Kulvir Gupta
“ Someone had blundered. Cannons to right of them,
Theirs not to make reply Cannons to left of them,
Theirs not to reason why, Cannons in front of them
Theirs but to do and die. Volley’d and thunder’d;
In to the valley of Death Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Rode the six hundred. Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.”
Lord Tennyson – “Charge of the Light Brigade”
Words of Lord Tennyson could not have more aptly been used to describe the brave hearts of Kargil. Every time as we celebrate Vijay Divas an excruciating pain runs deep down my gut, for I firmly believe that ‘Kargil’ was preventable. Now that the celebrations are over, I would try to put forth my observations and experiences, which strengthen my faith and belief that Kargil was preventable, and the supreme sacrifice of brave hearts avoidable.
Vijay Divas
We will have to travel back in times, though it has its roots in the history of India for the last thousand years or more, when we failed to protect our frontiers from repeated aggressions from the North-West. But I would like to restrict my narrative from 1947-48, when the advancing armed forces of India were halted and we let a third of the State of Jammu and Kashmir go to Pakistan. Much has been written and debated about accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India and secession of one third of its territory by Pakistan in 1947. But, regrettably, none of those accounts have touched even the basic factors which led to devastation and destruction of life and property and loss of one third of the territory of the state. I, who has lived through the carnage and destruction of Mirpur (now in POJK) during the troubled times and have brought out in my autobiography “EMBERS THE BEGINNING AND EMBERS THE END OF MIRPUR” Published by Olympia Publishers, London) may be able to give the details which led to and continues burn Kashmir for the last seventy years.
A new nation, that is India, came into being on 15 Aug 1947 was shocked by the invasion of Pakistan on the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This too was preventable if Maharaja Hari Singh had not wasted the precious 71 days before signing the Instrument of Accession with the Union of India on 26 Oct 1947. Five hundred and sixty five princely states had the taken the final call well in time and integrate with the Union of India between June and Aug. 1947. It is not understood till date that what kept the ruler of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from signing the instrument of accession with the Union of India until the time he was driven to the brink and sent SOS to the government of India and signed the much awaited document.
In 1959 when China annexed Tibet and Dalai Lama came to India as a refugee we did not protest. That was the time when India should have led all the countries of the world, against the Chinese aggression on Tibet to the UN Security Council. Probably the Chinese aggression on India in1962 would never have happened. On the contrary our leadership looked the other way and gave a tacit approval to the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
The first thing any emerging nation must do is to fortify its frontiers, but for us the leadership of that time failed to do so. It will be futile to debate on that, for we could see what happened in 1962 – a humiliating defeat before the Chinese. In spite of that we did not wake up, a local shepherd informed us about the presence of Pakistani infiltrators, during Pak sponsored Operation Gibralter in 1965. After inflicting a shattering defeat on Pakistan, we thought that there will be no more war between India and Pakistan and lowered our guards.
I was posted as a Dental Officer of the Army Dental Corps at Base Hospital, Srinagar, in Nov 1965. (First posting for me) During Aug 1966, I was sent on Temporary Duty to a Field Hospital, located in Kargil as a reliever for the permanent incumbent who was to proceed on Annual Leave. I traveled to Kargil by road which was an ethereal experience it gave me a feeling as if I was travelling on the surface of moon. After crossing snow covered Zoji La Pass every turn and every curve of the road presented a panorama of different hues and colors, mountains and hills reflected the colors of minerals treasured in them. There was sheen of copper, violet, gold and myriads of glimmer. Clusters of trees appeared by the side of streams, though sparse, along the route which supported small habitations.
During my stay of seventy five days with the Field Hospital there was lot to be learned about field medical set up in the forward areas. Besides that I had the opportunity to witness the Victory Celebrations as anniversary of the Kargil Victory of 1965 when we captured all of the salient features along LOC. Most prominent of those features was the famous ‘Post – 13620’ which overlooked our life line to Leh. We could see The Peak from the field hospital it appeared that the enemy was sitting over our head. The celebrations were marked with the narratives over the sand models and live fireworks. However there was a sobering moment when w/o late Maj B. S. Randhawa, MVC, who laid his life along with brave soldiers under his command during a campaign to capture the salient features, visited Kargil to pay homage to her martyred husband.
Gains in Kargil in 1965 were part of India’s resounding victory over Pakistan. Our armed forces not only crossed the Cease Fire Line in the State of Jammu and Kashmir but crossed the international border between India and Pakistan. In the joint operations with Indian Air Force and Navy Indian Army captured strategic features like Hajipir Pass, (Col R.S. Dayal, MVC led the campaign) ‘Post 13620,’ in Kargil and vast areas across the CFL and international border and destroyed many war ships of the enemy. Regrettably all this came to a naught when our leadership decided, on the negotiation table, to restore all the captured areas to Pakistan. Number of lives of our brave hearts lost during the campaign mattered little, “But it was a great victory!” Soon after, the then Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Bhutoo declared that Pakistan will launch guerrilla warfare in Kashmir and give a thousand cuts to bleed India.
Another memorable occasion was when I along with my commanding officer were invited for lunch by JAK LI, located at Dras, on their Raising Day. It had been a practice to invite the Dental Officer along with the Commanding Officer of the Field Hospital for various formal functions at different units under the Independent Brigade. I was very curious to know about the purpose for which the infantry battalion was stationed at Dras. Who else could have explained better than, the 2/IC of the Battalion, who happened to be sitting next to me while drinks were being served. He explained that his unit has a very important role in guarding the LOC and right at that very moment, a few petrol groups were out on the job which included those far of peaks and beyond. I am not sure when and why the guards were lowered?
Hardly had six years passed we were once again eye ball to eye ball with Pakistan in 1971 and we had to spill blood of our brave hearts, many times more than what we did in 1965, to recapture the very features and areas which were returned to Pakistan on a platter after the war in 1965. During the famous or infamous ‘Shimla Agreement’ after 1971 war not only 90,000 POWs were released but all of the strategic gains of the war were surrendered in favor of Pakistan. There could not have been a bigger betrayal for the Armed Forces and the martyred souls.
It was not a surprise when in 1999 the nation learned from some local residents of Ladakh that Pakistani forces had constructed bunkers on our side of the Line of Control in Dras and Kargil area. Bunkers did not come up over night. How lax were we in safeguarding our frontiers beyond those cold and dark peaks, needs no clarification. Armed forces alone may not responsible for this as they were probably given a battalion where a brigade was required. Political leadership had been denying the logistical support. Shortage of men and material in the armed forces has been a story well known to one and all. Units were under posted and deprived of the war essentials, both in quality and quantity. Successive Finance Ministers scored points on savings from defense budget. During my service of ten years in army, between 1965 and 1979, I had the opportunity to serve in various formations and locations across length and breadth of the country. Everywhere I observed that all the units, including the Medical Battalions/Hospitals were under posted by 20-25% and deficient in equipment and war materials.
The story of defense procurements right from inception has been very sad. It started with, ‘The Jeep Scandal’ in 1948 and continued until Bofors Scandal during 1980s. Nobody knows how many lesser scandals took place in the intervening period. More stories tumbled out with regards to procurement of IAF Aircrafts, Helicopters and Submarines, even the Bulletproof Jackets, Snow Boots and Coffin Boxes were not spared by the corrupt Officers and Politicians.
Government of India’s decision to appoint ‘Chief of Defense Staff’ is surely going to rid our Armed Forces of many evils. I had hoped that Chief of Defense Staff should be a five-starred General. CDS should be advisor to the government of the day for any negotiations with the hostile neighbors. If we had a representative from armed forces with the negotiators at Tashkent in 1966 and Shimla, post 1971 victory, gains of the war could not have been lost for peanuts. Pakistan could have never dared a ‘Kargil Misadventure’.
Experiences from the past should help us to fortify our frontiers for all times to come.
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