‘Durga Mata Ki Jai’: On Kargil anniversary, Captain Vikram Batra’s twin brother echoes J&K Rifles’s war cry | Jammu News

DRASS: A more poignant act of twinning would be hard to find. As banker Vishal Batra stood at Point 5140 in Drass Thursday, scanned the horizon and yelled “Yeh dil maange more” thrice, he was harking back to a moment etched as much in the national consciousness as the deepest recesses of his heart.
Kargil hero Capt Vikram Batra, his twin and posthumous Param Vir Chakra winner, had uttered those words 25 years ago in a famous victory message after capturing Tiger Hill.Vishal wanted to recreate the moment and feel his brother’s spirit in the wind brushing against his face on that barren terrain where bravery remains the final milestone.
The twins would have celebrated turning 50 together on Sept 9. Vishal, a spitting image of his brother, visited one of the posts Capt Batra had occupied a quarter of a century ago “to be closer to him” in their “special year”.
“After 45 days, I will be a 50-year-old with grey hair, but Vikram will remain young at 25. We shared a strong bond, being identical twins and more like friends,” he told TOI.
Vishal rounded off his tribute to the slogan immortalised by his brother with the J&K Rifles’ war cry “Durga Mata Ki Jai”.
“I travelled to the remote post with permission from the Army Chief of Staff, Gen Upendra Dwivedi, who acceded to my special request. Some of the soldiers who had worked with my brother accompanied me,” he said.
“The atmosphere was charged with emotion as I walked through the area and spoke to those who had shared his journey. Each step at the post, which is at an altitude of around 17,000 feet, was a poignant reminder of the sacrifice and valour of Vikram and his men.”
Capt Batra wrote four letters to his sibling between June 16 and July 5, 1999. The first spoke of his “mission”. The second one, written on June 23, mentioned that he had been recommended for the Maha Vir Chakra, the country’s second highest gallantry award.
In his third letter, datelined July 2, was about him moving further for his next mission. “We received the final letter after he died in battle,” Vishal recalled.
The twins’ mother Kamal Kant Batra, who died this Feb, had named them “Luv and Kush” because she was a disciple of Ram.
“When he was alive, I was called Kush, being the younger one. Now, I am proud to be known as the brother of Shershah (Capt Vikram’s codename during the Kargil War),” Vishal said.
Vishal said he wanted to join the Army as much as his twin, and they together appeared for an SSB interview in Allahabad. “He was selected in his first attempt, but I was rejected. I tried thrice but didn’t make it. Perhaps, it was destiny. I am living a dream through my brother.”
On the 20th anniversary of the Kargil War in 2019, Vishal visited Point 4875, which was later named ‘Batra Top.’ Capt Batra was among the 25 casualties the Army suffered while capturing that post.