The valiant Colonel (1960- 1999)
Vishwanathan was born in 1960 and educated at Kochi. He joined the National Defence Academy in 1977 and was commissioned into 18 Grenadiers in 1981. He served in the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka and UN Peace Keeping Force in Angola. The unit moved to the Kargil sector from the Kashmir Valley arriving at Mughalpura on 18 May 1999. They were ordered to capture 16,000 feet high Toloing feature.
The zig-zag path leading to it had no cover and was under observation of the enemy occupying the heights. Movement was possible only during night or in bad weather. The Pakistani soldiers on the heights brought down artillery fire on the Srinagar – Leh highway and disrupted any movement on the road. It was imperative to dislodge the enemy from this feature to remove the threat to the highway and to get a platform to clear the surrounding posts.
The brave soldiers crawled their way up inch by inch in temperatures of minus 10 degrees and sharp howling wind. They had no sleeping bags. The attacks launched on 22 May and 28 May failed. Two helicopter strikes on 26 and 27 May were ineffective. The assaulting troops got pinned down due to heavy enemy fire.
Major Adhikari led the next attack on 30 May and succumbed to his injuries about 20 metres short of the objective. Machine gun fire by the enemy did not allow the bodies to be recovered. The Pakistani soldiers mocked the Indian troops challenging them to collect their bodies. Captain Nimbalkar shouted back that he had come to collect bodies of Pakistani soldiers. On 2 June, Commanding Officer Colonel Thakur and second in command Colonel Vishwanathan sat behind a rock planning the next move.
Col Vishwanathan or Col Vishu as we was fondly addresed decided to personally lead the attack. They reached the top after a six hour arduous climb. Subedar Randhir Singh suggested to wait for help in view of heavy build up at the objective. If they delayed, dawn would soon be on them. He decided on an immediate attack and said to Subedar Singh, “Being a brave Jat, you are afraid of the Pakis.” Subedar Singh said that he was not afraid and asked the colonel to lead. Col Vishwanathan crawled ahead ignoring the danger posed by the enemy. Three of his men lay dead and he had to get them down. He captured three bunkers but received injuries in groin and thighs. Col Thakur crawled up to Col Vishu and dragged him to safety. He tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but he succumbed to the injuries in the lap of the Comanding Officer. Randhir Singh took over and silenced the machine gun. He killed two more enemies before he fell. They were both awarded Vir Chakra. A week earlier, Col Vishu had requested for a satellite phone since talking to the family would be a morale booster. The phone did arrive but with dead batteries – a cruel epitaph in blood over snow. The feature was subsequently captured by 2 Rajputana Rifles.
His father Mr Ramakrishnan was informed by telephone on 3 June that his son was no more. Mr Ramakrishnan commented, “We grieve the loss of our son but we are also proud that he dedicated his life to the nation.” Col Vishu is survived by his wife Jalaja and two children. He had written a letter to his wife but did not have the time to post it. The letter was received by her along with the bullet ridden body of Col Vishu. He had written, “I am proceeding to an unidentified destination. It could be dangerous.” He was due to come home on 4 June and had planned to take the family to his base.