This is the story of 23 year old Gurtej Singh who proved that he was fearless when he took the lives of 12 Chinese soldiers with his bare hands at Galwan. The border skirmish between India and China reached a crescendo at a face-off on June 15, 2020 in the Galwan river area of the Ladakh region. Gurtej was one of the 20 soldiers from India that were martyred that day.
“Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them” – Rabindranath Tagore
Gurtej belonged to 3rd Punjab’s “Ghatak Platoon” which was summoned to help the 16th Bihar Regiment at Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020. Gurtej was armed only with kirpan, stick, rods and some knives. He was attacked by 4 Chinese soldiers as his platoon rushed into the battle.The young Sikh with cries of “Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal” dragged all four of them off a cliff. Gurtej also lost his balance and fell off the cliff but was saved by a boulder. Although badly wounded, Gurtej hauled himself up again and rushed back into the fight. He slashed and killed 7 more Chinese soldiers before one attacked him from behind. Even as he went down, Gurtej slashed the one who had stabbed him with his kirpan.
At the end of the fight, this brave martyr had taken 12 enemy lives. Gurtej Singh is an Indian Hero that one should never forget. We can all shed tears of pride for him and do our best to honour his memory.
