| |
|
An extremely cold place, Kargil is often termed as a no-mans land. With very little human habitation what could be seen there is snow-tipped mountainous terrain and Indian army trucks criss-crossing Kargil on its way to Ladakh. Strategically Kargil is highly important for India, as it is the only road connection between the Kashmir valley and Ladakh. For Indian army it is the supply route for all the essential items needed to survive in Ladakh and Siachen. Siachen has been the bone of contention between both India and Pakistan. Overlooking Karakoaram pass, which connects Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) with China, Siachen has been under Indian occupation since 80s. Repeated attempts by Pakistan to capture the glacier have failed. Kargil was an attempt by Pakistan, to cut supply routes to Siachen and ultimately wrest it from India. It was a carefully thought out strategy of the Pakistani military establishment. Using Afghani and Sudanese mercenaries, backed by the regular Pakistani army, it infiltrated and captured the heights near the Srinagar – Leh national highway. The plan was to use these heights to capture the highway, ultimately cutting off the supply routes to Siachen and Ladakh. The infiltration was a slow process in order to prevent Indian armed forces from detecting it. It started soon after the Lahore bus journey of Vajpayee. By April 1999 the infiltration had reached dangerous proportions. Government was taken by surprise when few army men on routine mission of touring the check posts in the bordering areas of Kargil went missing. Soon aerial surveys for the missing revealed huge illegal bunkers created in hilltops. It was clear that Pakistan had again backstabbed and all the hard works of Lahore had been in vain. Vajpayee Government had in the meanwhile been reduced to the status of a caretaker government by the whims of Sonia Gandhi and Jayalalitha. After loosing the majority in the floor of the house by just one vote, Vajpayee had resigned. But repeated attempts by combined opposition to form a government proved futile. Ultimately Lok Sabha was dissolved and elections were to be held under Vajpayee’s caretaker government. But unexpected events of Kargil forced the election commission to postpone the elections for the time being. What seemed to ordinary Indians as a routine attempt by Pakistani Army to push in militants in Kashmir valley, turned out to be a full-scale war when Indian Air Force started carrying out repeated air raids over the hillocks of Kargil. Afghani mercenaries, who had become rugged and war-crazy after so many years of successful struggle against the Russians in Afghanistan had camped over large number of strategically placed hills in and around Kargil region. Removing them using conventional methods would have been impossible, finding no other alternatives Prime Minister Vajpayee ordered lightening air raids over those bunkers. The air raids were followed by military push. Guns like Bofors were used for the first time by the armed forces. Heavy bombardment both by the Indian Army and the Air Force destroyed the capabilities of the Afghani mercenaries and also dashed the hopes of Pakistan, which dreamt of repeating Afghanistan in Kashmir too. But the successes over the heights of Kargil proved too costly for India too. More than 450 Jawans (Indian Soldiers) died in the battlefield. As their dead bodies started arriving at Palam airport the country was filled with both grief and pride. The heroic deeds of the likes of Capt. Manoj Pandey and Lt. Saurabh Kalia aroused the patriotic sentiments of every Indian citizen. Cutting across the barriers of caste, creed and region, Indians participated in huge numbers in the funeral processions of these brave sons of Mother India. |
Copyright ©2000 indiansaga.info. All rights reserved.
By using this service, you accept that you won't copy or use the data given in this website for any commercial purpose.
The material on indiansaga.info is for informational & educational purpose only.
This site is best viewed at 800 X 600 picture resolution.
