Havildar Vijayan recollects success of Indian army in 1971

Kozhikode: “There’s nothing close to the joy of victory in war for a soldier. The victories that we earned, dating back to half a century were celebrated and praised. I respect Indira Gandhi for her talent, courage and power. She cut the enemy in half with her determination. Remember when Vajpayee referred to Sonia as Durga?” says Beypore native retired Havildar C Vijayan who was a part of the Indian army that fought twice in the Indo-Pak war. 

The Havildar was at Khem Karan during the war in 1965 and engaged in night patrolling. He had walked up to five kilometres to Pakistan for patrolling to get information on the opponent’s war strategies.

Once during patrolling, he heard a gunshot, jumped into a ditch to hide from sight and injured his leg. He lay there for almost three hours, bleeding and biting down pain before he was rescued by other soldiers and taken to the army hospital. 

He was at Mymensingh near Dhaka in Bangladesh during the war in 1971 in the 8th Mountain Division. That is where he faced the toughest years of his life as a soldier in his army career spanning 16 years. The only relief was listening to General Manek Shah’s messages through pocket radio during the long months of no contact with the outside world.

‘Think of your wife and children. Turn down your weapons and surrender yourself or prepare to die at our hands,’ - these were the kind of requests that the general gave to the opponents. He said that their minds lit up when they heard that almost 95,000 Pakistani soldiers had surrendered. 

Vijayan lost his medals while patrolling in Nagaland. He had kept them in mint condition before they were lost. Even at the age of 78, he follows strict army regime at home. He prefers to keep things organised. He is into farming and is active even at this age.

His wife Saraswathi says that her husband is a short-tempered man, but also a sweetheart. Vijayan is the son of Mathrubhumi employee late Narayanan Nair and Janaki Amma. Out of the 6 siblings, 2 are army soldiers - Subedar Ramachandran and Havildar Mohanan. Ramachandran has taken part in Blue Star Operation.