Captain Vikram Batra PVC was an Indian Army Officer who sacrificed his life during the Kargil War. He was awarded, the Param Vir Chakra, the highest in Indian Military posthumously. He was killed while fighting Pakistani troops around Area Ledge, Point 4875 in the Kargil District of Former J&K. Captain Vikram Batra was born in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh on 9 September 1974 to Girdhari Lal Batra (Govt. School Principal) and Kamal Kanta Batra (A School Teacher). He had a twin brother and two sisters. He was bright in his studies. He studied in DAV Public School in Palampur and Competed his senior secondary education in Central School, Palampur. He was good at sports such as Table Tennis, Karate, etc. He attended DAV College Chandigarh, to pursue B.Sc. Medical Science. In College, he also joined NCC where in the first year he was declared the best NCC Air Wing Candidate in Punjab North Zone. During the next two years of his bachelor’s, he remained a member of NCC in which he gained a “C” certificate. He joined Panjab University at Chandigarh to pursue MA in English so that he could prepare for Combined Defense Services (CDS) Examination. In just the first year of his Masters, he passed CDS Examination. He was in the Top 35 candidates according to merit. He received a call for an Interview from SSB Allahabad. He left the university in 1996 to join Indian Military Academy.

He joined Indian Military Academy Dehradun in 1996 where he completed his 19 Month Training course. He was commissioned a Lt. in Indian Army and joined 13th Battalion of J&K Rifles. After completing some more training in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (1 Month) and Mhow, Madhya Pradesh (5 Months), he finally joined Sopore in Oct. 1998. He had several encounters with militants. He fought them all. He started as a Lt. and rose to the rank of Captain. In May 1999, Various Strategic High Points were captured by Pakistan in India’s Controlled Sections of Kashmir. It was the start of the Kargil War. The Indian Army started an operation codenamed “Operation Vijay” which was the second phase in the Kargil war. In this, the mission was to achieve back Major Peaks from Pakistani Troops in which Captain was assigned the task to get back Point 5140 (Dras Sector) under supervision and Point 4875 (Mushkoh Valley) as supervisor. Captain successfully was able to win Point 5140 back under the supervision of Lt. Colonel Yogesh Kumar Joshi. He single-handedly killed three militants and was seriously injured but insisted on continuing. While fighting at Point 4875, he engaged the enemy in fierce hand-to-hand combat and killed five enemy soldiers at point blank range. He realized one of his men had been shot. To evacuate him, he exposed himself to enemy fire. He was shot in the chest by a sniper from a close range and then in the head from a splinter in an RPG. He collapsed next to the injured soldier and succumbed to his wounds.

Captain Vikram Batra sacrificed his life for this country. His legacy is truly golden. He was known to use the slogan “Yeh Dil Mange More!” to signal his mission’s success. He had a biographic movie made after him titled “Shershaah” starring Siddharth Malhotra. The Point 4875 is now known as Batra Top. His statue is present in National War Memorial, New Delhi. The Indian Army also paid tribute to Captain on his 21st anniversary of Death. Captain will forever remain alive in our hearts!