Met him after 26 years: Mother of ‘Tiger of Drass' on seeing his bust at Kargil War Memorial

The Print

3 days ago

Meena Nayyar set out to write a book about her son to immortalise his life story.
Captain Nayyar, who was awarded Mahavir Chakra for his valiant efforts and supreme sacrifice in the process, has not been as well known as other war heroes like Captain Vikram Batra and Captain Saurabh Kalia.
Drass (Kargil), Jul 26 (PTI) Meena Nayyar, the mother of Kargil war hero Captain Anuj Nayyar, was all tears and said she felt like she was meeting her son for the first time in more than 26 years when she saw her son's bust at the War Memorial here.
'The army gives tremendous respect to its soldiers. We saw that yesterday. When I saw Anuj's statue, I thought I was meeting him for the first time. I had not allowed anyone to see the body. The way he had left happily, I wanted the same memory to remain. The honour I witnessed here, I feel the Army never forgets its martyrs,' Meena told PTI.
The busts eight Kargil Wasr heroes were installed along the Vijaypath in 2022.
Meena Nayyar was among those next of kin who had not been to the Kargil Vijay Diwas for several years. The army started an outreach to ensure that such family members of the war heroes attend the function this year.
On the 26th Kargil Vijay Diwas commemoration function, Meena Nayyar, who reached Drass from Delhi, presented the copy of her book to Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday.
The book — 'Tiger of Drass' — encapsulates the biography of Captain Nayyar.
Meena Nayyar admitted that the idea of the book on her son would have been difficult to be execute if not for the help from Himmat Singh Shekhawat, who later on went to become the co-author of the effort.
'When Anuj was martyred, he was given the title of 'Tiger of Drass' and I always wanted to write a book with the same title,' the mother said.
She said Shekhawat's Rashtriya Riders, a group who visit families of Kargil Martyrs to pay tributes to them, in one such visit to her residence felt Captain Nayyar's sacrifice had not been given the recognition it deserves 'There is a Rashtriya Riders group who came to our home, about 12-14 people. They saw everything about Anuj and told me whether a book can be written on Anuj as he has perhaps got less fame than he deserved,' she said.
She said this was the beginning of the book on the life of Captain Nayyar.
'We wrote the book very well, but the chapter on war was a huge challenge for us because we had not witnessed which top he fought on and how. So, a five member team including Karan and Himmat came here for four days and lived in 17 JAT. They tried to reach 222 point and they tried to find out the conditions of Anuj's war, the way he had three platoons under his command,' she said.
Recalling the events prior to Captain Nayyar's martyrdom, the mother said her son was given command of three platoons by General Bawa after Major Ritesh retired hurt due to injuries.
'Gen Bawa gave the command of three platoons to Anuj saying now you have to take care of all this. Anuj told him 'Sir I will do it'. It boosted his morale,' she said.
Meena Nayyar said in the third week of June, her son was made the captain and the stars of the rank pinned inside a tent here.
'Gen Bawa told him Anuj every star means a responsibility. Perhaps there was thought inside him that since he has become a Captain, it was his responsibility to do the war even if anything happens,' she added. PTI MIJ NB NB
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