Capt Suri — the Sikh warrior from Ambala
Col Dilbag Dabas (Retd)
Gurjinder Singh was born into a soldiers’ family at Ambala on July 4, 1974. His grandfather Subedar Gurbaksh Singh had participated in overseas campaigns during World War II and also on mainland India during the wars in 1947-48 and 1962. His father Lt Col TP Singh Suri, a Sikh Light Infantry veteran, took active part in the 1971 war with Pakistan in the Naushera sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Gurjinder studied in Army Public Schools at military stations wherever his father was posted. He went on to join the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, in July 1993 and was commissioned into Army Ordnance Corps in June 1997. He had opted for Sikh Light Infantry as his parental claim but at that time, due to paucity of vacancies, he could not get the infantry regiment of his choice. Nonetheless, he was destined to be a part of a combat arm in the most glorious period of his Army career. And that combat arm happened to be 12th Battalion of Bihar Regiment, the regiment the hero and role model of which, Birsa Munda, figures on top among freedom fighters from Bihar. Capt Gurjinder Singh Suri, commissioned in Ordnance Corps, while on attachment to 12 Bihar Battalion in their finest innings, did something which made the Ordnance, the logistic arm of the Army and 12 Bihar, the sword arm, proud of this young Khalsa.
During 1999, Capt Gurjinder Singh Suri was attached to 12 Bihar when the battalion was deployed in the Gulmarg sector of Jammu and Kashmir. It was here at Faulad Post situated at a height of 11,200 feet that Captain Suri attained martyrdom by sacrificing his life in the defence of the motherland.
For his conspicuous act of bravery and supreme sacrifice, Capt Gurjinder was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously. The battle account of his gallant action is available in the War Diary of 12 Bihar. After Captain Gurjinder Suri’s martyrdom, his younger brother Randhir Singh Suri left his lucrative corporate job with a resolve to fill the void. Randhir is today a serving Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. People at Ambala rightly say that Randhir is not part of the third generation of the Suris in uniform, he carries the legacy in the fourth since he joined the Army after his elder brother’s martyrdom. Capt Suri was the lone recipient of Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest military decoration for gallantry, during the investiture ceremony on August 15, 2000.
(The writer is a veteran Gunner, 6 Field Regiment)
The summary of the gallant action in War Diary of 12 Bihar reads..
Captain Gurjinder Singh Suri was Ghatak platoon commander and was located at Faulad Post in the Forward Defended Locality of the battalion in the Gulmarg Sector of Jammu and Kashmir. On November 9, 1999, the enemy launched an attack on the post, which was successfully repulsed and the enemy retreated. Seizing the opportunity, the Ghatak Platoon was launched to pursue the fleeing enemy. Captain Suri immediately deployed his support group to take care of any reinforcements/ interference and set out to clear the enemy bunkers one by one. When he saw that one of his comrades was grievously injured in the process, he quickly moved on with his buddy to clear the bunker. He killed two enemy soldiers with his AK 47 rifle and silenced the enemy machine gun. However, he got a burst in his left arm in the process. Unmindful of his injury, Captain Suri continued to inspire his men to accomplish the task. He then lobbed two hand grenades into a bunker and entered inside spraying bullets with his rifle, killing one more enemy soldier instantly. At this point the officer was hit by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade and was critically wounded. He refused to get evacuated and continued to exhort his men till he breathed his last. The officer displayed extraordinary junior leadership, inspired by which the Ghataks fell upon the enemy with vengeance and annihilated them. Captain Gurjinder Singh Suri, thus, displayed conspicuous bravery and exceptional junior leadership in the face of the enemy.
