Col Narendra 'Bull' Kumar Whose Heroic Expeditions Helped India Secure Siachen Glacier, Passes Away
Col Narendra Bull Kumar who had spotted Pakistani activities around the Siachen glacier in 1984 that helped India secure it subsequently passed away on Thursday at the Armys Research and Referral hospital at the age of 87 after a brief illness. Col Kumar was awarded the Kirti Chakra Padma Shri Arjun award and the McGregor medal. He was the first Indian to climb Mount Everest in 1965.
India has lost a legendary figure who served in the Indian Army and helped the country secure the strategically important Siachen Glacier.
Colonel Narendra 'Bull' Kumar, who had spotted Pakistani activities around the Siachen glacier in 1984 that helped India secure it subsequently, passed away on Thursday at the Army's Research and Referral hospital at the age of 87 after a brief illness.
ADGPI
Born in Rawalpindi, Kumar was commissioned into the Kumoan regiment.
An alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Col (retd) Kumar, popularly known as ¡®Bull' Kumar, was regarded as one of the finest mountaineers of the country.
Col Kumar, who was awarded the Kirti Chakra, Padma Shri, Arjun award and the McGregor medal, carried out multiple expeditions in the Siachen glacier area in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Col Kumar¡¯s Siachen mission started after a German explorer showed him an American map of northern Kashmir that marked the LoC much further to the east than he expected.
History In Pics
Based mainly on his reconnaissance reports, the Indian Army went ahead with the mission to occupy the Siachen heights under Operation Meghdoot.
One of the initial inputs about the Pakistani plans to annex the Siachen glacier came to Army's intelligence through the iconic mountaineer.
"He is known to be the Siachen saviour. It was he who first detected the cartographic aggression of Pakistan in the Siachen glacier area. Rest is history," said Lt Gen Sanjay Kulkarni (Retd). Kulkarni was also one of the first Indian Army soldiers as a Captain to have climbed on top of the glacier along with his platoon.
Absolute LEGEND! The one who raised the red flag on Pak's evil designs on #Siachen Glacier.
¡ª Manmohan Bahadur (@BahadurManmohan) December 31, 2020
Was privileged 2bassociated with Col Kumar's FIRST expedition to the glacier in1978. We took out a casualty from the most important post, bang in the middle, aptly named KUMAR.
RIP Sir. https://t.co/3A3uhsOJNq
He was the first Indian to climb Mount Nanda Devi. He climbed Mount Everest in 1965, Mount Blanc (highest peak in the Alps), and later Mount Kangchenjunga.
He climbed all these peaks despite losing four toes due to frostbite in earlier expeditions. In 1981, as member of the Antarctica Task Force he played a stellar role.
He earned the nickname 'Bull' for relentlessly charging into everything he did.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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