By Team ADU
New Delhi. 11 February, 2016. Miracles don’t always happen,more so when you pray for them the most. Lance Naik Hanumanthappa lost the battle for life at 11.45 AM in R&R Hospital, as the nation prayed for his survival.
The news that an army jawan was miraculously found alive under 25 feet of snow after six days of a rescue, once again unified the whole country and brought in a ray of hope, for the ten families who had given up hope on seeing their missing sons , after the massive avalanche in Siachen. The avalanche hit the high altitude post which is situated at 19000 feet in Siachen Glacier in Ladakh.
Lance Naik Hanumanthappa’s death reiterates the fact that for these men in Siachen and the other high altitude areas no enemy is bigger than nature and fighting against it is a battle lost and their presence at these borders protecting the nation, a war which will always be won. Their sacrifices will not only motivate coming generations of soldiers but also the ones you will continue to fight with a vengeance for the friends they lost.
A soldier of the Madras Regiment, Hanumanthappa survived in an air pocket created after the ice wall crashed on his post, experts opine. A yoga expert and his command over breath could possibly have been a reason for his heart sustaining six days of exposure to such extreme temperature. But in the end he couldn’t fight the battle for survival.
More soldiers have died on the glacier because of vagaries of nature, as compared to operations and skirmishes, in the highest battle field of the world.