Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Ajay Singh Jasrotia, SM (31 March 1972 – 15 June 1999) was an Indian military officer with the 13

Jammu and Kashmir Rifles The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Its origins lay in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. After the accession of the state to the Indian Union in October 1947, ...

(13 JAK RIF) who laid down his life during

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

to save the lives of his six comrades. He was deployed in Sopore in the Baramulla district of

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

when the Kargil War broke out. 13 JAK RIF under the command of

Lt General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

then Colonel

Yogesh Kumar Joshi Lieutenant General Yogesh Kumar Joshi, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VrC, SM, ADC (born 5 January 1962) is a retired General Officer of the Indian Army. He was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command, assuming office from Lt Gen Ranb ...

was moved to the

Dras Dras (also spelt Drass, ISO transliteration: '), also known locally in Shina as Himababs, Hembabs, or Humas, is a town and hill station, near Kargil city in the Kargil district of the union territory of Ladakh in India. It is on the Nationa ...

sector as a reserve force. On 15 June 1999, the base camp came under heavy artillery shelling and six of his soldiers were injured. Amidst heavy artillery shelling which continued unabated, he evacuated the wounded to safety by carrying them on his back. While rescuing the last soldier he was fatally wounded by shrapnel. All of the six lived to tell the tale. He was posthumously awarded the Sena Medal for his courage and sacrifice. Knowing that he won't survive he refused to be evacuated before his wounded men. His death played a role in motivating his juniors

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

then Lieutenant

Vikram Batra Vikram Batra (9 September 1974 – 7 July 1999) was an officer of the Indian Army. He was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, the highest Indian military decoration, for his actions during the Kargil War; on 7 July 1999, Batra was kill ...

PVC and Colonel then Lieutenant Sanjeev Singh Jamwal

VrC Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋiː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy on the battlefield and is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards and ...

to capture Point 5140 without any casualty. Coincidentally Batra was killed in a similar way as Jasrotia during the capture of Point 4875 when he exposed himself to enemy fire while rescuing an injured soldier.

Early life

He was born into a family of military traditions, his grandfather Khajoor Singh Jasrotia was a lieutenant Colonel and his father Arjun Singh Jasrotia was the

DIG Digging, also referred to as excavation, is the process of using some implement such as claws, hands, manual tools or heavy equipment, to remove material from a solid surface, usually soil, sand or rock (geology), rock on the surface of Earth. Di ...

of Border Security Force. He was fondly known as “Rambo” during his schooling days in Jammu. He did his primary education from BSF School Paloura in Jammu, senior secondary from Kendriya Vidyalaya Jalandhar Cantt, B.Com. from SPMR Commerce College in Jammu, SSB from Allahabad and military training from OTA Chennai.

Legacy

* A road in Gandhi Nagar area of Jammu has been named as ''Kargil Shaheed Major Ajay Jasrotia Marg'' to honour his sacrifice. * ''Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia Park'' is a park in a Sainik Colony in Jammu with his bust in the center. * His graduation college dedicated college library to him. * ''Shaheed Ajay Jasrotia Gas Agency'' is a gas agency at Sainik School Road Nagrota, Jammu named after him. * His character was portrayed in the movie LOC: Kargil (2003) by actor Amit Behl and by Nikitin Dheer in

Shershaah ''Shershaah'' () is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language biographical war film based on the life of Vikram Batra, martyred in Kargil War, directed by Vishnuvardhan in his Hindi film debut and written by Sandeep Shrivastava. The film was produced by Dh ...

(2021).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jasrotia, Ajay Singh 1972 births 1999 deaths Dogra people People from Jammu Kendriya Vidyalaya alumni People of the Kargil War Indian Hindus Indian military personnel killed in action Recipients of the Sena Medal Indian Army officers