Lt. Col Balwant Singh (Retd)
This year we will be celebrating 25th anniversary of our win over Pakistan when 84 days long Kargil war was finally won by India on 26 July 1999 with a thump in victory gained by the Indian Armed Forces over Pakistan regular Army intruders. The Kargil war initiated by Pakistan in early May 1999 was the deadliest of the conventional war when Indian Armed Forces carried out intense fighting’s at the highest battle field to flush out Pakistani invaders who were already holding the positions of their choice at the mountain peaks and had the strategic advantage over the Indian troops. The Indian Armed Forces operated through the difficult terrains and had to climb steep heights to take on the enemy in both Kargil and the Batalik sectors. During the conflict we lost 545 personnels of which 538 were from the Army and 05 from the Air Force and 02 Civilian porters and thousands were wounded. Kargil Vijay Diwas or the Kargil Victory day is celebrated on 26th of July of each year to glorify our victory and we all Indians pay our homage and salute our Martyrs, the brave hearts who made supreme sacrifices in the line of duty keeping in with the rich traditions of our Armed Forces and attainted Martyrdom while liberating enemy occupied Kargil heights and made all countrymen proud as their gallant actions resulted into a great victory for our country and the country will ever remember them.
To commemorate the ensuing Kargil Vijay Diwas on its silver jubilee celebration, I had the privilege to visit Kargil from 02 July 2024 to 07 Jul 2024 as part of Purav Sainik Seva Parshid (A Tri Services Ex-servicemen organisation recognised by the Ministry of Defence). The visit planned by the ibid organisation was well conducted by the Army authorities at each level throughout our journey to Kargil. We a team of fifty men and women from all the three services, Army, Navy and Air Force with Maj Gen Nishchaya Raut as our team leader crossed Zoji-La pass on 03 July 2024 and on the very next day i.e 04 July 2024 visited Kargil war memorial built in the honour of Kargil war heroes who while fighting gallantly laid down their lives in the service of our Nation. We all paid our heart felt homage to the brave hearts. The Kargil War Memorial built in Drass is a befitting tribute to the fallen heroes as it speaks loudly the saga of bravery of these brave soldiers. Tololing hill stands at the back drop of the war memorial overlooking the beauty of drass town. Brass plates, with the names engraved on them of the valiant soldiers who attained martyrdom in the Kargil war are displayed prominently on the walls. The Amar Jawan jyoti burning with full bloom and wreath laying ceremonies in the honour of martyr soldiers is conducted on regular basis by the Army authorities and War memorial is well maintained by the local Army units. The Hut of Remembrance annexed to the left of the war memorial covers the saga of bravery of our brave soldiers who scaled through the most difficult heights and drove the Pakistani intruders out of our territory thereby reclaiming back every inch of our land, in a well laid down sequence.
The well built and maintained Veer Bhumi venue on the right side of the war memorial speaks of the supreme sacrifices made by the brave Indian soldiers in various Military Operations conducted in the entire sector with the names of these martyr soldiers displayed prominently on the passionately made cement plates fixed on the Veer Bhumi area. A short documentary film on the Kargil war covering all war events was screened for us by the Army authorities and with all the great feelings of honour and respect for our fallen heroes and patriotic emotions, we moved onward to the main Kargil ridge area on the same day. On reaching Kargil we were received by the Army authorities with the well laid down Army ethos and respect and no word can explain the total commitment, and the professional competence with which our soldiers are serving in these inaccessible areas. The lessons learnt from the Kargil war are very well implemented on the ground and soldiers performing their duties relentlessly while deployed at the higher ridges somewhere also at an altitude as high as 18000 feet, experience heavy snow falls especially in winters with temperature dipping down to minus sixty degree Celsius. These brave hearts display the vigilance of the highest order and guard our borders round the clock while facing enemy positions. We countrymen sleep because they are always awake and ensure our safety and freedom.
Now with the improved defence situation, the enemy dare not repeat the misadventure in future. It was with the help of the Army authorities that we availed the opportunity to climb a forward post standing at an elevation of 13620 feet and popularly known as Randhawa top. The significance of this peak is, it has seen all the four wars fought with Pakistan beginning with 1947-48. This strategically important peak was won by the Indian Army under the daring leadership of Major Baljit Singh Randhawa who while fighting gallantly attained martyrdom on 17 May 1965 and the post has been named after the brave heart. The post was perforce handed over back to Pakistan in August 1965 as per an agreement reached at Kutch between the two Nations but our Army could not digest its returning back to Pakistan and and our brave soldiers reclaimed it back during 1971 war. We all paid our heartiest homage to our martyrs at the war memorial made at this post and had a view of our forward area spanned across the Line of Control and well defended by the Army. We were facilitated by the Army to return back to the base camp and take a route back to Drass town for the night halt at Drass. On 05 July 2024, we visited the war memorial made in the loving memory of Kargil war hero, Captain Vikram Batra, MVC at Drass. His famous victory slogan, “YEH DIL MANGE MORE” has very prominently been displayed on the war memorial at the top of it, motivating the young soldiers passing through the area. We paid our richest tributes to the gallant soldier who displayed exemplary courage and an extra ordinary act of bravery, had become a role model for other soldiers fighting in the theatre during the war.
We started our return journey to Srinagar on the same day commuting through the hilly road built along the beautifully flowing stream. We had a stop at Zoji-La war memorial built in the honour of Indian soldiers whose gallant action in the 1947-48 Operation enabled recapture of Zoji-La pass from Pakistani raiders. The Operation Bison was launched to wrest control of Zoji-La pass and enemy was surprised with the unexpected employment of tanks. This was the highest altitude at which tanks had ever been operated in combat throughout the world at that point of time. Zoji-La pass was taken back and road link to kargil-Leh reopened before the fall of winters and Ladakh was saved. We reached at Srinagar on the same day and had a night halt. On 06 July 2024 we were escorted by the Army authorities to the War memorial built in Srinagar for laying of the wreath as a mark of respect to the martyrs who attained martyrdom while fighting militancy and other Military Operations conducted in the entire region. We also visited the museum named as Ibadet-e-Shahadat. This one which has it all from the ancient Kashmir history, art, culture and well narrated stories of the great Indian warriors and much more.
A visit to Kargil ahead of 25th Kargil Vijay Diwas on 26th of July this year was an experience of deep patriotic emotions and immense gratitude for our fallen Heroes who lived to the motto “COUNTRY FIRST” and brought glory to our great Nation by keeping our National flag always flying high. JAI HIND
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