,229 feet (Pt 4268) in the Batalik sector. Major M Saravanan’s Company was launched in the battalion attack on Point 4268 during “Operation Vijay”. He and his men launched an attack at 04:00 IST. Despite intensive firing from the enemy with artillery and automatic weapons, they charged into a volley of bullets. Major Saravanan fired a rocket launcher into the enemy position that killed two enemy soldiers. During the combat, he was hit by shrapnel and injured but continued fighting. While moving forward to eliminate the last position held by the enemy, Major Saravanan was fired upon by the enemy with a heavy volume of small arms fire. Unmindful of the enemy fire, he crawled forward to destroy the last remaining enemy position and before being fatally hit by an enemy bullet, killed two enemy soldiers.
Major M Saravanan displayed exceptional bravery, valour and lea dership, fighting from front, destroying two enemy bunkers and killing few enemy soldiers before laying his life for the motherland and in the process eliminating an important enemy position.
Senthil Kumar, brother-in-law of Maj Mariappan was contacted and he revealed that the family members and Trustees of Major Saravanan Memorial Trust have constructed a Memorial located opposite to St. John Vestry Higher Sec. School, Trichy with epitaph reading “Major M. Saravanan, Vir Chakra, the first Army Officer martyred in Operation Vijay, Kargil War 1999″, to inspire the youngsters and imbibe in them qualities of ‘Selfless Sacrifice’ and ‘Pure Patriotism’, keeping alive the ideals of our brave young soldiers lived with and cause they died for. The memorial serves to motivate the youngsters to join the Army and serve the nation and has become one of the important landmarks of Trichy.
