DEFENCE

The Pakistani Army carried out armed intrusions and occupied vacant posts overlooking the National Highway (NH) in Turtuk, Batalik, Kargil, and Dras sectors.

The Indian army was surprised by the Pakistani intrusions as it never expected intrusions at such a large scale and that too along the heights dominating National Highway 1D.

The Jats have a unique ability to achieve whatever task is allotted. There is a challenge, too – they require firm handling. It is not easy to command them.

In hindsight, if we had gone ahead with our operations as planned, probably the outcome would have been very different. We could have pre-empted Pakistan in their game plan. Lesson learnt = never trust your enemy

In the letter to his son, the father wrote "if ever you were to face the enemy bullets, face them on your chest and not your back. If the bullet is received on your chest, it would mean that you fought like a tiger and if it is received on your back, the whole village will say that he got the bullets while running away from the enemy fire".

After the leader and his five men were martyred, there were approximately ten others who were injured with gunshot wounds. The attack had to be called off because of casualties and injuries. Rest of the men found their way back to the company headquarters or the battalion headquarters, while some reported to the regimental aid post for first aid.

With virtually no cover and Pakistani intruders entrenched all across the ridge in sangars, the advance of my troops was stopped even before it began. The platoon was bloodied so severely by the deadly enemy fire that it finally hit me what we were really up against.

The plan of 79 Mountain Brigade looked very impressive when plotted on the map, with two separate thrust lines, along different ridgelines, finally culminating to the terminal objective of Point 4388. If we analyse the above tasking of the battalions, it appears to be a tall order for one unit. It seems the brigade wanted to bite more than it could chew.

The battalion had been employed in a counter-insurgency/counter-infiltration role before induction into the Mashkoh valley. Therefore, the men had to be re-oriented towards undertaking conventional offensive operations in high altitude area.

The news of the capture of Tololing spread like wildfire. It was the first big victory and boosted the confidence of one and all including my men -- If 2 Raj Rif can do it, so can we. The task of capturing the objective was feasible if we are determined to achieve it. It proved the adage, 'no defences are impregnable for a determined attacker.

My adjutant at once grabbed his helmet and took a lying position. The shelling was over after a couple of minutes. But we all realized that we were in the battle zone and must wear our helmets every time due to frequent enemy shelling and take a lying position with face down to minimize casualties.

On 13 Jun 99, the PM was scheduled to visit the 8 Mountain Division at Matayan at 1030 hours to address the troops. We were also called there. At around 1000 hours, the enemy started shelling the area where we had gathered for PM's address. We all started running for cover to escape the deadly fire and found the folds of the hills in close vicinity to take shelter.