As part of the ongoing Operation Meghdoot, launched in April 1984 to secure the Siachen Glacier, Naik Fateh Singh joined the troops stationed along the Saltoro Ridge, a vital position in one of the most hostile and strategically significant battlegrounds in the world. This operation was initiated to counter the longstanding territorial dispute between India and Pakistan over the Siachen Glacier, a region of immense strategic importance. The origins of this dispute can be traced to the 1949 UN-brokered Karachi Agreement, which delineated the Ceasefire Line (CFL) in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the easternmost stretch of the CFL beyond NJ9842 was left undefined, with the agreement ambiguously stating that it would run "thence north to the glaciers." For years, the region’s harsh, uninhabitable terrain deterred military activity.
This status quo shifted between 1964 and 1972, when Pakistan began extending the CFL beyond NJ9842 in its maps, projecting it westward toward the Karakoram Pass instead of northward, as implied by the original agreement. This cartographic aggression escalated tensions, with Pakistan staking an illegal claim over the Siachen Glacier. In response, India launched Operation Meghdoot on April 13, 1984, preemptively deploying troops to assert control over the glacier and deny Pakistan’s advances. Indian forces utilized helicopters to air-drop troops at critical passes such as Bilafond La and Sia La, successfully securing control over approximately 3,300 square kilometers of contested territory. By 1986, Naik Fateh Singh had joined the deployment on the Saltoro Ridge, where soldiers braved some of the harshest conditions on Earth—relentless snowstorms, sub-zero temperatures, avalanches, and constant enemy shelling. Patrolling in this unforgiving environment demanded extraordinary courage, resilience, and endurance.
On March 22, 1986, while leading a patrol through the perilous terrain of the Siachen Glacier, Naik Fateh Singh and his team encountered a devastating avalanche triggered by enemy shelling. Despite his exceptional leadership and valour, he was trapped beneath the snow. A massive rescue operation was launched, but the unforgiving conditions claimed his life. Alongside Naik Fateh Singh, four other courageous soldiers from the 11 Jat Battalion—Havildar Shyam Lal, Sepoy Satyavir Singh, Sepoy Prem Chand Dular, and Sepoy Raj Bir—made the supreme sacrifice. This tragic loss was part of a series of fatal incidents for the battalion during the same week. On March 19, 1986, Lance Naik Baljit Singh and Sepoy Ram Kanwar succumbed to injuries sustained in earlier operations. On March 20, 1986, three more brave soldiers—Naik Bhagat Singh, Sepoy Tola Ram Khileri, and Sepoy Rameshwar—lost their lives. The series of losses culminated on March 24, 1986, when Havildar Krishan Pal succumbed to his injuries, becoming the last of the battalion’s soldiers to be martyred in this chain of tragic events.
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