Captain Amit Joshi

Captain Amit Joshi hailed from Shimla in Himachal Pradesh and was born on 25 Feb 1977.  Son of late Shri Praveen Joshi and Smt Vinita Joshi, Capt Amit Joshi had a brother Kapil as his sibling. Capt Amit and his brother were raised by their grandfather Shri CL Joshi ,who was their guiding spirit. He completed his schooling up to Class X from St. Edwards High School, where he had the distinction of becoming the 'School Captain'. Thereafter he went to Bhavan Vidyalaya in Chandigarh and completed Class XII. In this school too, he excelled in varous fields and became the 'School Captain'. After completing his schooling he did his engineering from Wardha college of Engineering in Maharashtra.

Like many young people in Himachal Pradesh, he always nursed the idea of joining the Army since his younger days. He continued to follow his passion while growing up and eventually got selected to join the OTA Chennai. He got commissioned in Feb 2002 as a lieutenant in the Corps of EME, the arm of Indian Army which has varying responsibilities related to the design, development, trial, inspection and refit of weapon systems and equipment. The Corps also provides technical advice to units and conduct recovery operations during peace as well as war. Capt Amit Joshi also was an avid cricketer and played at various levels during his student days. 

Operation Meghdoot: 07 Sep 2002

After getting commissioned in Feb 2002, Capt Amit Joshi was sent to serve with 7/11 GR to have field experience. During Sep 2002, 7/11 GR was deployed in Siachen Glacier braving the hostile weather as well as the enemy across the undefined border. Besides facing extreme weather conditions, Capt Amit Joshi and his troops had to deal quite often with unprovoked firing from the enemy forces. Before getting deployed Capt Amit Joshi and his comrades had undergone strenuous training  ranging from psychological strengthening to physical toughening. In their area of deployment, rarefied atmosphere along with extreme cold climate often took toll of human lives. High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema, High Altitude Cerebral Oedema, Hypothermia, High Blood Pressure and Palpitation could make a soldier loose his life if not evacuated to lower altitudes in time.

On 07 Sep 2002, Capt Amit Joshi was at Chaman Post supervising operational activities. It was one of crucial forward posts like Bana, Bana LP, and Tiger LP. At these posts getting buried under avalanches, falling inside a crevasse or getting disoriented in a blizzard and freezing to death were not so uncommon occurrences. Also there were numerous cases of soldiers losing their limbs to frost bites at these heights. On that day Capt Amit Joshi too had to face a very hostile weather and lost the battle of life. Capt Amit Joshi was a valiant soldier and young energetic officer, who laid down his life at the age of 25 years in the line of his duty. 

Capt Amit Joshi is survived by his mother Smt Smt Vinita Joshi and brother Shri Kapil Joshi.

• A cricket tournament is held in his memory every year in St. Edwards School Shimla and is called Capt Amit Joshi Memorial Tournament.