Karni Singh Rathore
Encyclopedia
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
and recipient of the prestiguous Kirti Chakra
Kirti Chakra
The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra...
award.
Career
Rathore is a recipient of the prestigious Kirti ChakraKirti Chakra
The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra...
award, the highest peace time award for gallantry, in 1985, while fighting insurgent
Insurgent
Insurgent, insurgents or insurgency can refer to:* The act of insurgency-Specific insurgencies:* Iraqi insurgency, uprising in Iraq* Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, uprising in India* Insurgency in North-East India...
s.
He served as a meritorious Officer in the Indian Army's 17 Rajputana Rifles (Sawaiman). He was commissioned in the 17th Rajputana Rifles the unit of his father, got the command and was posted with TA at the time of his death. In between he was posted to Assam Rifles
Assam Rifles
The Assam Rifles are one of the Paramilitary forces of India. The unit can trace its lineage back to a paramilitary police force that was formed under the British in 1835 called Cachar Levy. Since then the Assam Rifles have undergone a number of name changes before the name Assam Rifles was finally...
as well.
Citation of Indian Army
The citation for the Kirti Chakra awarded to him reads:- Effective date 13 April 82
CAPTAIN KARNI SINGH RATHORE IC-37049 , RAJPUTANA RIFLES
Captain Karni Singh Rathore moved to Imphal
Imphal
Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....
during March 1981 when the insurgency in and around ImphaI town was in full swing. Captain Karni Singh Rathore was initially located with his company at Singjemei post located in the heart of the Imphal town. Captain Karni Singh Ratthore quickly adopted himself to the prevailing situation :in urban insurgency and .Led a number of success£ul missions in which he displayed conspicuous gallantry of a very high order. On 13 April 1982, Captain Karni Singh Rathore led a commando task force in Kadampokpi Khunao (Imphal) to cordon a hut in which a large number of extremists had taken dominating firing Positions. Captain Karni Singh Rathore led his team braving the heavy and intense firing from close range and cordened the hut successfully. He moved and adjusted his team members under heavy fire and successfully plugged all routes of escape. Meanwhile the insurgents who comprised the hard-core of People Libration Army, Manipur
Manipur
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Burma to the east. It covers an area of...
refused to surrender in spite of repeated warnings and put up a stiff resistance. The hut was eventually set on fire to flush out the insurgents .As the hut was set on fire Captain Karni Singh Rathore moved from point to point exhorting his team members and fired personally at the fleeing insurgents . On noticing that one insurgent was trying to escape through a window Captain Karni Sitngh Rathore unmindful of his personal safety got up from lying position, took a rifle from a soldier and shot the insurgent dead who was later identified as Thongam Kunj Biharij alias Raghu, the Chairman of People Liberation Army .
Captain Karni Singh Rathore kept firing at other insurgents who were also firing back recklessly. Realizing that some of the killed and wounded insurgents were getting trapped in the blazing hut, Captain Karni Singh Rathore unmindful of his personal safety entered the collapsing hut and retrieved dead and injured insurgents. During this action Captain Karni Singh Rathore played the most significant and gallant role, nine hard core members of people liberation Army including its Chairman were killed or captured.
Captain Kerni Singh Rathore, throughout his stay at Imphal led a number of other missions which yielded high booty of captured insurgents and weapons. Captain Karni Singh Rathore displayed conspicuous gallantry of a very high order and devotion to duty in utter disregard to his personal safety. He has thus rendered distinguished service of a high order in recognition of which, he is recommended for the award of KIRTI CHAKRA"
Further reading
- Bobby Sarangthem, Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies http://www.ipcs.org/agdb12-rpf.pdf - confirms that "On April 13, 1982, RPF's new leader, Thoudam Kunjabehari and eight other militants of the outfit were killed in an encounter in Kadampokpi area, near Imphal."
- Ajai Sahni, Survey of Conflicts & Resolution in India's Northeast, South Asia Terrorism Portal http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/faultlines/volume12/Article3.htm - says "Successful operations were subsequently launched against the PLA, PREPAK and KCP. On October 26, 1981, these three outfits were notified as unlawful organisations. Virtually the entire frontline leadership of the PLA was killed during the operations that followed, and its founder Bisheswar was arrested at Tekcham in Thoubal district on July 6, 1981. On April 13, 1982, the new PLA leader, Thoundam Kunjabehari, and eight other activists were killed in Kadampokpi, near Imphal. These military measures successfully contained the insurgency till the latter half of the 1980s."
- Renaud Egreteau, Instability At The Gate: India’s Troubled Northeast and its External Connections, Occasional Paper No.16 (2006), Centre de Sciences Humaines, Delhi http://www.csh-delhi.com/publications/downloads/ops/OP16.pdf - "the Indira Gandhi government resorted to harsh measures: the Indian Army was given a free hand to crack down on the insurgents. The various counter-insurgency operations in Manipur successfully crushed the militants and many Meitei leaders were killed or jailed (PLA head, Bhisheswar, was arrested in 1981, his successor, Thoundam Kunjabehari was gunned down in 1982, the PREPAK chairman was killed in 1985...)."