Major M Saravanan VrC

Major Mariappan Saravanan was born on 10 Aug 1972 in Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. son of an army officer Lt Col Adhi Mariappan and Smt Amrithavalli Mariyappan, Maj Saravanan had two sisters Chitra and Revathy as his siblings. The army life fascinated him and he had made up his mind to follow in the footsteps of his father since his childhood.  His schooling began in Gaya in Bihar in Kendriya Vidyalaya No 2, where he went on to become 'School Pupil Captain'. Thereafter he studied at various schools, wherever his father got posted. Unfortunately, he lost his father Lt Col Adhi Mariappan a doctor in the army in a road accident in Bangalore in 1989, when he was 16 years old. 

Maj Saravanan, after completing his schooling in various places joined St Joseph’s College in Tiruchirapalli which was founded in 1844. He acquitted himself very well in the college and was appointed as the president of the 'Student Council' union at St. Joseph’s College in 1992. He developed a liking for Karate during his college days and excelled in it. He also joined NCC and earned a 'C' certificate for himself. Thereafter he got selected for the OTA Chennai and eventually graduated from the OTA in 1995. He was commissioned into 1 Bihar of the Bihar Regiment, a regiment known for its numerous battle honours.  After passing out of OTA, he was posted to Tamulpur, Cooch Bihar, and Bhutan before moving to Kargil. He was promoted to the rank of captain in 1996 and major in 1999. During the four years of service, he underwent various training courses including the Young Officers' Course at the Infantry School Mhow, Commando Course at Belgaum, Course on Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) at Pune, and Mountain Warfare Course at High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) at Sonmarg in Kashmir. 

Operation  Vijay (Kargil): 29 May 1999

During May 1999, Major M Saravanan’s unit 1 Bihar under the command of Col O P Yadav, got deployed in the Batalik sub-sector of Ladakh. As 'Operation Vijay' was launched on 26 May, the unit troops were tasked to capture the enemy’s nearest observation post on Jubar Complex, the Jubar OP, at the height of 16,400 feet. However, the first attack failed due to the lack of time given for the acclimatization. Within a week from the first attack, 1 Bihar launched an attack on the Jubar Hill and despite stiff resistance, a small location near Jubar Hill was captured by the dawn. Thereafter, on 28 May 1999, the Charlie Company under the command of Major M Saravanan was assigned the task of capturing Point 4268 on Jubar Ridge, a well-fortified enemy post at an altitude of 14,000 feet in the Batalik sub-sector of Kargil. The terrain comprised of jagged rocks covered with snow and knife-edge ridges with no greenery.

Following the failure of two attacks, Major Saravanan realized that a frontal attack was the only way. The enemy was well entrenched on heights but the steep climb did not deter him. The attack was launched at 4 a.m. on 29 May with his final command to the men, “Do or Die”. He killed two enemy soldiers by firing a rocket launcher and was wounded in the stomach by shrapnel, but he did not give up. His commanding officer asked him to fall back in view of many casualties, but Maj Saravanan replied that he was close to the objective and would not spare the enemy who had killed his men. He added, ‘Nothing will happen to your Genghis Khan’, which was his code name. He charged through a hail of bullets and killed two more enemy soldiers. He was the first to reach the top but received a bullet injury in the head at 6.30 a.m. and fell into a ravine. His unit 1 Bihar took an oath to capture Point 4268, which they did by the 6th of July. Besides Major M Saravanan, the other brave hearts, who laid down their lives in this operaiton included Nk Ganesh Prasad Yadav, Lance Naik Bidyanand Singh, Sep Pramod Kumar, Sep Hardeo Prasad, and Sep SSP Gupta. Major Saravanan’s body could be recovered, 37 days after his death, following a bitter fight. The entire Jubar ridge was cleared by 8th July. 

Major M Saravanan was a valiant and gritty officer, who laid down his life in the service of the nation before he could even turn 27. The body of Major M Saravanan was brought by air and the Tri-colour draped coffin was placed at the feet of his mother. Hundreds of garlands were placed on it and thousands of people came to pay homage to the hero of Batalik- the first officer casualty of Operation Vijay. He was posthumously awarded the "Vir Chakra" and it was presented to his mother Smt Amrithavalli Mariyappan by President K Narayanan.

Major Mariappan Saravanan is survived by his mother Smt Amrithavalli Mariyappan, and two sisters Dr Chitra and Smt Revathy.

The citation for the "Vir Chakra" awarded to him reads:

Major M Saravanan was the Company Commander of one of the companies of 1 Bihar launched in the battalion attack on Point 4268 in the Batalik sector during “Operation Vijay”. While moving forward to eliminate the last position held by the enemy, Major Saravanan was fired upon by the enemy with a heavy volume of small arms fire. Unmindful of the enemy fire, he crawled forward to destroy the last remaining enemy position and before being fatally hit by an enemy bullet, killed two enemy soldiers. Major M Saravanan displayed exceptional bravery, valour, and exemplary leadership, fighting from the front, destroying two enemy bunkers and killing few enemy soldiers before laying his life for the motherland.

Major M Saravanan was posthumously awarded the gallantry Award of “Vir Chakra” for his outstanding bravery and sacrifice.