Kargil Vijay Diwas: Remembering the 1999 war in the mountains that scream of valor, pride, patriotism and sacrifice

On May 2, 1999, a 30-something Tashi Namgyal stumbled through the snow in the upper reaches of Kargil's Batalik sector looking for his missing yak through binoculars. What he found instead was something that lives on as a grim marker in the subcontinent's volatile history.

Twenty-five years later, as India celebrates its victory over Pakistan in Kargil, memories of those three months are fresh in the minds of people living in the area, soldiers who fought the high-altitude war, and for Namgyal who recalls every moment in vivid detail.

He said he saw a few men breaking rocks and clearing the snow on the mountain, but it was the absence of any footsteps on the Indian side that sent alarm bells ringing. Namgyal forgot all about his yak and rushed back to inform the Indian Army outpost.

"The men were dressed in black uniforms and were building a post with rocks. My job was to report; identifying who they were was the army's job,” Namgyal said.

“Eight days after my report, the fighting began. The Pakistanis fired first, and then our army advanced. The Indian Army eventually succeeded and drove the enemy back," Namgyal, a resident of Garkone village in Batalik sector of Kargil, said.

He was the first person to report the intrusion into Kargil by Pakistani soldiers that days later turned into the Kargil War between India and Pakistan.

After receiving Namgyal's information, Indian soldiers observed more than 50 soldiers at another route in the area.

The war broke out from the Batalik region and further infiltrations were made in Drass, Kaksar and Mushkoh sectors.

According to official figures, more than 500 Indian soldiers laid down their lives and over 1,300 were injured, fighting a battle in which the elements and altitude were not in their favor.

Kargil war veteran retired Subedar Major and Honorary Captain Yogendra Singh Yadav recalled his time on the battlefield.

"It is a matter of good fortune for me that I was in front of the commanders, as a soldier I got a chance to fight in these mountains with these commanders. Under their leadership we got good planning and leadership quality and that is why these 19 or 20-year-old boys wrote the history of the country with their blood," Yadav said.

A resident of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav is the youngest recipient of India's highest military decoration, the Param Vir Chakra, awarded for his valor during the Kargil War at the age of 19.

Another ex-serviceman, Honorary Lieutenant of the Ladakh Scouts Tashi Tsering, said he was among the first to be called in to defend the country.

Tsering, along with six others from the Ladakh Scouts infantry regiment, joined the platoon of Major Manoj Pandey of the Gorkha Rifles. Pandey received a posthumous Param Vir Chakra for his role in the conflict.

"By the time we reached to attack, the terrorists were on the hill... there was a terrorist on every hill and not giving us a chance to even raise our heads. We had soldiers of 10 GR, and six Ladakh Scouts with us and as soon as we reached, they started firing at us,” Tsering said.

After an initial setback, as two soldiers were hit, the soldiers decided to attack the same place the next day to push the enemy back.

Tsering feels especially proud that the Ladakh Scouts were among the first infantry regiments to launch an attack on the enemy.

Another story of valor is told by Subedar Haji Mohammad, who had retired just two months before the Kargil war. He was recalled by the Army to serve as a guide.

"Our soldiers fought bravely despite casualties, kept fighting till the end, they did not retreat until we captured our posts… The condition was such that where I was standing, bombs were being dropped, there was no place left where bombs had not been dropped,” Mohammad said.

Across the picturesque land that is Kargil in Ladakh, the war of 1999 is an indelible memory for the residents of Batalik, about 70 kilometers from Kargil town in the narrow Indus River valley near the Line of Control, who lived through those days.

People are still terrified, said Ghulam Hussain, a Batalik local, recounting the initial days of the war without food and shelter.

"The first shelling from Pakistan started in Batalik in 1999... I was 24 years old then. The children still don't know what happened. We faced many hardships, and for weeks, we didn't even get food. We moved the children, elders, and women to safer places like Sanjak. Some children still have splinters in their hands,” Hussain said.

Another local, Mohammad Zafran, recalled nights when shelling from the Pakistani side sent people “hiding in the stables, feeling very scared."

When the conflict intensified, children, women, and the elderly were moved to safer locations, and young locals stayed to assist the Indian Army in transporting ammunition.

"We used to sit together with the army at that time. The Army used to be ahead of us and we used to walk behind them, taking the load. Eventually, they expelled Pakistan from there and then we settled down here," Zafran added.

Known as the gateway to Ladakh, Drass witnessed some of the most intense battles between the Indian and Pakistani forces during the war.

Barkat Ali, who was then deputy tehsildar of Drass, recalled the shelling during the war.

"There was shelling not only in Mushkoh Valley but throughout Drass. The area from India Gate Zoji la to Kaksar Bridge is called Drass. This area, consisting of 19 revenue villages, was heavily shelled except two or three villages. I joined as Naib Tehsildar on May 13, 1999, and the shelling began the same day," he recounted.

On July 26, 1999, the Indian Army announced the successful culmination of Operation Vijay, declaring victory after a nearly three-month battle on the icy heights of Kargil in Ladakh.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 26 issued a stern message to Pakistan, saying it has been trying to stay relevant by using terrorism and proxy wars but all such terror attempts will be crushed with full force.

Addressing a ceremony at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass to celebrate the 25th anniversary of India's victory in the 1999 conflict, Modi said "falsehood and terror" were brought down to their knees by truth in the 1999 war. He also noted that Pakistan has not learnt anything from its past.

"Today, I am speaking at a place from where the masters of terror can hear my voice directly. I want to tell these patrons of terrorism that their nefarious intentions will never succeed," Modi said in the presence of India's top military brass.

Paying glowing tributes to the fallen soldiers, he said, "In Kargil, we not only won the war, we presented an incredible example of truth, restraint and strength," adding, "The nation is forever indebted and deeply grateful to the mighty superheroes of our armed forces."

(PTI)