Anusuya Prasad, MVC

Biography

Sepoy Anusuya Prasad was born on 19 May 1953 in Nanna village of the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Coming from a modest background, he was raised with strong values of discipline, determination and patriotism, and from his early years he was drawn toward a life of service in uniform. He enrolled into the Indian Army on 19 May 1971, on his eighteenth birthday, and was assigned to the 10th Battalion of The Mahar Regiment, where he underwent his initial training. Within months of joining his battalion, war clouds gathered on the eastern front. As part of Operation Cactus Lily during the 1971 Indo-Pak War, his unit was tasked to assault a fortified enemy position at the Chatlapur tea factory near Shamsher Nagar in East Pakistan on the night of 29-30 November 1971. The factory had been turned into a strong defensive locality by the enemy and was holding up the advance of his battalion. Sepoy Anusuya Prasad volunteered for the dangerous mission of silencing the stronghold and, armed with phosphorous grenades, crawled towards the enemy position under heavy fire. He was hit in both legs by enemy bullets but refused to fall back and continued to inch forward. Moments later, a burst from an enemy machine gun struck him in the shoulder, causing grievous wounds and profuse bleeding. Despite his critical injuries, he pressed on to the objective, hurled the grenades into the building and set it ablaze, forcing the enemy to abandon the stronghold and clearing the way for his battalion's advance. He succumbed to his wounds on the objective. Having served barely eleven days with his battalion, Sepoy Anusuya Prasad displayed conspicuous gallantry, raw courage and supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army, and was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, the nation's second-highest gallantry award. He remains among the youngest recipients of this honour.