Dr Ganesh Malhotra
It has been 18 years that the Indian Army is celebrating Kargil Vijay Diwas since July 26, 1999 to remember all those who fought and participated in that Operation. It was on this day that the Army declared with finality that every single Pakistani intruder had been thrown out of Kargil heights.
There had been a sort of “gentleman agreement” between India and Pakistan that the armies of either side will not occupy posts from the 15 September to 15th April of each year. This had been the case since 1977, but in 1999 this agreement was put aside by the Pakistani army in hopes of trying to gain the upper hand in Kashmir and putting the Indian subcontinent in brief and limited war.
Pakistan’s military intrusions were to exploit the large gaps that exist in the defences in the sector both on Indian and Pak side of the Line of Control (LoC). During winters the area gets very heavy snowfall making movement almost impossible. The only mountain pass connecting the Kargil area to the Kashmir Valley, Zoji La, normally opens by the end of May or beginning of June. Thus, moving of reinforcements by surface means from Srinagar is not possible till then. Pakistan Army calculated that even if the intrusions were discovered in early May, as they were, the Indian Army’s reaction would be slow and limited. This will allow Pakistan to consolidate the intrusions more effectively. The intrusions would enable Pakistani troops to secure a number of dominating heights from where the strategic Srinagar-Leh NH1A could be interdicted at a number of places. The intrusions would also draw in and tie down Indian Army reserves. The intrusions would, further, give Pakistan control over substantial tracts of strategic land area across the LoC. The intrusions would irrevocably alter the status of the LoC.
Indian Army’s launched Operation Vijay launched on May 26, 1999. Indian troops moved towards Pakistani occupied positions with air cover provided by aircraft and helicopters. Operation Vijay in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir during the summer months of 1999 was a joint Infantry-Artillery as well Air force endeavour to evict regular Pakistani soldiers of the Northern Light Infantry (NLI) who had intruded across the Line of Control (LoC) into Indian Territory and had occupied high-altitude mountain peaks and ridgelines. It very soon became clear that only massive and sustained firepower could destroy the intruders and systematically break their will to fight through a process of attrition and, in the process, enable the gallant infantrymen to close in with and evict the intruders. Thus began a unique saga in the history of the employment of Artillery firepower in battle.
The first major ridgeline to fall was Tololing in the Drass sub-sector on June 13, 1999 which was captured after several weeks of bitter fighting. The capture of the Tololing complex paved the way for successive assaults to be launched on the Tiger Hill complex from several directions. Tiger Hill was re-captured on July 5, 1999 and Point 4875, another dominating feature to the west of Tiger Hill and jutting into Mashkoh Valley, was re-captured on July 7, 1999. Point 4875 has since been re-named “Gun Hill” in honour of the stupendous performance of the Gunners in the Drass and Mashkoh sub-sectors.
Ground troops were supported by the Air Force tried to contain the threat, assessed the enemy dispositions and carried out various preparatory actions. Entry of the Air Force into combat action on May 26 represented a paradigm shift in the nature and prognosis of the conflict. In operation Safed Sagar, the Air Force carried out nearly 5,000 sorties of all types over 50-odd days of operations.
The role of Ladakh Scouts was beyond capacity and its available logistics particularly the innate knowledge of the terrain of the whole area. On 30th May Major Sonam Wangchuk of Indus Wing, Ladakh Scouts was assigned to occupy Ridge Line at a height of about 5500 m to pre-empt any possibility of occupation by Pakistan forces. He took stock of all forces in the Chorbatla axis in the Batalik sector and cleared the axis up to the LoC of all enemy intrusions at a great risk to his life. In yet another simultaneous gallant operation in Batalik sector ,operation launched by the gallant soldiers of Ladakh Scouts, Dog Hill, which is to the West of Point 5000, had also been captured on night 05/06 July1999. In this operation, six enemy soldiers had been killed and two Heavy Machine Guns, one Sniper Rifle and two G-3 Rifles along with large quantity of ammunition had been recovered. These were two of major successes achieved by Ladakh Scouts in Kargil operation
Ladakh Scouts is a 4,000-man paramilitary unit of local Buddhists and Tibetan commandos. History of Ladakh Scout dates back to 1963. It was raised on 1st June 1963, following the 1962 Indo-China War, with just eight companies taken from the 7th and14th Battalions of the Jammu & Kashmir Militia. The main task of regiment was to guard India’s borders in the high altitude areas of the Ladakh region. They were also known asthe “Snow Warriors”They are also affectionately called ” Nunoos”, as the Ladakhis , are skilled mountain warriors and are unsurpassed in high altitude operations. The Regiment has taken part in various operations since the 1965 Indo-Pak War. The Regiment was one of the first units to take part in “Operation Vijay” and crowned itself with glory during the conflict. Major Sonam Wangchuk, was the most recent recipient of the MVC (MahaVir Chakra) for the Regiment in the Kargil Conflict. The Ladakh Scouts was given the status of a full infantry regiment in the year 2000.
During “Operation Vijay”, Ladakh Scouts was conferred upon 55 gallantry awards including 1 Mahavir Chakra,( Major Sonam Wangchuk) 6 Vir Chakra (Subedar Lobzang Chhotak (Posthumous) , Hav Tsewang Rigzinn (Posthumous )Subedar Tashi Chhepal ,Sep Tsewang Morup, Sep Tsering Dorjay and Naib Sub Tundup Dorji,and 2Yudh SevaMedals (Nk Tashi Nurboo) 15 Sena Medals, 7 Mentions-in-Dispatches, 16 Chief Of Army Staff Commendation Cards and 8 GOC-in-C commendation cards. On September 18, 1999, Ladakh Scouts Regiment was honoured with the Chief of Army Staff citation and Banner. Chief of Army Staff Commendation Cards and 8 GOC-in-C commendation cards.
Operation Vijay was and is a clear message to Pakistan and other neighbours particularly China that India has full capacity and will to defend its borders and territories in any situations and circumstances. This fully exposed the hollow claims Diplomacy of Pakistan. This lesson applies to China in present India-China standoff.
(The author is J&K based strategic and political analyst)
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