The battle of valour, sacrifice and self-respect… The story of Kargil… in the words of those peaks, where Indian heroes painted the ice glacier with blood

Ankita Jain

2 hours ago

I am Kargil. Not just a word. Not a place. The feelings of the entire country are attached to me. I have seen bravery. And the supreme sacrifice too. The enemies of this land are sitting on both sides of me. One Pakistan. The other China. Eyeing me like vultures. How do they get a chance and plant their flags on me. They even tried. In 1999. But the tigers of our army burnt the pyre of the enemies. Today I will tell the story of the war of 1999 through the words of those peaks of mine…

Sitting on my shoulders and head, the intruders started the war in May. But I saw how those cowards started preparing from February itself. I am calling them cowards because they were doing it secretly. In February, four to seven battalions of their army crossed the Indian border and came towards me. These included fighters from the Pakistani Special Services Group and Northern Light Infantry. They built bases at about 132 high points on my peaks. In winters, when the snow remains frozen.

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These Pakistani infiltrators were also supported by Kashmiri guerrillas and Afghan killers. But most of the infiltration happened in April, when some snow had melted. The infiltrators came from the lower Muskoh valley and the other side of the Marpo La ridgeline of Drass. Some came from Kaksar near Kargil. Then from the other side of the Indus river east of the Batalik sector. To the north, they came from the Chorbat La sector across the border. Apart from this, they came from the Turtuk sector in the south of the Siachen area. I was watching the movement of all these intruders.

My height is not less. It ranges from 6 thousand to 18 thousand feet. It is difficult. Even life-threatening. Breathing stops here. Blood freezes in the veins. In winters, the army of Pakistan and India does not stay here. Both the countries had made this agreement. But the Pakistanis came. At that time, the head of their army was General Parvez Musharraf. He had launched Operation Badr to capture my peaks. The purpose was to cut off the Srinagar-Leh highway. So that the direction of the border between the two countries changes.

Actually there are a total of 23 peaks in my entire area. The highest peak is Point 5608. 18399 feet high. The smallest is Bardam. About 14964 feet high. The intruders’ intention was to capture all the peaks. But now read the story of those peaks that have seen war…

battle of tololing

This peak of mine is located in Drass sector. Right in front of Srinagar-Leh highway. There are two points on Tololing peak. Point 5140 and Point 4875. These peaks are to the west of Tololing peak. It is here that our Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice. These peaks are not easy. They are 16 thousand feet high. There are snake like paths here. But the intruders had captured the upper parts. The temperature here remains between minus 5 to minus 11. It is difficult to climb up on your own. It is even more difficult if you have weapons with you.

The intruders sitting above were taking advantage of this. The Indian heroes were moving forward inch by inch. Lying down. The Indian Army asked its 13 JAK rifles, 18 Garhwal rifles and 1 Naga to attack from three sides. Artillery firing continued at the same time. Shells were raining from the Indian side. This was the time when Captain Vikram Batra killed four intruders by fighting with his hands. After this, Captain S.S. Jamwal made the final attack. Blown away seven Sangads. Drove back the Pakistanis.

I saw that in the next few days, the brave soldiers of the Indian Army recaptured Rocky and Black Tooth. The Pakistanis were killed and chased away. Sepoy K. Ashuli was martyred here. He was tying a rope on a cliff to hoist the tricolor on Black Tooth. Then he was martyred by enemy bullets. With this, India conquered Point 5140 and Bump 9 and 10.

Point 4700 and three pimples

Before moving towards Tiger Hill, the Indian heroes targeted Point 4700. After being driven out from Tololing and Point 5140, the Pakistanis had occupied Point 4700 and Three Pimples. Some of the escaped intruders had settled here. Then 18 Garhwal Rifles started the operation. They achieved victory despite heavy firing from the enemy sitting on the heights. Along with this, they also recaptured two features named Rocky and Sangad. Next was the turn of Three Pimples.

Three Pimples is a complex geographical structure. There are Knoll, Lone Hill and Three Pimples peaks here. From here the enemy was keeping an eye on every movement of the Indian Army. They were keeping an eye on the firing of Bofors. Then the Commanding Officer of 2 Rajputana Rifles, Lieutenant Colonel MB Ravindranath launched the mission. But it slowed down due to the difficult climb. Pakistanis were using automatic weapons. But the Indian Army first captured Knoll, then Lone Hill and finally Three Pimples.

On Lone Hill, Pakistanis were firing with MMG or medium machine gun. But the brave Captain N. Kenguruse of Ghatak Platoon attacked this peak barefoot. He killed four intruders single-handedly. But he was badly injured in this attack. He died on my own land.

Battle of Tiger Hill…

This has been the most talked about peak. Tiger Hill is just 10 km away from the Srinagar-Leh highway. It was very important to hoist the tricolour on it again. Then Brigadier MPS Bajwa, the commander of the 192 Mountain Brigade, was assigned the mission to capture it. He assigned this task to 18 Grenadiers and 8 Sikh soldiers. The Indian Army’s crack team was there to help them. This team came from the High Altitude Warfare School. Apart from this, artillery and combat support was being provided. Because this peak was 16500 feet high.

The Indian Army attacked Tiger Hill from many directions. They were getting help from Bofors cannon shells and multibarrel rocket launchers. Before this, fighter jets of the Indian Air Force fired heavy bombing and missiles on Tiger Hill. At that time, this peak was in the possession of Pakistan’s 12 Northern Light Infantry. On the night of July 3, 18 Grenadiers started climbing. The weather was extremely dangerous. With a deadly climb. But the Pakistanis were no less clever. They were firing on this squad from three sides. That too from a height.

Then Captain Sachin Nimbalkar was sent with a company to secure the area 100 meters below the peak. Whereas this was extremely dangerous. Lieutenant Balwan Singh’s Ghatak platoon was only 30 meters below the peak. With the help of Bofors bombing, both the companies started climbing towards the peak. They fooled the enemy in such a way that they must be scared even today thinking about it. On the other hand, Pakistan had also started shelling. This was killing soldiers on both sides. To defeat Pakistan, it was necessary to break their supply line.

On 5 July, 8 Sikh Battalion completed this task. Then 18 Grenadiers completely cleared the top of Tiger Hill and hoisted the tricolour. It was here that Param Vir Chakra winner Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav was badly injured in the battle with Ghatak Platoon. He threw grenades in the crowd of intruders. He killed them with a rifle. After killing four intruders, he killed the second crowd with an automatic gun.

Battle of Point 4875…

The Kargil war was now in its final phase. After hoisting the tricolour on Tiger Hill, the next target was Point 4875. This is a peak located in the Muskoh Valley. Although there are many dangerous peaks here, a 30-km long stretch of the National Highway was visible from Point 4875. This means that an attack could be launched from anywhere. Brigadier Ramesh Kakar of the 79 Mountain Brigade was assigned this mission.

Two companies reached the flat top and attacked the enemy from different directions. They fired continuously with the help of medium machine guns. Captain Vikram Batra was in command here. After this, Captain Batra killed five intruders in a face-to-face and hand-to-hand fight. But he himself was martyred. For which he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra posthumously.

Apart from this, small battles also took place at points like Khalubar, Chorbat La, Kukarthang, Jubar. All these peaks are in Batalik sector. Major Sonam Wangchuk and Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey played an important role here. This is where the story of my capture ends. But my peaks soaked in the blood of Indian heroes will always be proud of the fact that if there is Indian Army then the country is safe.