Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat MVC

Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat was born on 19 August 1941 in Baryun village, located in the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. He was the son of Shri Guman Singh Rawat and belonged to a region renowned for its tradition of military service, having produced numerous brave soldiers who served the nation with distinction. Deeply inspired by the spirit of patriotism and a strong desire to serve his country, Rfn Jaswant Singh joined the Indian Army on 19 August 1960, at the age of 19. He was inducted into the 4 Garhwal Rifles, a battalion of the highly respected Garhwal Rifles Regiment known for its gallantry and distinguished service in numerous military operations. During the Indo-China War of 1962, Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat’s battalion was deployed in the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA), present-day Arunachal Pradesh. His unit was tasked with defending a crucial position near Nuranang, a strategically significant location in the Tawang sector. As the Chinese forces launched a massive and aggressive offensive, Indian troops, though vastly outnumbered and outgunned, held their positions with unmatched bravery.

When the situation became critical and Indian forces were ordered to withdraw to avoid further casualties, Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat made a fateful decision. Choosing duty over personal safety, the 21-year-old soldier refused to retreat. Determined to stand his ground, he resolved to fight the enemy alone. Assisted by two local Monpa girls, Sela and Nura, he launched a valiant defense, engaging the Chinese forces for an astonishing three days. Displaying remarkable ingenuity and courage, Rifleman Jaswant Singh set up multiple firing positions and moved between them to create the illusion of a much larger force. This tactical deception confused the Chinese troops and slowed their advance, buying precious time for Indian forces. Despite limited resources and mounting pressure, he continued to engage the enemy, eliminating several Chinese soldiers. Eventually, the Chinese forces uncovered his position and surrounded him. With little ammunition remaining and no route for escape, Rifleman Jaswant Singh chose to fight till his last breath. In a final act of defiance, he made the supreme sacrifice, laying down his life for the nation.

Battle of Nuranang: Nov 1962

By the closing days of October 1962, the Sino-Indian conflict in the eastern Himalayas had reached breaking point. The 4 Garhwal Rifles, to which Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat belonged, was brought under 62 Infantry Brigade, joining 1 Sikh, 13 Dogra, 2 Sikh Light Infantry and 4 Sikh Light Infantry in a last-ditch shield across the North-East Frontier Agency—today’s Arunachal Pradesh. After 4 Infantry Division relinquished Tawang on 23 October and fell back behind the Mago Chu, the brigade dug in along the snow-clad ridges above Nuranang to block the Chinese axis leading to the plains of Assam. What confronted them was grim: Chinese divisions with artillery support and ample supplies pressed against Indian battalions short of men, ammunition, winter clothing and even wire for their slit trenches. Yet holding Nuranang was vital; if that narrow bowl fell, the road to Se La and Bomdila lay open. At first light on 17 November, the Chinese commander committed fresh troops to smash the Garhwalis’ forward company. Successive platoon-strength attacks surged up the pine-covered slopes, each preceded by mortars that churned the frozen ground into shards. Somewhere on Rfn Jaswant Singh’s left flank, an enemy medium-machine-gun found perfect enfilade: its bursts swept the shallow trenches of ‘A’ Company, pinning down rifle sections and causing mounting casualties. Unless that gun was destroyed, the entire position would collapse.

Realising the danger, Company Headquarters called for volunteers to silence the MMG. Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat, Lance Naik Trilok Singh Negi and Rifleman Gopal Singh Gusain stepped forward. In full daylight, with Chinese spotters scouring the slope, they began to leopard-crawl through knee-deep pine needles and jagged rocks. Every movement was matched to the crash of outgoing Indian fire, each pause masked by the wind keening through the forest. At roughly a dozen metres from the bunker—close enough to hear the gun’s traverse-mechanism—they split. Rfn Jaswant rolled to his right, pulled the pins from two No. 36 grenades, counted three seconds and hurled them through the firing slit. The blasts ruptured the sandbag wall; screams followed. Without waiting, he vaulted over the parapet, dropped inside, killed the surviving crewman with his bayonet and swung the captured gun towards a cluster of advancing Chinese riflemen, cutting them down. Amid the smoke, he wrested the weapon free of its tripod, wrapped the ammunition belt around his arm and began dragging the gun back towards Indian lines. He was thirty metres short of safety when a burst from another enemy position struck him in the chest. Even as he fell, he kept the gun pointed downslope, holding the trigger until the belt ran dry.

The destruction of the MMG had broken the assault’s spine. Shocked by the loss of their fire-support and raked by captured automatic fire, the Chinese withdrew, leaving more than three hundred dead around the Garhwali perimeter. That afternoon, enemy activity subsided; the defence of Nuranang—though eventually ordered to withdraw the next day—had been preserved long enough to delay the drive on Se La. Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat succumbed to his wounds where he fell, but his action became the lodestar of the battle. For “most conspicuous gallantry, a complete disregard of personal safety and the highest devotion to duty,” he was posthumously awarded the "Maha Vir Chakra", India’s second-highest decoration for valour. Today, travellers on the Tawang road halt at Jaswant Garh War Memorial, where a portrait of the twenty-one-year-old rifleman watches over rows of prayer flags and an honour guard from 4 Garhwal Rifles. In the messes of the regiment, his citation is read to young soldiers as the measure of their heritage—proof that a single determined man can alter the course of a battle and inspire generations yet unborn.

The citation for the "Maha Vir Chakra" awarded to him reads:

On 17 November 1962, a battalion of Garhwal Rifles was occupying a defensive position near the Nuranang bridge in NEFA. Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat’s company was subjected to a series of attacks by the Chinese forces. The enemy managed to bring forward a medium machine gun very close to one of our platoons and weakened its defenses. Rifleman Jaswant Singh and two other men volunteered to go and destroy the enemy MMG position. They crawled forward and within 10 to 15 yards of the gun, Rifleman Jaswant Singh and the other riflemen hurled grenades on it, killing two Chinese and badly wounding the other. Rifleman Rawat then snatched the MMG and started to return to his position. The enemy opened automatic fire from close range. Rifleman Jaswant Singh was hit on the head and died on the spot, still holding the MMG in his hand.

The exceptional courage and initiative shown by Rifleman J.S. Rawat in the face of intense enemy fire were in the best traditions of our Army.

• The post where Rfn Jaswant Singh fought his last battle is now named as Jaswant Garh. Among the local populace Rifleman, Jaswant is known as Baba Jaswant Singh Rawat. His personal belongings have been kept safe even today at Jaswant Garh. Five soldiers are specially assigned to take care of Rfn Jaswant Singh’s room. Though the room is empty, soldiers place the morning bed tea at 4.30 AM, prepare breakfast at 9 am and dinner at 7 pm. According to army sources, it is discovered that bedsheets of his room are found crumpled and his clothes lay scattered in the room.
• The people of the army in the local units still believe that Rifleman Jashwant Singh Rawat still guards the post as a spirit and has been guiding Indian soldiers in dreams. He is the only soldier who has been promoted to the rank of Major general after his death. His salary is credited every month and most strange of all, he is even granted official leave on various occasions.
• The Housing project of Jaswant Nagar in Dehra Dun has been named after Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat in his honour.

• Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat of the Fourth Garhwal Rifles infantry regiment is the only soldier in the long history of the Indian army who is known to have risen through the ranks after his death. It is said that the brave Indian soldier had slain a large number of Chinese soldiers with his rifle. But when the Chinese army got the hint that it was not a massive army, but a lone soldier who was holding the post, they decided to retaliate with a vengeance. In the battle between the Chinese troops, Rfn Jaswant was outnumbered and realizing that his capture was imminent, he shot himself. The Chinese battalion was so furious and hated this Indian soldier that they chopped his head off and took it with them. Later a ceasefire took place between India and China. The Chinese army was so amazed by his courage that they returned the head of the soldier back to Indian army along with a brass bust in honour of this brave soldier.

• As per the local legend, Jaswant Singh Rawat refrained from leaving his post and decided to single-handedly confront the gigantic Chinese army. The local story goes that he was assisted by two Monpa girls named Sela and Nura, some others say by a village lady by the name of Boom la. They had put guns at various places in such a manner that the Chinese were made to believe that the post had many soldiers. Rfn Jaswant Singh Rawat along with Sela and Nura used to run at different spots and fire at the enemies. The attack of Rfn Jaswant was proving fatal for Chinese. They were clueless about the size of Indian army, but a betrayal proved fatal for Rfn Jaswant. The person who was supplying rations to Rfn Jaswant was caught by the Chinese and he revealed all the details of Rfn Jaswant Singh Rawat and his two comrades – Sela and Nura. With a vengeance, the Chinese army retaliated in which Sela was killed in a grenade burst. As per another Legend , Sela died by jumping off from the cliff to avoid getting captured by Chinese. Sela had an emotional corner for Rfn Jaswant and it was her love for him that she fought till her last breath. In this battle for nation, even Nura was killed by the Chinese forces.