New Delhi: Twenty-five years ago in 1999, India achieved victory over Pakistan in Kargil after the Indian Army evicted the Pakistan Army personnel who had sneaked in and occupied mountain peaks on the Indian territory.
The Kargil Vijay Diwas on July 26 celebrates the bravery of the Indian soldiers and young leaders who prevailed against all odds, and at a great cost.
A total of 527 officers and men laid down their lives to protect the territorial integrity of our country in Kargil. The younger cross-section made the nation proud. We salute them.
The Kargil conflict was technically not a war, but it was no less than a war in any respect, least of all in the bravery displayed by our soldiers and young leaders. It was not a war because a national emergency was not declared and the war remained localised to Kargil district.
Kargil is a district in Ladakh with remarkable scenic beauty. It was a part of the erstwhile J&K state before becoming a part of the Union Territory of Ladakh after the bifurcation of J&K into two UTs in 2019.
The Line of Control between India and Pakistan runs through the mountainous and rugged terrain of Kargil. The altitude of these snow-covered mountains ranges from 11,000 feet to over 18,000 feet.
Why did Pakistan try to occupy the inhospitable snow-covered mountain peaks in Kargil?
First, we must understand what happened at the Siachen glacier to the west of Kargil over a decade earlier. In the eighties, Indian and Pakistan Armies confronted each other at the Siachen glacier.
It was my Battalion that executed the highest attack in the world and captured the Pakistan Quaid post at 21,153 feet, which was later renamed Bana Top in honour of Honorary Capt Bana Singh, PVC, whose section finally assaulted the post.
Stung by this loss, three months later the Special Services Group of Pakistan launched a riposte, which was successfully beaten back. It was launched by their commander, Brig Parvez Musharraf.
Smarting from that defeat, he planned Kargil intrusions when he became the Army Chief, initially without political consent. By occupying these mountain peaks, he hoped to cut off the road leading from Srinagar to Leh and Siachen.
In 1999, Pakistan sent soldiers across the LoC to Kargil, in areas lightly held by both sides during winters. This was happening as PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee travelled to Lahore on a bus to take the peace process forward — it was deception at the national level. We were stabbed in the back.
As a conflict, it was rare, if not unique, that it was not allowed to escalate into a full-blown war due to the responsible behaviour on India’s part, and the unparalleled bravery displayed by its soldiers.
Not only the conflict was limited to LoC, but also localised to Kargil.
How was that achieved?
It was achieved by the responsible behaviour on the part of India. Indian Army did not cross the LoC. Otherwise, it would have made operational sense to cut off their forces from their logistic bases by launching operations across the LoC.
The Indian Air Force also operated with their hands tied behind their backs, as the aircraft were also not allowed to cross the LoC. Our fighter aircraft could have caused heavy damage to the enemy’s operational and logistic infrastructure from across the LoC.
Why was it important to retain the sanctity of the LoC after Pakistan had violated it themselves?
It was perhaps the only time when two nuclear nations had gone to war, and the world was watching with bated breath.
The US was particularly anxious that the conflict should not spiral out of control as it made conciliation efforts with the leadership from both countries.
However, this came at a cost.
The soldiers had to launch frontal attacks to evict the enemy from the mountain peaks, and all assaults were uphill, making our task much more difficult and risky. Yet, it did not deter the soldiers and the young leaders, who proudly went into attack with a fanatic gleam in their eyes, without any fear in their minds. They made us proud. They were drawn from the youth of the country.
Not only did the youth contribute, but the whole nation was supporting the military efforts.
Bravery on the frontline was matched by the ‘Josh’ of the nation. As a Commanding Officer, I received a telegram from an officer of my unit, who had been boarded out on medical grounds, saying he wanted to rejoin the Battalion to fight the enemy during the war.
While there is no provision for such participation, it does not take anything away from his ‘Josh’ and ‘Jazba’, his patriotism, bravery, and enthusiasm to participate in combat at grave risk to his life. Such instances abound in our country and make us proud as Indians. The youth always make us proud.
It was also India’s first televised war. On one hand, the country watched the progress of operations in real-time, and on the other, it showed the human side of war – the supreme sacrifices made by the officers and soldiers, the heartbreaking sight of their families, and the outpouring of the nationalistic sentiment at the funerals.
When Capt Vikram Batra returned victorious after recapturing a mountain peak, he famously told Barkha Dutt, “Yeh Dil Maange More…”
He fired up the imagination of the youth, and indeed the whole nation. And he laid down his life in the next attack he led, from the front. He was only 24.
So were many others – they were all in their early twenties. And they led seasoned soldiers who were 10, some even 20 years elder to them. The mood of the nation could only be experienced by those who lived in it at that time.
The Kargil conflict also ushered in military reforms. After it was over, the Kargil Review Committee under K. Subrahmanyam recommended huge changes to structures and processes.
The L.K. Advani-led Group of Ministers and the Arun Singh Task Force went into details, and Tri-Services structures like HQ Integrated Defence Staff, Andaman & Nicobar Command, and Strategic Forces were raised.
The government, however, stopped short of appointing a CDS, who was appointed in 2020.
The silver jubilee of Kargil Vijay Diwas not only gives us a justified opportunity to celebrate and honour India’s bravehearts, but it also throws on us a responsibility to reflect on the lessons learnt and apply them in today’s context.
While the Kargil conflict was the first televised war in India, today’s wars will be fought across a multi-domain spectrum, and we need to develop capabilities accordingly.
It also taught us a valuable lesson that we need to be self-reliant in weapons, ammunition, and other war-like stores. In this regard, a great push is being given to ‘Aatmanirbharta’ in defence.
The Kargil conflict was unique in many ways, as we have just seen. But the one thing that stands out is the bravery of the soldiers and the young leaders leading from the front, by personal example.
They were all drawn from the youth of India, both rural and urban areas.
I would like to sign off with a message for the youth – you don’t have to join the army to serve the country. The growth story of India needs all the skill sets of the youth. You can also serve the country by doing what you do to the best of your abilities. And if you want to show your respect to a soldier, be a good citizen – a citizen worth dying for.
Jai Hind.
(Lt General Satish Dua (Retd) is a former Corps Commander in Kashmir who retired as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff. The views expressed are personal)
–IANS