NEW DELHI: Where do the most Gallant men those who have done their tours in war and not in peace time activity in the Indian defense forces come from? While it can be categorically stated that no one has a monopoly over courage, a book on Indian gallantry awards won in the post-independence period has thrown up interesting statistics.
‘While the theory of ‘martial races’ promoted by the British Indian Army has been discarded as a relic of the less enlightened times, and justifiably 0, the gallantry awards won by the Indian defense forces during the post-independence period grudgingly prove one point: The largest number Of gallantry award winners continue to come from areas identified by the British as nurseries of the toughest soldiery in the subcontinent.
For instance, the largest number of gallantry award winners continue to come from Punjab. The State has won the largest number of Param Vir ‘Chakras (4), the largest number of Mahavir Chakras (40) and the largest number of Vir Chakras (209). While Punjab has posted a formidable total of 253 gallantry award winners during the last 48 years, Uttar Pradesh scores a close second the State has a total number of 214 gallantry award winners.
There, however, ends the comparison between the two states. While Uttar Pradesh is the most populous State (with over 13.8 crore persons, it has 16.44% of the country’s population), Punjab has a population of nearly 2erore or only 2.39% of the country’s total population, according to the 1991 census. With Punjab winning 17.4% gallantry awards, Uuar Pradesh has won 14.7% of the awards.
The statistics concerning gallantry ‘awards have been compiled in a book by S.S. Gandhi India’s Highest Gallantry Awards and the Men Who Won Them: 1947-1995 the book was released by Chief of Army Staff Gen ‘Shankar Roychowdhry.
Instituted On January 26, 1950, with Prospective effect, the awards replaced the colonial awards of Victoria Cross, Military Cross and George Cross. The awards were given for three wars with Pakistan (1947, 1965 and 1971), the 1962 war with China, for the Siachin conflict and for overseas Operations like the IPKF deployment in Jaffna.
Gandhi’s book also reveals that the Southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Kamataka and Kerala together have received 148 awards or 10.1% of the total gallantry awards given so far. ‘These states have 23.2% of the total population.
While cover State and Union Terrory figures in the list of gallantry awards given since 1947, two areas have yet to open their account: Mizoram and Pondicherry. Following Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in the list of honors are Haryana (with 119), Maharashtra (with 117), Delhi (with 111), Rajasthan (with 92), Himachal Pradesh (with 78) and Jammu and Kashmir (with 76). Also, the proud Gorkha soldier has continued to assert himself in the Indian Army, with Nepal cornering 74 gallantry awards, ‘well ahead of several Indian states.
The Union Territory with the highest number of gallantry award winners (22) is Chandigarh. The small city, with a population of over 6 lakh, has won more gallantry awards than four major states: Madhya Pradesh (21), Bihar (15), Gujarat (4) and Orissa (2).
Article extracted from this publication >> August 18, 1995
