Major Kamal Kalia SC

Major Kamal Kalia was born on 5th Jan 1958 in Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Son of Shri A S Ram Kalia and Smt Asha Kalia, he had two elder sisters Lata & Indu, and one younger brother Yogesh as his siblings. Though his father originally hailed from Hoshiarpur district in Punjab, Maj Kamal Kalia and his siblings grew up in Chennai. He did his schooling at Sainik School Amravathinagar in Tamil Nadu. While studying in the Sainik School his inclination towards the Armed Forces grew and the foundation of his future military life was laid. His resolve to join the Army grew with the age and consequently, he got selected for the prestigious NDA after finishing school. He later went to  IMA Dehradun and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in 1979 at the age of 21 years.

He got commissioned into 4 Madras Battalion of the Madras Regiment, an infantry Regiment well known for its dauntless soldiers and numerous battle exploits. Later he was transferred to 11 Madras Battalion. After putting in a few years of service, he got married to Ms. Archana and the couple was blessed with a daughter Gazal. He also went to Sri Lanka as part of IPKF and participated in number of operations against the LTTE militants. By 1993, he had put in around 14 years of service and had been promoted to the rank of a Major. By then, Maj Kalia had worked in various operational areas including some of the challenging conflict zones. He had developed into a committed soldier and professionally competent officer, who commanded the respect of his seniors and men under him as well.

Operation Rhino: 09 Apr 1993

During 1992-93, Major Kamal Kalia's unit 11 Madras was deployed in Assam as part of Operation Rhino. This operation was being undertaken by the security forces against ULFA militants in the districts of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh. The militancy affected areas of the state fell in the area of responsibility of Maj Kalia’s unit and thus the unit personnel had to maintain a high state of alert at all times. Maj Kalia with ingenuity, dedication, and sense of purpose had established an excellent intelligence network. On acquiring intelligence about ULFA top leader Prakash Dutta, Maj Kalia led a team and ferreted out the militant 600 Kms away at Guwahati and apprehended him on 05 Apr 92.

Capitalizing on psychological ascendancy, Maj Kalia used the militant to storm the ULFA strong-hold of Lakhipathar. After relentless psychological operations coupled with ground actions in conjunction with the battalion, Maj Kalia was able to force 204 ULFA cadres led by Kamla Moran, Bojsakanto Mech, Lakhi Deori, and Umesh Moran to surrender along with the large quantity of arms and ammunition. Again on resumption of operations on 27 Dec 92, Maj Kalia was deployed in area Moran-Khowang. He was able to identify various hideouts and was perpetually on hot-pursuit of Toofan Kanwar, area leader Khowang, Rantu Neog, Chairman of ULFA, and Guli Das Sub-Area Leader Namdang.

On 27 Mar 93, Maj Kalia was able to identify the location of a meeting scheduled to be held at Nandang on the eve of the memorial service of Hemanto Barua of ULFA to chalk out future strategy. Major Kalia and his team raided the location thwarting the meeting by ULFA. In the raid, nine militants along with propaganda material and memorial cut-outs were captured. On 09 Apr 93, the intelligence sources informed about the move of Rantu Neog in a Maruti Car on road Moran-Dibrugarh. Maj Kalia immediately swung into action and activated his team to get into hot-pursuit. While tailing the top militant in a daring move, Maj Kalia Major was unfortunately knocked down by a coming civil bus. By this action beyond the call of duty major, Maj Kalia made the supreme sacrifice, while displaying commendable courage and devotion to duty. Maj Kamal Kalia was a gallant soldier and gritty officer, who led from the front and laid down his life in the line of his duty. Maj Kamal Kalia was awarded the "Shaurya Chakra" for his conspicuous gallantry, leadership, and supreme sacrifice.

Maj Kamal Kalia is survived by his wife Smt Archana Kalia, daughter Ms Gazal, sisters Smt Lata Anand & Smt Indu Shastri and brother Shri Yogesh  Kalia.

The citation of "Shaurya Chakra" awarded to him reads:

During the period LC- 35555A Major Kamal Kalia, Coy Cdr, D Coy was operating in OP RHINO against ULFA militants in Districts of Tinsukia And Dibrugarh. He with ingenuity, dedication and sense of purpose had established an excellent intelligence network. On acquiring intelligence about ULFA top leader Prakash Dutta, Finance Secretary of Tinsukia District, he led a wolf pack team on 01 Apr 92. After painstakingly tracking the militant the officer ferreted out the militant 600 Kms away at Guwahati and in a surgical operation apprehended him on 05 Apr 92.

Capitalizing on psychological ascendancy, the officer after mentally breaking the militant used him to storm the ULFA strong-hold of Lakhipathar. After relentless psychological operations coupled with ground actions in conjunction with the battalion he was able to force 204 ULFA cadres led by Kamla Moran, Bojsakanto Mech, Lakhi Deori and Umesh Moran to surrender along with large quantity of arms and ammunition.

On resumption of operations on 27 Dec 92 the officer was deployed in area Moran-Khowang. Again with exceptional zeal he cultivated sources and was able to wean away anti-talk faction cadre of ULFA. He was able to identify various hideouts and was perpetually on hot-pursuit of Toofan Kanwar, area leader Khowang, Rantu Neog, Chairman of ULFA and Guli Das Sub-Area Leader Namdang.

On 27 Mar 93 Major Kamal Kalia was able to identity location of a meeting scheduled to be held at Nandang on the eve of memorial service of Hemanto Barua of ULFA to chalk out future strategy. Major Kalia and his team raided the location thwarting the meeting by ULFA. In the raid nine militants along with propaganda material and memorial cut-outs were captured.

On 09 Apr 93 his sources informed about move of Rantu Neog in a Maruti Car on road Moran-Dibrugarh. Major Kamal Kalia immediately activated his team and got into hot-pursuit. While tailing the top militant Major Kamal Kalia fatally was knocked by on coming civil bus. By this action beyond the call of duty Major Kamal Kalia made the supreme sacrifice while fighting the ULFA militants.

In recognition of his selfless devotion to duty dedication, tenacity and perseverance in operations against ULFA militants. Major Kamal Kalia was awarded Shaurya Chakra (P).

A running trophy cum medal for 'Best Sportsman' during the regimental training at Madras Regimental Center Wellington in Tamil Nadu, has been instituted in the name of Major Kamal Kalia.