Yesterday, officials in India announced that the remains of an Indian army soldier have been found. The discovery comes more than 38 years after the man went missing on a glacier. He was stationed there along the contested border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir.
The soldier and 17 other colleagues were occupying a ridge on Siachen Glacier in May 1984. That is the highest point in the Karakoram range in Kashmir’s Ladakh region. Suddenly, an avalanche hit the group. The bodies of 13 soldiers were recovered. Five remained missing.
A team of soldiers on Monday found human remains at the glacier. They also found an identity disc. The tag pinpointed the body as the missing man Chandra Shekhar.
Shekhar was part of India’s first army unit to occupy the 47-mile-long glacier in 1984. The unit engaged in intense battles with Pakistani soldiers.
Pakistan also controls part of divided Kashmir. Both neighbors claim all of the region. The glacier is considered the world’s highest battlefield. It had been uninhabited before Indian troops moved there.
Today, the harsh Siachen Glacier region is still uninhabited except for Indian and Pakistani military personnel. In fact, the nearest village is 10 miles from the Indian base camp.
Since 1984, the two countries have fought occasional skirmishes on the glacier. However, more Indian and Pakistani troops have died from the grueling conditions than from hostile fire.
In 2017, at least 20 Indian soldiers died in three avalanches. A 2012 avalanche killed 140 people, including 129 Pakistani soldiers.
India and Pakistan have discussed demilitarizing the glacier. But those discussions have been unsuccessful.
The Indian army gave Shekhar a funeral with full military honors. Then they flew his remains to his native village. There friends and family members showered his coffin with both flowers and tears.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. — Revelation 21:4
(People shower flower petals on the coffin containing the remains of Chandra Shekhar, an Indian army soldier who went missing 38 years ago, in his hometown in Haldwani, India, on August 17, 2022. AP)
