Yoginder Kandhari
It was during my tenure in the Valley, in early 1990s,I came to know Lt. Col. (now Maj. Gen, Retd.) S.K. Razdan had critically been injured during a daring raid on a militant hideout in South Kashmir. This news was carried on front pages and in bold by all the leading dailies of the Valley. My hunch had it that it could be none other than that lean and thin,yet indefatigable, Gentleman Cadet in OTA with whom I had spent somefleeting moments in between rigours of our gruelling training schedules. I was confident, whatever be the criticality, he would fight against all odds. True to his fighting spirit, he snatched his life from jaws of a certain death.
Maj Gen. Razdan is the first paraplegic officer of Indian Army to be promoted to the rank of Maj Gen. All my efforts to catch up with him did not materialise until recently when I spent an evening with him in his Gurugram home. Despite him being wheelchair borne, Maj. Gen. Razdan, nicknamed Greyhound by his peers, has lost none of his verve. In atete-a-tete, he revealed himself to be a thoroughbred soldier and a true ambassador of the human face of Indian Army. Unmindful ofa permanent disability that has rendered him a wheelchair ambulatory, his chest swells with pride when he narrates details of his operation in DamalHanzipur to evacuate 14 Kashmiri women held captive by militants for days on end. This operation was so meticulously planned and precisely executed that a presentation about it was conducted for the student officers and the Directing Staff of Defence Services Staff College, Willington.
Here are the excerpts
YK: You were doing well as an academic then what motivated you to join Army?
SKR: Our family originally belongs to Purshyar, Habakadal, Srinagar. My grandfather joined British Indian Army during World War II and participated in Burma Campaign. My father too served in Regiment of Artillery and was last posted to Mathura; the city where he finally settled post his retirement. I was more inclined to pursue my academic interests. Mathematics being my first love, I enrolled for PG (Maths). A quirk of fate changed the course of my life. One day during a visit tothe college library, I found a classmate filling-up form for CDScompetitive examination. My curiosity evoked a taunt from him to convey that I was cut out more for a teaching job than for a daring profession in Armed Forces. This was a condescending comment and I took it up as a challenge to prove him wrong and I did that in my first attempt.
YK: Now coming to your last tenure in Kashmir, could you share some details about DamalHanzipur
SKZ: Any reference to DamalHazipur operation drives me nostalgic. This raid on a militant hideout was launched on night of 8th October 1994. Incidentally, I was borne on the same day in 1954.
I was then posted to 6 RR Battalion located in South Kashmir. Militancy was at its peak.For fear of savage reprisals, locals were loath to share any information about militants. Being son of the soil, I had distinct advantages. I was fluent with all the three dialects of my mother tongue- Urban, Rural and Pahari Kashmiri. In addition, my knowledge about Islam and its practices usually helped me to pass off as a Kashmiri Muslim. Often, I operated with small squads of five to six men, all in civvies. Operating thus, I managed a lot of actionable intelligence.
On 6th October 1994, while enjoying tea at a local tea shop in Quazigund, a pharmacist of the local Primary Health Centre (PHC) approached me. He was confidentthat I was a Kashmiri Muslim. He told me that he was from Village Naugam, Distt. Kulgam, and that his daughter had been abducted by Pakistani militants operating in that area. She was incarnated in a safe house in DamalHanzipur along with 13 other women. Confiding that militants were sexually exploiting them, he appealed for help.
YK: Did you launch the operation immediately thereafter?
SKR: No. Since exact location and strength of militants was not known, detailed planning, briefing and augmenting of the raiding party was essential. Further, as DamalHanzipur was out
side of my Area of Operational Responsibility, permission from higher Headquarters was an operationalrequirement. On 7th
October, I briefed the Sector Commander about my plan. On 8th October, at 6 AM, weset out on our mission to rescue 14 young Kashmiri ladies from the clutches of lecherous armed brutes. Besides me, raiding party comprised of two officers and 24 JCOs and Other Ranks.
To avoid detection and being pre-empted by the militants, we followedthe most unexpected and a circuitous routeover the mountains.We reached Naugamsame evening. Before going any further, I wanted to reconfirm information available with us. For obvious reasons, pharmacy shops were the best sources of information. I engaged a local pharmacy shop-owner in a longish conversation in Kashmiri.Information about militants was confirmed yet specifics eluded us. Incidentally, I also got an idea about the medicines and first-aid kits available with him. Premonition of a bloody encounter ahead probably prompted me to do so. We did not have the luxury of a Nursing Assistant accompanying us.Thus, I, as the leader, had to cater to all eventualities.
YK: Finally, how did you manage to obtain specific information and when didyou go in for the raid?
SKR: Providence had it for us. Spot interrogation of a Bakarwal(shepherd) revealed the exact location of the hideout and presence of ladies there.We decided to launch the final leg of theoperation without losing any time. It was the third Navratrathat day. As had been my routine, I would fast whole day on all the nine auspicious days only to break it post sunsetdaily. My party had prepared delicious Khichidi, in pure Desi Ghee, which I enjoyed to my full before setting off for the raid at 8.30 PM. We reached target area at about 10 PM.
YK: Can you recount the final nerve wrecking moments of the raid leading to the rescue of the captive girls and ladies?
SKR: Our precise target was a four storeyed house located in a small hamlet comprising of about 10 to 15 houses. On reaching the outskirts, we stealthily cordoned the house. I, along with six men, went straight for the house. Awhiff of Desi Gheefragrance greeted us. The house was in total darkness except for a lantern flickeringin the ground floor. As we entered the house, I found all 14 ladies huddled together in a large room-cum-kitchen in the ground floor. One of the ladies was frying an omelette in Desi Ghee. Wedid not find any militant in the room. I assured the ladies that I had come to rescue them. I talked to them in Kashmiri and mentioned about my meeting with thepharmacist of PHC, Quazigund; they were convinced of our noble intentions. We were informed that the militants were in a meeting on the First Floor (FF). We rescued all the ladies to freedom through the kitchen window. One of the girls,who appeared to have been badly exploited, scampered to safety hurling choicest of Kashmiri abuses.Now, time was around 10.10 PM on8th October- close to actual time,day and month of my birth.
Following laid down drill, two men took position outside the house, two were on way up to FF while two of them stayed with me. All of us had covered our faces with black Patkas(a piece of cloth)leaving space open enough for the eyes to look around. It was total darkness all around. As the men movedup the final step of FF, the militant on duty sitting on a wooden stool, outside the meeting room, was so frightened at the sight of four eyes staring at him in pitch darkness that he sprang off his seat to almost touch the ceiling, screaming ‘Gin Gin…..’. On the other hand, our men, equally startled on seeing the abnormal height of the figure in front, ran down and out of the house whispering ‘Bhoot Bhoot….’.As the two men with me also rushed out to find what this commotion was all about,I was left alone inside the room. I put out the lantern. Coming out of the room, I found two militants standing in the corridor. With a sharp and a swift action, I jumped onto the militant closest to me, got hold of his weapon with my left hand while snatching the rifle of the second militant with my right hand. With the rifle, in my right hand, I hit both the militants on their heads to momentarily immobilise them. Losing no further time, I shot both dead. Now, I had three weapons on my person and two dead bodies lying flat in front of me in the corridor.
As soon as men manning the cordon heard gunshots from inside the house, assuming that I had been shot dead, they opened firefrom all sides. I withdrew into the kitchen to wait for the fire to cease. When I again tried tomove out of the room I saw legs of the third militant coming down the ladder. I fired a burst at him. He rolled down the stairs to fall flat, face up, in the corridor. Taking him to be dead,as I bent to pick up his weaponhe emptied his magazine into my abdomen-bullets ripping through my guts and spine. Retaliating, I fired a burst to sniff out whatever life was left in him to dropped him dead. Mind you all this action happened on a pace and sequence much faster than my slow-motion narration may make you believe. One had to be quick and mentally alert to react to the developing situation.
Realising that my stomach was wide open and bleeding profusely, I removed my Patkaand tied it around my wounds in a vain attempt to arrestthe bleeding. I crawled,withfour rifles,out of the corridor to contact my party. I was carried inside an outhouse, generally used to stock firewood in rural Kashmir. Simultaneously, a message was relayed to 6 RR and the Sector HQ for reinforcements.
At around 3 AM, three more militants came out of the house but they were immediately neutralized. I felt I was now losing consciousness. I recollected my long conversation with Naugam pharmacist who had suggested use of Sodium Lactate, available with him, as a temporary substitute for Plasma. My boys managed 16 packets(kits) of intravenous drips from Naugam. However, none knew how to administerthose. I removed a shoe lace and tied it as a tourniquet around my upper arm. Using light of a cigarette lighter,men helped me administer the drip. Training for survival in Para Regiment came in handy.
By about 10 AM, reinforcements arrived accompanied by the Sector Commander and a doctor. Under medical supervision, I was evacuated on a cot to Naugam and then Heli-lifted to 92 Base Hospital, Srinagar.
I later came to know that nine Pakistani militants, belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba and Lashkar-e- Hekmatyar, were neutralised in this operation. Besides, huge quantity of arms and ammunition had been recoveredfrom the house – 2UMGs, 7 AK47 Rifles, 1 bag containing live ammunition, 10 kg PEK andgelatine sticks and other detonating material.
Thus, Damal Hanzipur operation came to an end. However, my long ordeal with life commenced.
YK: Did Government of India recognise your daring contribution in winning the hearts and minds of Kashmiri people
SKR: Yes, I was awarded Kirti Chakra, second highest peacetime gallantry award, for successful conduct of Damal Hanzipur operation.
YK: Did the ladies whom you rescued ever contact you?
SKR; No. Neither did I try to contact them. I will never reveal their identity to anyone. I am sure they must have happily settledin their life now. However, some parents along with one of the girls came to look me up in the Hospital in Pune. They offered me money for treatment. It was a moving gesture. I politely declined the offer.
YK: Your experience as a Divyang officer while in service?
SKR: I experienced no discrimination while serving as a differently-abled/ disabled officer. I am fully satisfied that Army judged me on my merit to promote me to the highest prank possible as per my age profile. My experience as a Divyang officer validates my belief that mind is superior to body.
YK: To conclude, how did your family manage to cope up with the changed circumstances?
SKR: My wife, Manju, has been a source of great strength to me all through the rough and tumble of my life. She is a brave lady who never lost heart or a smile from her face.
We have two sons. Ishan has kept up our Fauji tradition. As a Paratrooper(23 Para) he is a fourth-generation Army officer.Paarth chose to pursue his interest in medicine and has completed MBBS. Now he is preparing for PG.All in all, I am satisfied with life.
YK: Gen. Razdan, thank you for a long and an engrossing chat.
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