Colonel Hoshiar Singh Dahiya

Colonel Hoshiar Singh Dahiya

Born: 5th May 1936
Died: 6th December 1998

Colonel Hoshiar Singh Dahiya was born on 5th May 1936, in Sisana village, Haryana as a son of Choudhary Hira Singh. After completing his school and first year’s study at the Jat College (Rohtak), he joined the Army. On 30th June 1963 Colonel was commissioned in ‘The Grenadiers Regiment of the Indian Army’, and was promoted as a subordinate on 30th June 1965 and later to captain on 30 June 1969. His first posting was in NEFA.

In 1971, during the war, the 3rd Grenadiers was given the task of creating a bridgehead across the Basantar River in Shakargarh from 15th to 17th December. Basantar river was covered with intense minefields on both sides, which was protected by the defence army of Pakistan who was well-fortified. Major Hoshiar Singh, was ordered to seize the Pakistani locality of Jarpal. The Pakistani Army reacted and answered with violent counterattacks. Encouraging his men and motivating his command, Major Hoshiar Singh went from channel to channel, to stay strong and fight. As a result, his company fought back all the attacks imposing heavy mortality on the Pakistani army.

Despite being seriously wounded, Major Hoshiar Singh didn’t give up and again went from channel to channel in the open-facing enemy’s machine gun. There he realized the importance of machine-gun fire and immediately rushed to the machine-gun pit. Though seriously wounded, Major himself manned the gun. The attack was bravely repulsed and the enemy withdrew leaving behind their 85 dead bodies including their Commanding Officer and three other officers.

Throughout this operation, Major Hoshiar Singh displayed the most remarkable courage, unconquerable fighting spirit, and leadership in the highest oral history of the Army. Major was honoured with the Param Vir Chakra for his bravery and leadership.
On 30th June 1976, Singh was promoted to substantive major and served for two years as an instructor at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. Later he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 8 April 1983 and eventually rose to command of his battalion.

He retired in May 1988 and settled in Jaipur with the rank of colonel. He frequently visited his village of Sisana and successfully inspired many locals to join the army. He has three sons, two of whom followed their father into the army as commissioned officers in the Grenadiers, with one joining the 3rd Grenadiers.

On 6 December 1998, Colonel encountered a cardiac arrest and died at the age of 61. The colonel was cremated with full military honours in Jaipur.

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *