Kargil War 25th Anniversary: Know who is Yogendra Singh Yadav of 18 Grenadiers, youngest recipient of Param Vir Chakra

As one travels from Srinagar to Kargil and beyond, the first major town is Drass, the site of Kargil War Memorial which has become a major tourist attraction nowadays. Just as one is a few kilometers from the main town, one sees a high mountain on the left, a sharp peak called Tiger Hill. This mountain feature, visible for miles around, was the site of one of the major battles during the Kargil War 25 years ago.

It was important for the Indian Army to capture Tiger Hill as it commands a clear view of the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway. Bombardments from this feature on all the traffic moving on this vital road, virtually a lifeline to Leh back then, were sporadic. Winning back this feature was an arduous task for which 18 Grenadiers were the unit chosen to lead the assault. It was on July 3, 1999, that this task was assigned to the unit and young Yogendra Singh Yadav was among those who were in the Ghatak Platoon.

For what Yadav did on this day, he was awarded Param Vir Chakra, the highest military honour. It was erroneously declared that Yogendra was being awarded PVC posthumously, presumed dead by all. Fortunately, the error was detected later and it became clear that after suffering grievous injuries, Yadav was recuperating in a military hospital. The one who had died was a namesake of Yadav and that had led to the confusion.

The citation of the PVC awarded to Yadav reads:

Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav was part of the leading team of Ghatak Platoon tasked to capture Tiger Hill on the night of 3/4 July 1999. The approach to the top was steep, snow bound and rocky. Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav, unmindful of the risk involved, volunteered to be in the lead and fixed rope of his team to climb up. On seeing the team, the enemy opened intense automatic grenade, rocket and artillery fire killing the commander and two of his colleagues and the platoon was stalled.

Realising the gravity of the situation, Grenadier Yadav crawled up to the enemy position to silence it and in the process sustained multiple injuries. Unmindful of his injuries and in the hail of enemy bullets, Grenadier Yadav continued climbing towards the enemy positions. Lobbing grenades and continuously firing from his weapon, he killed four enemy soldiers in close combat and silenced the automatic fire. Despite multiple injuries, he refused to be evacuated and continued the charge. Inspired by his gallant act, the platoon charged on to the other positions with renewed punch and captured Tiger Hill Top.

Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav displayed the most conspicuous courage, indomitable gallantry, grit and determination under extreme adverse circumstances.

Incidentally, Yogendra is the youngest recipient of the PVC till date and was barely 19 when he got this award. In 2020, Amitabh Bachchan hosted a special show of Kaun Banega Crorepati and invited Yadav to participate. Yadav won Rs 25 lakhs on the show and donated this amount to Army Welfare Fund. A couple of Bollywood movies portrayed a dramatised version of assault on the Tiger Hill.

Yadav was born on May 10, 1980, in Aurangabad Ahir, of Bulandshahr District in Uttar Pradesh. His father Karan Singh Yadav served in the Kumaon Regiment, and had participated in 1965 and 1971 wars.

At the Tiger Hill, capturing three enemy bunkers was the task given to Yadav’s unit 18 Grenadiers. These bunkers were situated on top of a vertical 1,000 feet (300 metres) steep cliff face. Yadav was among the troops that were leading the assault. He volunteered to climb the cliff face and installed ropes that would allow further assaults on the feature. Halfway up, firing from an enemy bunker killed the platoon commander and two others.

In spite of being hit by multiple bullets in his groin and shoulder, Yadav climbed the remaining 60 feet (18 m) and reached the top. Subsequently, close hand to hand combat followed and all the Pakistani soldiers occupying the bunkers were neutralised leading to Indian Army establishing its control on the Tiger Hill. After Tololing captured on June 12-13, 1999, establishing control over the Tiger Hill ensured the safety of the traffic plying on the Srinagar-Kargil road.