VSK TN
As the above Awe-Inspiring Quote goes, Major was assigned a new operation. He was supposed to move to Kargil from Assam that would never be an easy mutation for any normal human being even if you are in your pink of health. Adapting to the coldest weather of Kargil all of a sudden from a sultry hot Assam weather is neither a joke nor that easy that too at an altitude of 14500 feet. Saravanan never knew that May 28 th , 1999 was going to be his last day in this world.It all happened when Major was assigned the operation of capturing a Pakistani position at the above quoted altitude in the Batalik sector.
He and his fellow army men planned an attack at around 4 am. The plan was perfectly executed when our Army men along with Major Saravanan shot a series of bullets at first, which was then followed by an intensive back firing from our most hated rivals. There were plenty of ammos scattered all around that area which failed and fumbled to pierce the Noblest Indian Army. The brawl got intense and so our Major had to use the Rocket launcher during the combat which would have easily weighed somewhere between 3 to 5 kg. He triggered the launcher which killed two of our foes, during the launch Major Saravanan got badly hit by the shrapnel. He was then acutely injured; he never gave up.
Major made the motive crystal clear in his mind “DO IT FOR OUR MOTHER AND THEN DIE”, his perseverance to save our mother India made him continue the combat. Meanwhile the Pakistani soldiers charged a volley of bullets which injured many of our men. The Commanding officer ordered our Major to retreat and elude because too many Indian Army men had been injured. Major Saravanan was code named “Genghis Khan” for this operation. “Genghis Khan Fall back” came the order, “Not Today sir, we are almost close to the enemy position and the objective” replied major. He then went on to kill two more Pakistani soldiers, but this time Major Saravanan got hit by a bullet straight in the head. Major cuddled and curled up slowly before he became a martyr and his name got carved in the history of Indian Army. His fortitude and patriotism will always be etched in our memories. A true warrior, for whom the artilleries were the only backbones, had bereaved us.
It was he who taught our countrymen “For our better tomorrows the Army men have been giving their todays”. It costed him his precious life to receive the highest individual award “VIR CHAKRA” posthumously. His mother received the Vir Chakra from President K R Narayanan. Major Saravanan, the legend, has been enshrined in the history of one of the most difficult and brutal wars ever fought by any Army. His name and his saga of extreme bravery has been etched in golden letters in the annals of the Indian Army as the entire nation stands as one to salute him, who was the first army officer to have shed his blood on the frontiers for the country and the last one to come back home !!. And whenever there is talk of bravery the Nation will talk of Major Mariappan Saravanan, he who enabled the country to climb the first pedestal of success in ‘Operation Vijay’.
The Historical Monument for the ‘Batalik Hero’ at the heart of his home town, Trichy, has been inaugurated on his 8th Anniversary, 29-05-2007 by MAJOR GENERAL SIVA SANKAR, General Officer Commanding, TNAK Area. Mrs Amirthavalli Mariyappan, the mother of the war hero and his family was the first to place a wreath on the memorial, followed by the army officials with full army honors.
On the occasion of Kargil Vijay Divas on 26.07.08, the Postal Department brought out a special cover and cancellation in memory of Major M. Saravanan, the ‘Hero of Batalik’.