Kargil Vijay Divas : Reminiscing the day
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Lt Gen Dr Konsam Himalay Singh, Retd
Kargi Vijay Divas is celebrated on 26th July every year to commemorate our victory over Pakistan during the Kargil war 1999. It was 26 years ago that Indian Armed Forces defeated and forced the Pakistani intruders to withdraw to their side of the LOC in Leh/Ladakh inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. OP VIJAY was declared on 06 May 1999 and officially came to an end on 26 July. The war aims of Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir issue, force India to a favourable bargain after the war by choking our troops in Leh and Siachen boomeranged on them and the international community largely condemned Pakistan for the Indo-Pakistan conflict 1999.
The Pakistan army which virtually rules Pakistan considers Kashmir as their jugular vein. The wars of 1948, 1965 were launched by Pakistan to snatch Kashmir from India. The continuing proxy wars against India since the late 1980s haven’t succeeded in their objective to occupy Kashmir either. Inspite of the numerous defeats in each case, Gen Musharaf, as the Army Chief once again ordered intrusion in the areas North of Zojila upto the Siachen glaciers taking advantage of nuclear tests of 1998. They wrongly believed that the Indian response would be constrained by the threat of nuclear overhang.
The Pakistani Army operated in civil dress in large numbers to fool the international community by declaring that these intruders were so-called Kashmiri freedom fighters and not their Army. This false narrative was easily exposed when our forces captured or killed many Pakistani troops along with their identity cards. The intrusion of the enemy soldiers took place across the entire LOC North of Zojila pass to Siachen Glacier region stretching more than 150 Kms front by occupying unheld heights in the Himalayas.
Our Prime Minister Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was determined to throw out the Pakistani soldiers from our side of the LOC and was committed to prevent escalatory situation to the point of nuclear conflict. The Pakistani Army troops were already inside our territory even during the famous Lahore Bus Yatra meeting between Sri Vajpayee and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who met on 20th February 1999. Nawaz Sharif later stated that he was not kept in the picture about the planned intrusion of Pakistani Army in Kargil and other areas of Ladakh.
The Pakistani army had initially gained considerable advantages by occupying strategic heights in the area and have reinforced their positions long before we learnt about the intrusion. There were too many unprocessed information disseminated to us about a possible operation by the Pakistanis, but our establishment remained unclear about the timing and modalities of their operations. To that extent Pakistan achieved a strategic surprise over our forces.
We were ordered to throw out the intruders from the area, but were asked to remain on our side of the LOC including the air force planes. Though the war was bitterly fought mostly in the icy heights of Ladakh, the war efforts by the Army, Navy and the Air Force were synchronised and prepared in a manner that India could decisively defeat the Pakistani Armed Forces should the need arise. While the IAF launched OP Safed Sagar, the Navy was dominating the Arabian sea at the same time and ready for any eventualities.
The rugged and harsh terrain of the Ladakh Himalayas, glaciated, avalanche prone areas, and snow storms and have rarified atmosphere pose extremely difficult for soldiers to operate in these altitudes above 13,000 foot to 19,000 feet. At these heights oxygen falls below 40% of availability at the sea level heights. But our soldiers braved the extremely vulnerable situation against all odds of disadvantageous positions, the climatic and temperatures below 40 degree Celsius in some places. Luckily for us Zojila pass which normally remained closed till May each year, remained opened due to scanty snowfall that period and our lifeline remained active.
The peaks like Tiger Hill, Tololing became household names during the period. It was the first TV telecasted war where the reporters could see the fighting in these peaks from the highway near Drass. Many more unseen and unsung battles were fought outside the glare of media attention in the interiors near the LOC and AGPL (Actual Ground Position Lines). Battles fought near Drass , such as Tiger Hill and Tololing were easily visible to the media from Srinagar-Leh highway. However, the battles in many areas across the Khardung La pass, such as in Turtok/Chalunka, sectors were almost unknown to the public. My unit was operating in the remotest areas adjoining the Siachen Glaciers in Turtok sector where intrusions had taken place.
My role during the war as a Commanding Officer of a Rajput battalion was to capture Point 5770, a massive 19,000 feet high feature held by a sub-unit of Pakistani Northern Light Infantry. The objective was captured in a daring silent (Without artillery support) daylight assault on 27th June 1999 by my battalion. As per a study by Naval War College of US Navy, the capture of Point 5770 alongwith victory in Tiger Hill and Tololing were the turning points of the war in India’s favour.
This massive feature dominated the Shyok River valley which leads to Skardu in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Skardu is an important Pakistani Army and air force base for them. The feature also dominated the Southern glacier and its capture by the enemy would have threatened both the southern part of Siachen glacier and the Shyok valley itself.
The task before me was a very challenging one indeed. A night operation would have been virtually impossible due to the gradient of 80 degrees, ice gullies, avalanches and a rockface of more than 3000 feet.
Therefore, a silent surprise day light assault by using ropes was considered the only way to make a worthwhile attempt. The authorities left the decision entirely to my tactical judgment since it was not possible for my senior bosses to make a physical assessment of the situation. They were at least 100 Kms away from my position. Any responsibilities for failure and casualties was totally mine and mine alone. Such a daring and unconventional battle plan is perhaps very rare in the annals of our military history.
The daylight attack on 27th June 1999 went clockwork precision as planned. I was able to observe each one of the assaulting troops from my position.
The leading troops were in constant communication with me through the telephone line which was being laid as the attack progressed. The enemy troops could be seen doing their routine activities. I saw a sentry who was observing towards the direction of attacking troops. But the gradient was so steep that the enemy troops could not observe our troops climbing up with stealth.
At times, I had to telephonically guide the troops on the handset step by step to negotiate the boulders and hanging ice cornice above them. Complete radio silence was observed and no indication of the attack operations were detected by the enemy till they were physically assaulted and were caught by complete surprise in the initial hand to hand fighting on the objective.
A few Pakistani troops were seen abandoning the post and running away but 10 enemy soldiers including an officer (Captain Taimur Malik) were killed. Within minutes the Pakistani artillery opened up with the ferocity I had never seen before. We counted more than 400 rounds of field and medium guns falling in the vicinity where my party was. One round fell a hundred metres from me. An earth-shaking and near death experience indeed ! I ordered own heavy guns including Bofors to silence the enemy guns. Artillery duel continued for most of the day. Airburst shells were fired on our location through the next few days and nights.
One of the enemy air burst shells severely injured my radio operator who was just a few metres away while resting under a rock. We were not able to identify the type of missile till this day. Their efforts to a half hearted counter attack failed with more casualties on their side. We suffered two casualties during this period of consolidation. In the words of Maj Gen AK Verma who authored the book “Blood on Snow”, capture of Point 5770 by 27 RAJPUT under my command was “perhaps the most incredible action of Kargil war”. (page 125, Blood on The Snow : Manohar 2002). Gen VP Malik, the wartime Army Chief much later in 2016 told me that he regretted not having adequately recognized the valour of our troops and the brilliance of the battle won by my unit and tweeted as such a few times.
No matter the odds, Indian Armed Forces have delivered and will deliver victory when the time comes to defend the Republic and honour of our Nation. The future wars will be far more technogically challenging and more demanding in every facet of the conflict. Multi domain and whole of a Nation approach to face the challenges are imperative.
Kargi Vijay Divas is celebrated on 26th July every year to commemorate our victory over Pakistan during the Kargil war 1999. It was 26 years ago that Indian Armed Forces defeated and forced the Pakistani intruders to withdraw to their side of the LOC in Leh/Ladakh inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. OP VIJAY was declared on 06 May 1999 and officially came to an end on 26 July. The war aims of Pakistan to internationalise the Kashmir issue, force India to a favourable bargain after the war by choking our troops in Leh and Siachen boomeranged on them and the international community largely condemned Pakistan for the Indo-Pakistan conflict 1999.
The Pakistan army which virtually rules Pakistan considers Kashmir as their jugular vein. The wars of 1948, 1965 were launched by Pakistan to snatch Kashmir from India. The continuing proxy wars against India since the late 1980s haven’t succeeded in their objective to occupy Kashmir either. Inspite of the numerous defeats in each case, Gen Musharaf, as the Army Chief once again ordered intrusion in the areas North of Zojila upto the Siachen glaciers taking advantage of nuclear tests of 1998. They wrongly believed that the Indian response would be constrained by the threat of nuclear overhang.
The Pakistani Army operated in civil dress in large numbers to fool the international community by declaring that these intruders were so-called Kashmiri freedom fighters and not their Army. This false narrative was easily exposed when our forces captured or killed many Pakistani troops along with their identity cards. The intrusion of the enemy soldiers took place across the entire LOC North of Zojila pass to Siachen Glacier region stretching more than 150 Kms front by occupying unheld heights in the Himalayas.
Our Prime Minister Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was determined to throw out the Pakistani soldiers from our side of the LOC and was committed to prevent escalatory situation to the point of nuclear conflict. The Pakistani Army troops were already inside our territory even during the famous Lahore Bus Yatra meeting between Sri Vajpayee and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who met on 20th February 1999. Nawaz Sharif later stated that he was not kept in the picture about the planned intrusion of Pakistani Army in Kargil and other areas of Ladakh.
The Pakistani army had initially gained considerable advantages by occupying strategic heights in the area and have reinforced their positions long before we learnt about the intrusion. There were too many unprocessed information disseminated to us about a possible operation by the Pakistanis, but our establishment remained unclear about the timing and modalities of their operations. To that extent Pakistan achieved a strategic surprise over our forces.
We were ordered to throw out the intruders from the area, but were asked to remain on our side of the LOC including the air force planes. Though the war was bitterly fought mostly in the icy heights of Ladakh, the war efforts by the Army, Navy and the Air Force were synchronised and prepared in a manner that India could decisively defeat the Pakistani Armed Forces should the need arise. While the IAF launched OP Safed Sagar, the Navy was dominating the Arabian sea at the same time and ready for any eventualities.
The rugged and harsh terrain of the Ladakh Himalayas, glaciated, avalanche prone areas, and snow storms and have rarified atmosphere pose extremely difficult for soldiers to operate in these altitudes above 13,000 foot to 19,000 feet. At these heights oxygen falls below 40% of availability at the sea level heights. But our soldiers braved the extremely vulnerable situation against all odds of disadvantageous positions, the climatic and temperatures below 40 degree Celsius in some places. Luckily for us Zojila pass which normally remained closed till May each year, remained opened due to scanty snowfall that period and our lifeline remained active.
The peaks like Tiger Hill, Tololing became household names during the period. It was the first TV telecasted war where the reporters could see the fighting in these peaks from the highway near Drass. Many more unseen and unsung battles were fought outside the glare of media attention in the interiors near the LOC and AGPL (Actual Ground Position Lines). Battles fought near Drass , such as Tiger Hill and Tololing were easily visible to the media from Srinagar-Leh highway. However, the battles in many areas across the Khardung La pass, such as in Turtok/Chalunka, sectors were almost unknown to the public. My unit was operating in the remotest areas adjoining the Siachen Glaciers in Turtok sector where intrusions had taken place.
My role during the war as a Commanding Officer of a Rajput battalion was to capture Point 5770, a massive 19,000 feet high feature held by a sub-unit of Pakistani Northern Light Infantry. The objective was captured in a daring silent (Without artillery support) daylight assault on 27th June 1999 by my battalion. As per a study by Naval War College of US Navy, the capture of Point 5770 alongwith victory in Tiger Hill and Tololing were the turning points of the war in India’s favour.
This massive feature dominated the Shyok River valley which leads to Skardu in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Skardu is an important Pakistani Army and air force base for them. The feature also dominated the Southern glacier and its capture by the enemy would have threatened both the southern part of Siachen glacier and the Shyok valley itself.
The task before me was a very challenging one indeed. A night operation would have been virtually impossible due to the gradient of 80 degrees, ice gullies, avalanches and a rockface of more than 3000 feet.
Therefore, a silent surprise day light assault by using ropes was considered the only way to make a worthwhile attempt. The authorities left the decision entirely to my tactical judgment since it was not possible for my senior bosses to make a physical assessment of the situation. They were at least 100 Kms away from my position. Any responsibilities for failure and casualties was totally mine and mine alone. Such a daring and unconventional battle plan is perhaps very rare in the annals of our military history.
The daylight attack on 27th June 1999 went clockwork precision as planned. I was able to observe each one of the assaulting troops from my position.
The leading troops were in constant communication with me through the telephone line which was being laid as the attack progressed. The enemy troops could be seen doing their routine activities. I saw a sentry who was observing towards the direction of attacking troops. But the gradient was so steep that the enemy troops could not observe our troops climbing up with stealth.
At times, I had to telephonically guide the troops on the handset step by step to negotiate the boulders and hanging ice cornice above them. Complete radio silence was observed and no indication of the attack operations were detected by the enemy till they were physically assaulted and were caught by complete surprise in the initial hand to hand fighting on the objective.
A few Pakistani troops were seen abandoning the post and running away but 10 enemy soldiers including an officer (Captain Taimur Malik) were killed. Within minutes the Pakistani artillery opened up with the ferocity I had never seen before. We counted more than 400 rounds of field and medium guns falling in the vicinity where my party was. One round fell a hundred metres from me. An earth-shaking and near death experience indeed ! I ordered own heavy guns including Bofors to silence the enemy guns. Artillery duel continued for most of the day. Airburst shells were fired on our location through the next few days and nights.
One of the enemy air burst shells severely injured my radio operator who was just a few metres away while resting under a rock. We were not able to identify the type of missile till this day. Their efforts to a half hearted counter attack failed with more casualties on their side. We suffered two casualties during this period of consolidation. In the words of Maj Gen AK Verma who authored the book “Blood on Snow”, capture of Point 5770 by 27 RAJPUT under my command was “perhaps the most incredible action of Kargil war”. (page 125, Blood on The Snow : Manohar 2002). Gen VP Malik, the wartime Army Chief much later in 2016 told me that he regretted not having adequately recognized the valour of our troops and the brilliance of the battle won by my unit and tweeted as such a few times.
No matter the odds, Indian Armed Forces have delivered and will deliver victory when the time comes to defend the Republic and honour of our Nation. The future wars will be far more technogically challenging and more demanding in every facet of the conflict. Multi domain and whole of a Nation approach to face the challenges are imperative.