Vijay Mashaal: War veteran recounts fighting 1971 war aged 26

HYDERABAD: Lieutenant Colonel Narsinga Rao, a Vir Chakra (retired) gallantry awardee, was just 26 years old when he left his newly wedded wife and six-month-old daughter to be at the battlefield for the India-Pakistan war in 1971. On Thursday, during the ‘Vijay Mashaal’ event that marks the 50-year-celebration of India’s victory over Pakistan, Rao, along with other war veterans, were honoured for their bravery. At the event, Rao recalled his exploits in the war. 

Narsinga, now 76, told Express that during the war, he was with the 8th Grenadier Regiment Battalion of the Army providing medical treatment to the soldiers at the front.“When I was sent for the operation, I had spent just one month with the unit and in no time, I had to get acclimatised to the people and the area. But, it did not turn out to be so difficult,” said Narsinga.

Narrating one of the ner-wracking experiences from the war, he said, “At one time, our troops had to attack the village which was in the hands of enemies and we had to go through a minefield. Soldiers were still fighting and I, along with another unit was away from them. My commanding officer said the operation might take the entire night and only the next day we would get to know the casualties. I thought, by then, many soldiers would lose their life if they did not get immediate medical attention. I asked the officer to send me to the village. When I reached the area, amid heavy shelling, I heard a soldier telling another heavily wounded soldier — ‘Don’t worry, doctor sahab aa gaye hai (the doctor has arrived).’”

Talking about the tough conditions at the war, he said, “Once, when I was treating a soldier at the war zone, I switched on my torch to see the wound carefully. But I was immediately asked to put it off as the enemy may get to know our location from the torchlight.” 

The year-long commemorations for the war’s golden jubilee began on 16 December last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lit the ‘Swarnim Vijay Mashaal’ from the eternal flame of the National War Memorial.