Keishing Clifford Nongrum, MVC

Biography

Captain Keishing Clifford Nongrum was born on 7 March 1975 in Shillong, Meghalaya. Of partly Naga and partly Khasi descent, he took the surname Nongrum from his mother in keeping with Khasi matrilineal tradition. He studied at Don Bosco Technical School and graduated in Political Science from St. Anthony's College, Shillong. A keen footballer and boxer, he captained his school football team and in 1993 founded the Kiev Shphrang Sports Club to encourage local children. His passion for the armed forces led him to join the Officers Training Academy, Chennai, and he was commissioned into the 12th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry. During the 1999 Kargil conflict his unit was deployed in the Batalik Sector of Ladakh as part of Operation Vijay. On the night of 30 June/1 July 1999, Captain Nongrum led the assault to capture the strategically vital Point 4812. Employing the field-craft skills he had mastered, he led his column up an almost sheer, near-vertical rock face and, closing in silently on the enemy sheltered among the rocks, pressed home the attack against fierce resistance, laying down his life. For his conspicuous gallantry he was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.