Col J P Singh
‘Kargil Yudh’ fought at the Trans Himalayan Plateau of India was the last War of the 20th Century between India and Pakistan. This was a long war, fought from May to July 1999, as against short and swift wars of 1965 & 1971. 527 brave soldiers laid down their lives for the sovereignty of the country. 1363 were disfigured and maimed for the rest of life. 25 long years have gone past since then.
But the memories are fresh particularly there whose brave sons made the supreme sacrifice. Various laudatory consolations have not nursed the wounds despite how articulated the platitudes have been. July 2024 is the ‘Silver Jubilee Month’ of Kargil Victory. 26th July 2024 is the ‘Silver Jubilee Kargil Vijay Diwas’. It is being celebrated to rekindle the pride and the valour of the soldiers who unexpectedly evicted the invader from the Kargil heights. It is to the dare devilry and sacrifices of these exceptional heroes that this article is dedicated to in all humility.
People all over the world wondered why after half a century of two countries becoming sovereign independent nations cannot live in peace. Pak had no plausible reason/cause to offer for the aggression. As a cover up, Pak called it indigenous insurrection by Kashmiri insurgents who were fighting for the independence of J&K. Soon the lies were exposed by its own media. Later revelations by the Prime Minister and Army Chief of Pakistan confirmed that it was a planned military aggression. Pakistan believed that this action will (i) internationalise Kashmir issue helping it to secure its speedy resolution, (ii) boost the sagging morale of decade long militancy in Kashmir and (iii) could do Siachen on Indian Kargil. It shows deep rooted Pak hostility towards India resulting into unleashing of non-stop ‘aatankvaad’ in J&K. To shame such belligerent neighbour, grand celebration of ‘Vijay Diwas’ is a step in the right direction.
Not only the world but India was also amazed of this occurrence. Army was caught unaware. This intrusion was first reported by a shepherd on 3 May 1999. On 5th May a patrol was sent to verify it. It was ambushed, soldiers captured and tortured to death. It was a clear cut violation of ‘Lahore Declaration’ signed by Nawaz Sharif and Vajpayee at Lahore. I was in the Comd HQ as Staff Officer to the Chief of Staff. When the news of infiltration and occupation of Kargil Heights percolated up and down the chain of command, the GoC-in-C was on leave and the Army Chief was in Poland. I accompanied the COS to HQ Srinagar Corps. While he was being briefed about the situation, he saw the war had started. Thereafter there was no looking back. On 9th May, Pak Artillery shelled ammunition depot at Kargil which caught fire resulting into greater loss of ammunition and panic in the township sounding the bigule of war.
India called it ‘Op Vijay’ though not a great victory in the military sense because it was retrieval of own territory surreptitiously occupied by Pakistan. It wasn’t capture of any enemy territory hence calling it Vijay sounds superfluous but definitely an appropriate anecdote for the morale of the nation. Since it is known as a great victory over Pakistan, it deserves grand celebration. Keeping in with past military traditions, even the 20th year of this military Vijay was remarkably celebrated at Kargil. Rashtrapati flew to Kargil to pay homage to the ‘Braves Whom the Nation Lost’. But that was jeopardised by the inclement weather. President did reach Kargil but couldn’t land. He landed closeby at Srinagar to proclaim and laud those whose souls rest in peace at Kargil. That speaks a lot about nation’s gratitude towards the military warriors who dared all odds to evict very strongly entrenched enemy. Keeping imponderables in view, Silver Jubilee Celebrations commenced in July beginning with Bikes and Car Rallies from various directions of the country for a grand finale at the Kargil War Memorial on 26th July.
Srinagar Leh National Highway passes through Kargil. Distance between Kargil and Leh is 205 kms. Army Posts in Kargil sector were at 16 to 18 K ft height which were vacated by both sides during the winters when the temperature fell to minus 30 degrees C and re-occupied in summers. Before these posts could be re-occupied on the onset of summer, Pakistanis came and occupied the dominating heights over a stretch of 160 Kms overlooking the only road link to Leh. Pakistan infiltrated their Special Operations Groups and Northern Light Infantry sub units to covertly set up bases on vantage points on the Indian side. These troops were reinforced with Afghani and Kashmiri mercenaries. Gen Musharraf was dead sure that Indian soldiers could never retrieve these heights.
India mobilised its armed forces post haste and responded to the challenge boldly. Because of the nature of the terrain, basic fighting was conducted mostly at the unit/sub-unit level. The number of infiltrators has been put at approximately 5,000. Army supported by IAF recaptured most of the positions before Pakistan started withdrawal from illegal occupations. The young officers and men did a splendid job on the ground. It was they who turned the tables in Kargil.
Pakistan sought American help in de-escalating the conflict. On 15 June President Bill Clinton, in a telephonic conversation with Nawaz Sharif refused to intervene until Pakistan withdrew all infiltrators from the Indian side of the LOC. After gaining control of the hills overlooking the highway, Army turned towards depth positions. Capture of Tololing tilted the combat in India’s favour. Tiger Hill was strongly fortified and offered stiff resistance. That too was captured. The final attacks were launched in the last week of July. The fighting ceased on 26th July 1999. The day has since been christened as ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’. By the end of the war, India had regained control of entire area South and East of the LOC as was established in July 1972 as per the Simla Agreement.
Bofor guns played a vital role despite lack of space and depth to deploy them. Aerial attacks were used with limited effectiveness. Mirages used laser-guided bombs to destroy well entrenched Pakistani positions. IAF lost a MiG-27 due to engine failure and one MiG-21 was shot down. One Mi-8 helicopter was also shot with a Stinger missile. Even the Civilian Porters rechristened as ‘Tanda Tiger Force’ played a remarkable role in this war.
The causes and consequences of this war have been officially analysed and debated immensely. Lessons learnt are in public domain and so is valour, grit, courage and determination of Indian Soldiers. Creation of Department of Military Affairs and appointment of Chief of Defence Staff is the outcome of Kargil War. On the other side, Musharraf led military coup in Pakistan designed to counter attempted civil Coup by Nawaz Sharif was a direct offshoot of Kargil conflict. The end of the Kargil conflict was followed by general elections, which gave a decisive mandate to the caretaker NDA Govt. In the history of South Asian conflicts, the Kargil war marked the first instance that the United States strongly supported India. It laid the basis for the present US-India relations, which eventually culminated in the Indo-U.S nuclear deal. Besides, India was able to put international pressure on Pakistan in subsequent conflicts, especially in 2001 Parliament attack and 2008 Mumbai attack. Relations with Israel also bolstered. Israel had discreetly aided India during the war with unmanned aerial vehicles, laser-guided bombs and satellite imagery.
It was India’s first war on TV. People saw the fierce hand to hand fights in their drawing rooms which rallied public opinion. Awareness and solidarity were generated by images of wounded soldiers, coffins and cries of bereaved families. In addition, for the armed forces, media coverage was seen as a morale booster.
Silver Jubilee celebration of Kargil War should make us look back and sincerely examine whether the nation has seriously looked after the families of martyrs and battle casualties. All the nation needs to do is to give ‘respect’ to the soldiers, their families and Veterans. Respect should also be commanded from our own fraternity, especially from those who are in command of the exceptional Indian Armed Forces of the world.
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