Havaldar Lalak Jan  was a junior officer in the Northern Light Infantry and fought against India in the Kargil War. During this time, Tiger Hill, a part of the Kargil sector had been captured by the Pakistan Army. The territory was being held by 130 men of the 12th Northern Lights Infantry commanded by Subedar Sikander with Havaldar Lalak Jan as his second in command.

On the July 1, 1999 the Indian Army launched an attack on Tiger Hill. As a result of this, Subedar Sikandar, along with his men, crossed the Line of Control and repulsed the attack. The next day Indian forces launched a second attack, forcing Subedar Sikandar and his men to retreat to a secure location at a bunker nearby.

Once all the men were safe, Havaldar Lalak Jan was ordered to descend Tiger Hill to plant landmines in front of the Indian forces. Under heavy fire cover, Lalak Jan successfully placed the landmines and which proved to successfully impede the enemy forces as the moved forward.

The Indian Army retaliated some days later by attacking the Northern Lights Infantry from one of the steepest parts of the Hill – an attack they were not expecting and one that lead to many casualties. Towards the end of the attack only Havaldar Lalak Jan and three other men survived.

Despite this, Lalak Jan, now the senior most soldier remaining, along with his men fought bravely and managed to repulse the attack.

He was severely wounded, with his left hand being rendered useless due to several bullet wounds. When reinforcements arrived he asked to continue to fight as he wanted to die of the battlefield and not in a hospital bed. Upon his insistence he was once again allowed to return to the field where he embraced martyrdom after inflicting heavy causalities to the enemy.

For his undue commitment and valour, he was awarded the Nishan-i-Haider.