Military career
After graduating from the National Defence Academy in 1988, Pillay was commissioned into the 4th battalion of the Brigade of the Guards (4 Guards). He saw active service in the Indian states of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir before moving to the 8th battalion of the Brigade of the Guards (8 Guards) deployed in India's northeast, where he was involved in an encounter in which he nearly lost his life with multiple gunshots directed on his chest and arm and a grenade blast that exploded on his right foot and blew up a portion of the leg. [7]
In a fateful patrol Pillay led in 1994, he was tasked to protect a few tribal villages during a phase of disturbance that involved ethnic clashes between Nagas and Kukis in Manipur's Tamenglong district. He managed to track down insurgents from the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) hiding in Tamenglong and successfully ambushed them in Longdi Pabram village. However, after the surrender of the militants, Pillay, who was near fatally wounded, realised that there were two young children who were injured in the cross fire. When the helicopter arrived to evacuate him, he refused to be moved and insisted that the young children be taken to safety first. [8]
This noble act won over not only the villagers but also the insurgents in the area. Though the villagers presumed that Pillay had died in the encounter, a patrol team sent to the village in March 2010 connected the villagers to Pillay who was immediately invited and felicitated in a major way by the village. The soldier's humanitarian service has also earned him a moniker of "Pillay Pamei" among the local population. "Pamei" is a surname and clan of the influential Zeliangrong community residing in the village. [9] Pillay has thereafter returned several times to the village and has organised several activities for development of the region, earning him the sobriquet of "Hero of Manipur" and "Savior of Longdi Pabram". [10]
Manipur is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanmar, Sagaing Region to the east and Chin State to the south. The state covers an area of 22,327 square kilometres (8,621 sq mi) and has a population of almost 3 million, including the Meiteis, Nagas, Kukis, Zomis and other smaller communities, who speak a variety of Sino-Tibetan languages. Manipur has been at the crossroads of Asian economic and cultural exchange for more than 2,500 years. It connects the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia to Southeast Asia, East Asia, Siberia, regions in the Arctic, Micronesia and Polynesia enabling migration of people, cultures and religions.
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Gaidinliu Pamei popularly known as Rani Gaidinliu was a Naga spiritual and political leader who led a revolt against British rule in India. At the age of 13, she joined the Heraka religious movement of her cousin Haipou Jadonang. The movement later turned into a political movement seeking to drive out the British from Manipur and the surrounding Naga areas. Within the Heraka faith, she came to be considered an incarnation of the Goddess Cherachamdinliu. Gaidinliu was arrested in 1932 at the age of 16, and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the British rulers. Jawaharlal Nehru met her at Shillong Jail in 1937, and promised to pursue her release. Nehru gave her the title of "Rani" ("Queen"), and she gained local popularity as Rani Gaidinliu.
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