Ghazala Wahab

In December 2015, responding to a query, the ministry of defence (MoD) presented the following data to Lok Sabha: since 1984, when the India Army was first deployed on the Siachen glacier to pre-empt the purported occupation of the glacier by the Pakistan Army, a total of 869 troops have died, not fighting the enemy, but unable to cope with extreme altitude and climactic conditions, including avalanches.

Two months later, in February 2016, another avalanche rolled down the icy wasteland of Siachen taking 10 more precious lives, one of whom, Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, managed to stay alive for nearly six days buried under the snow at the temperature of -45 degrees. Hailed as a national hero — Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited him in the army hospital — Koppad died in the hospital due to multiple organ failure.

The national media followed the story of his survival and subsequent death with a pathological frenzy. His name became synonymous with courage and was used for several days to beat lesser patriots into submission on