Just 120 Indian soldiers, led by Major Shaitan Singh Bhati, beat back 5,000 Chinese troopers at Rezang La in 1962, preventing China’s takeover of Ladakh. A search party found frozen bodies of Indian soldiers still holding guns, showing the last stand in which 110 of the 120 Indians were killed. Revisiting the legendary battle of the 1962 Indo-China war, which is the subject of Farhan Akhtar’s 120 Bahadur.
“When the Chinese attacked in an overwhelming number and death was written all over, these gallant Ahirs stood their ground to the last man, last round, although they had an opportunity to move back and roll down the reverse slopes of the ridge and save their lives. Nay, they did not do so,” recalled Lieutenent General DD Saklani (retired). Lt Gen Saklani was the last Army officer to speak to Major Shaitan Singh Bhati, who was commanding the Indian forces in the Battle of Rezang La during the India-China War of 1962. In one of the greatest last stands in military history, 120 Indian soldiers fought a 5,000-strong invading force of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
For his ultimate sacrifice in the Battle of Rezang La, Major Shaitan Singh Bhati, who led the gallants at a height of 5,000 metres in sub-zero temperature, was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest wartime gallantry award.
In India’s modern military history, only a few battles rival the raw courage shown by Indian soldiers at Rezang La, a mountain pass in eastern Ladakh. In the battle in November 1962, just 120 soldiers of Charlie Company of the 13 Kumaon Regiment of the Indian Army stood in temperatures of up to -40 degrees Celsius, blocking the path of an invading 5,000 force of the PLA.
“When Rezang La was later revisited, dead jawans were found in the trenches still holding on to their weapons. Every single man of this company was found dead in his trench with several bullets or splinter wounds. The 2-inch mortar man died with a bomb still in his hand. The medical orderly had a syringe and bandage in his hands when the Chinese bullet hit him,” Major General Ian Cardozo (retired) later recalled.
Led by Major Bhati, the Indian jawans, mostly from the Ahir community of Haryana, held the strategic pass with nothing but their rifles, grenades, and raw courage.
By the end of the battle, 110 of them were martyred, most of them found in their trenches, bodies frozen, still holding their weapons, having fought to the last bullet. With their valour, the 120 bahadur (bravehearts) halted the Chinese advance and prevented the takeover of the Chushul airfield and a deeper Chinese occupation of Ladakh.
While such tales of bravery and service to the nation need no occasion to be narrated, Farhan Akhtar’s new film 120 Bahadur gives yet another reason to remember the heroism at Rezang La. The teaser shows Major Bhati and his 120 brave soldiers facing thousands of Chinese troops in the freezing heights of the Himalayas.