Havildar Sidh Kam

Havildar Sidh Kam Vashisht hailed from Pur village of Bawani Khera Tehsil in Bhiwani district of Haryana. Son of Shri Vrajlal Shastri and Smt Anchi Devi, Hav Sidh Kam was born on 30 Dec 1962.  Like many young men in Haryana, he was also passionate about serving in the Army and eventually following his passion, joined the Army on 10 Jan 1981 at the age of 19 years. He was inducted into 18 Grenadiers Battalion of the Grenadiers Regiment, an infantry Regiment known for its brave soldiers and various battle honours. After serving for some time, he got married to Ms Urmila Devi

Battle of Tololing (Kargil War): 13/14 Jun 1999

During 1999, Hav Sidh Kam's unit 18 Grenadiers was deployed in the J & K along the LOC. On 03 May 1999, the intrusions by Pak forces were detected and on 26 May 1999, the first air-to-ground strike was launched by the Indian Airforce (IAF), followed by Operation Vijay, by the Indian Army to evict the intruders from the Indian areas. The army quickly mobilized its forces to drive out the Pakistani infiltrators from Indian territory. Hav Sidh Kam's 18 Grenadiers battalion, under the command of Col Kushal Thakur, was inducted into the Drass area by 3rd week of May 1999. The battalion was functioning under the command of 56 Mtn Bde, with overall operational control being exercised by 8 Mtn Div under Maj Gen Mohinder Puri. The Tololing Heights was the deepest penetration beyond the LC by the Pakistani intruders. The task of capturing the Tololing feature was assigned to 56 Mtn Bde. The Tololing feature comprised Pt 4590, Tololing Top, South East Spur, South Spur, and Hump to its north. Pt 4590 and Tololing Top dominated all the approaches leading to it. As per the plan of attack of 56 Mtn Bde, 2 Raj Rif was tasked to capture the Tololing top by 0600 Hr on 13 June 1999. 18 Garh Rif battalion was to capture Pt 5140 by 0700 hrs on 13 June. Two companies of 18 Grenadiers were to provide a firm base and the balance of the battalion was to act as reserve to 2 Raj Rif.  

After the capture of Tololing top by the 2 Raj Rif battalion, by 13 June 1999, the 18 Grenadiers Battalion was tasked to capture Hump in conjunction with the 18 Garh Rif battalion. Hav Sidh Kam was part of the team of 18 Gren that was assigned the task. Hav Sidh Kam and his comrades launched the attack on the Hump on the night of 13/14 June 1999 preceded by heavy shelling by the Artillery. The area was heavily fortified, but Hav Sidh Kam along with his comrades kept on neutralizing the enemy’s resistance en route. Despite stiff resistance by the enemy, 18 Gren carried on with the attack and by morning captured part of Hump.  By mid-day on 14 June 1999, the Hump feature was captured which later facilitated the capture of Point 4590. However during the mopping up operation on 14 June, Hav Sidh Kam got severly injured in the enmey firing. He soon succombed to his injuries and was martyred. Besides Hav Sidh Kam, twelve other soldiers of 18 Grenadiers were martyred during the entire operation. The other martyred brave hearts included  Hav Udham Singh, Nk Praburam Chotiya, Nk Rajvir Singh, L/Nk Raj Kumar, L/Nk Shyam Singh, L/Nk Vinod Kumar, Gdr Surender Singh, Gdr Sukhbir Singh, Gdr Sita Ram Kumawat Gdr Manohar Lal, Gdr Naresh Kumar and Gdr Ved Prakash. Hav Sidh Kam was a valiant and gritty soldier, who laid down his life at the age of 37 years in the line of his duty. 

 Hav Sidh Kam Vashisht is survived by his wife Smt Urmila Devi.