BOOK REVIEW ON HEROES OF KARGIL- BY COL GURMEET KANWAL

Submitted By:Maj Vikrama Vardhana 38 R R (MADRAS)

Introduction

This book review is based upon Colonel Gurmeet Kanwals book Heroes of Kargil a book that commemorates the war, celebrates our victory, glorifies sacrifice and mourns our loss.

India is a vast country, not just geographically, but also culturally. Today, India is on its path to progress. It is the worlds largest democracy and the fastest growing economy, second only to China. But, the story of success and the golden progress of this nation are written in blood, of a few good men, mostly members of the armed forces, who have laid down their lives in order to keep the tricolor flying in its full glory. Each day, we go about our work, safely, without any worries and with full freedom, because we know that we are protected by one of the finest armies of the world. But, unfortunately, the human memory is short lived. We tend to forget too easily. And that is why, none of us spare even a minute in the 24 hours of a day, to remember our martyrs. Names of brave hearts like, Vikram Batra, Saurabh Kalia, Anuj Nayyar, Amol Kalia, Gajendra Singh, Vijyant Thapar, Manoj Kumar Pandey and Nawang Kapadia shine every year on a few special occasions, but otherwise they do not find a single mention in any of our conversations or prayers on regular days.

Main Body
A novel phenomenon in sub continental military conflicts emerged during the Kargil war in 1999. This was the appearance of print and audio-visual media correspondents in operational fronts. This was perhaps the first time that a large number of young media representatives were allowed to witness the conflict first hand by being given access to forward areas. The visuals and on-the-spot commentaries between midMay and August-September 1999 brought the realities of the Kargil war into the drawing rooms and 'chaupals' of Indian homes. In his book, Colonel Kanwal covered the war like a journalist but with a first hand experience since he was not an actual journalist but an active part of the battle. He has talked about the intricacies of the war in the first few chapters of his book, but it basically focuses on the human aspect of war in the form of the stories of the men who left legacies of bravery behind them.

The author has given the entire background of the war to make sure that that the reader is able to actually visualize what must have happened, as he proceeds towards the later chapters, which deal with the individual stories of the officers. The cause of the war was the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the LOC, which serves as the de facto border between the two states. During the initial stages of the war, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents, but documents left behind by casualties and later statements by Pakistan's Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff showed involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces, led by General Ashraf Rashid. The Indian Army, later on supported by the Indian Air Force, recaptured a majority of the positions on the Indian side of the LoC infiltrated by the Pakistani troops and militants. With international diplomatic opposition, the Pakistani forces were forced to withdraw from remaining Indian positions along the LOC. There were three major phases to the Kargil War. First, Pakistan infiltrated forces into the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir and occupied strategic locations enabling it to bring NH1 within range of its artillery fire. The next stage consisted of India discovering the infiltration and mobilizing forces to respond to it. The final stage involved major battles by Indian and Pakistani forces resulting in India recapturing some territory held by Pakistani forces and the subsequent withdrawal of Pakistani forces back across the Line of Control after international pressure. More than anything else, this book looks at the war through the eyes of not just an author but a soldier who was living the war. Every bomb was real, every death took away a life that would never come back, every gunshot reverberated in the valley, and every young man was a hero. The book talks about young men whose heroism still brings tears to the eyes. The saddest story of the war was that of a young lieutenant Saurabh Kalia, a 22 year old soldier whose 5 short months of service engraved his name on the gold of heroism and sacrifice. In the first fortnight of May 1999, he went out for patrol duty three times in the Kaksar area of

Kargil. He observed and reported large-scale intrusion of Pak Army and foreign mercenaries in Indian side of LoC (Kargil). He assumed guard of "Bajrang Post" at the height 13,000-14,000 feet to check infiltration along with 5 soldiers in the Kaksar area. On May 15, 1999, after a continuous cross fire with Pakistan armed forces from across the LoC, he and his troops ran out of ammunition. It is also believed that their signal instrument was out of order, or not working in those conditions. They were finally encircled by a platoon of Pakistan rangers and captured alive before any Indian reinforcement could reach for their help. No trace of this entire patrol was left and Skardu Radio of Pakistan reported that Lt. Saurabh Kalia and five of his men were captured alive. A major had heard his story from a friend of his, who was in the Military Intelligence. This major often thought how heartless they had been in not bringing these six soldiers back. In his own words; I dont know how to begin but I need to tell you. I have heard their screams ringing in my ears in my dreams and also the wild laughter of the men who tore them apart. Lt. Kalia must have hoped to get back but I guess he would have realised that it would never happen, what he must have thought of us, undergoing torture day in and day out. The intercepts did say that nawaz sharif knew of the capture and that kalias nails were pulled out during interrogation. But still, we couldnt make out very clearly. The story did reveal itself, when the bodies of these soldiers came back. Post-mortem reports told the story that no one had the courage to hear. The postmortem revealed that the Pakistan army had indulged in the most heinous acts; of burning their bodies with cigarettes, piercing ear-drums with hot rods, puncturing eyes before removing them, breaking most of the teeth and bones, chopping off various limbs and private organs of these soldiers besides inflicting all sorts of physical and mental tortures before shooting them dead, as evidenced by the bullet wound to the temple. Kalia and his men had been tortured beyond human endurance for over 20 days. It was indeed a story that brought pain to the souls of the soldiers who were trying to digest this news about their fallen brother.

Col Kanwal describes in detail, his encounter with Captain Vikram Batra (PVC, Posthumously). His first impression of Capt. Batra was that of an educated Maulana with his typical mullah beard and public school English. But he did not realise it then, that Capt. Batra was the man who would prove to be the king of aces and the turning point of the war. Today, the peak 4875 is named after him, as Capt. Batra Top. Captain Vikram Batra, 13 JAK Rifles, and his Delta Company were given the task of recapturing Point 5140. Nicknamed Sher Shah ('Lion King' in Hindi) for his unstinting courage, he decided to lead the rear, as an element of surprise would help stupefy the enemy. He and his men ascended the sheer rock-cliff, but as the group neared the top, the enemy pinned them on the face of the bare cliff with machine gun fire. Captain Batra, along with five of his men, climbed up regardless and after reaching the top, hurled two grenades at the machine gun post. He single-handedly killed three enemy soldiers in close combat. He was seriously injured during this, but insisted on regrouping his men to continue with the mission. Inspired by the courage displayed by Captain Batra, the soldiers of 13 JAK Rifles charged the enemy position and captured Point 5140 at 3:30 a.m. on 20 June 1999. His company is credited with killing at least eight Pakistani soldiers and recovering a heavy machine gun. The capture of Point 5140 set in motion a string of successes, such as Point 5100, Point 4700, Junction Peak and Three Pimples. Along with fellow Captain Anuj Nayyar, Batra led his men to victory with the recapture of Point 4750 and Point 4875. He was killed when he tried to rescue an injured officer during an enemy counterattack against Point 4875 in the early morning hours of 7 July 1999. While dragging Lt. Naveen back under cover, Naveen pleaded to Captain Batra to let him continue the fight in spite the injuries to which Captain Batra replied "Tu baal bachedaar hai!! Hatt jaa peeche," ("You have kids and wife to look after! Get back!"). His last words were, "Jai Mata Di." (which means in Punjabi 'Hail the Divine Mother'). For his sustained display of the most conspicuous personal bravery and leadership of the highest order in the face of the enemy, Captain Vikram Batra was awarded the Param Vir Chakra. Captain Batra's Yeh Dil Maange More! (My heart asks for more!), erstwhile a popular slogan for a Pepsi commercial,

became an iconic battle cry that swept across the country and remains popular with millions of Indians, invoked at patriotic public events, in memory of the war and the soldiers, and as a symbol of the indomitable spirit of Indian patriotism and valor in face of future attacks. Captain Batra proved himself to be the epitome of self sacrifice and heroism. The next officer who has been talked about in the book is Lt. Manoj Pandey,(PVC, Posthumously). He boldly led a series of attacks during Operation Vijay; forcing back the intruders with heavy losses in Batalik including the capture of Jabbar Top. On the night of 2/3 July 1999 during the advance to Khalubar as his platoon approached its final objective, it came under heavy and intense enemy fire from the surrounding heights. Lieutenant Pandey was tasked to clear the interfering enemy positions to prevent his battalion from getting day lighted, being in a vulnerable position. He quickly moved his platoon to an advantageous position under intense enemy fire, sent one section to clear the enemy positions from the right and himself proceeded to clear the enemy positions from the left. He was a part the 1/11 Gurkha Rifles of the Indian Army. Adolf Hitler, who was a brilliant soldier, often used to say that if he would get a small platoon of Gurkha soldiers, he would be able to capture the entire world with it. Lt. Pandey proved that the gurkha soldiers are made of something more than just flesh and blood. He forced back the intruders on June 11, 1999 at Batalik Sector in the Kargil war. He led his men to capture the Jubar top which was considered as important due to its strategic location. Quickly sizing up the situation, the young officer led his platoon along a narrow, treacherous ridge that led to the enemy position. While still short of the objective, the enemy fired upon the Indian soldiers effectively stalling the Indian attack. Displaying great courage, he surged ahead of his troops and charged at the enemy with a full throated battle cry through a hail of bullets. Although wounded in the shoulder and leg, he pressed on his solitary charge with grim determination, until he closed in

on the first bunker. Then in ferocious hand-to-hand combat, he killed two of the enemy and cleared the first bunker. It was the turning point. Inspired by their leader's spontaneous valour, the troops charged at the enemy and fell upon them. Unmindful of his grievous wounds, he rushed from bunker to bunker urging his men on. Critically injured, he collapsed at the final bunker and finally succumbed to his injuries. But by this time he had already captured the bunker with his men. Fearlessly assaulting the first enemy position, he killed two enemy personnel and destroyed the second position by killing two more. He was injured on the shoulder and legs while clearing the third position. Undaunted and without caring for his grievous injuries, he continued to lead the assault on the fourth position urging his men and destroyed the same with a grenade, even as he got a fatal burst on his forehead. This singular daredevil act of Lieutenant Pandey provided the critical firm base for the companies, which finally led to capture of Khalubar. The officer, however, succumbed to his injuries. Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey, thus, displayed most conspicuous bravery, indomitable courage, outstanding leadership and devotion to duty and made the supreme sacrifice in the highest traditions of the Indian Army. Another hero of the war was Capt. Anuj Nayyar ( MVC, Posthumously), the man who was also a great friend to Capt. Vikram Batra. Capt. Nayyars role has been talked about in great detail by the author. During the initial phase of assault on Pt. 4875, the Company Commander of the platoon was injured. After the initial setback, the assault team split into two groups, one led by Captain Vikram Batra and other by Captain Anuj Nayyar. The Pakistani infiltrators had constructed several bunkers on Pt. 4875. Nayyar's company, which consisted of 7 personnel, located 4 enemy bunkers. The company began to ascend Pt. 4875 during which it came under heavy artillery and mortar fire from Pakistani infiltrators. However, the team counter-attacked, which also included hand-to-hand combat, forcing the Pakistani soldiers to retreat.[1] During the battle, Nayyar killed 9 Pakistani soldiers and destroyed three medium machine gun bunkers.[2]

Under Captain Nayyar's leadership, the company had successfully cleared three of the four bunkers and began its assault on the last remaining bunker. While clearing the fourth bunker, an enemy rocket propelled grenade fell directly on Nayyar. Despite being grievously injured, Nayyar continued to lead the remaining men in his company. He succumbed to his injuries but not before clearing the last bunker on Pt. 4875. None of the soldiers from Nayyar's team of the Charlie Company survived the battle.[5] Two days after Pt. 4875 was secured, it was counter-attacked by Pakistani infiltrators during which the second team of the Charlie Company, led by Captain Batra, successfully defended the peak.[6] During the entire battle for the Pimple complex area, 46 regular members of Pakistani Army, an unknown number of Pakistani paramilitary troopers and militants, and 11 Indian Army men, including Captain Nayyar and Captain Batra, were killed. The securing of the Pimple Complex area paved the way for the recapture of Tiger Hill which finally forced Pakistan to retreat its forces to pre-conflict positions They say, sometimes heroes are found in the commonest, most unexpected places. One such man, was Captain Haneefuddin (VC, Posthumously). . Ek pal mein hai sach saari zindagi ka; Is pal mein ji lo yaaron, yahan kal hai kisne dekha (The truth of our lives is encapsulated in one moment; Live this moment, who knows what tomorrow holds). It is difficult to miss the irony, in these lyrics of a song from an album cut by a remarkable singer-soldier, Captain Haneef Uddin. Haneef lived these lyrics -- written by his younger brother Sameer -- and even sang them to his troops. His impromptu "Jazz Band" spread his zest for life and music in the mountains, welcome relief for troops cut off from civilisation and television, fighting tedium and tension. "Whether up in the hills or down here with us, his music system remained his constant companion,"

Fun, cheer, song and courage. Those values, his family and colleagues say, describe the young captain who died fighting on a craggy mountainside in Turtuk, Kargil, on the same day that he was commissioned into the army two years ago. The strapping young man -- he was crowned Mr Shivaji in Delhi's Shivaji College -- was multifaceted, training in computers before joining the Indian Military Academy in 1996.

He was commissioned into the army on June 7, 1997.Cutting across the snowy peaks to push for the enemyheld heights, Haneef soldiered on despite artillery bombardment. Outgunned and outnumbered, he and his unit fought to the end. His body was not recovered from the perilous ridges of Turtuk, until the war was over. "As a soldier Haneef served his country with pride and dedication. There cannot be a greater statement on his valour than his death which came fighting the enemy." As I read the book, my desire to be one of these men burned like a fire in me. Heroism is not a term that can be spoken about casually and the actions of these heroes proves this. Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav (PVC), was just a boy of 19 when he had the honour of fighting for this nation and winning a Paramvir Chakra for his valour. Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav was part of the leading team of a Ghatak Platoon tasked to capture Tiger Hill on the night of 3-4 July 1999. The approach to the top was steep, snowbound and rocky. Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, unmindful of the danger involved, volunteered to lead and fix the rope for his team to climb up. On seeing the team, the enemy opened intense automatic, grenade, rocket and artillery fire killing the Commander and two of his colleagues and the platoon was stalled. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav crawled up to the enemy position to

silence it and in the process sustained multiple bullet injuries. Unmindful of his injuries and in the hail of enemy bullets, Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav continued climbing towards the enemy positions, lobbed grenades, continued firing from his weapons and killed four enemy soldiers in close combat and silenced the automatic fire. Despite multiple bullet injuries, he refused to be evacuated and continued the charge. Inspired by his gallant act, the platoon charged on the other positions with renewed punch and captured Tiger Hill Top. Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav displayed the most conspicuous courage, indomitable gallantry, grit and determination under extreme adverse circumstances Lastly, I will talk about Rifleman Sanjay Kumar(PVC), The soldier who volunteered to be the leading scout of the attacking column tasked to capture area Flat Top of Point 4875 in the Mushkoh Valley on 4 July 1999. During the attack when enemy automatic fire from one of the sangars posed stiff opposition and stalled the column, Rifleman Sanjay Kumar realizing the gravity of the situation and with utter disregard to his personal safety, charged at the enemy. In the ensuing handto- hand combat, he killed three of the intruders and was himself seriously injured. Despite his injuries, he charged onto the second sangar. Taken totally by surprise, the enemy left behind a Universal Machine Gun and started running. Rifleman Sanjay Kumar picked up the UMG and killed the fleeing enemy. Although bleeding profusely, he refused to be evacuated. The brave action on his part motivated his comrades and they took no notice of the treacherous terrain and charged onto the enemy and wrested the area Flat Top from the hands of the enemy.

Conclusion
The book talks about many other officers who changed the face of the kargil war but to talk about those is beyond the scope of this article. Also, these people cant be praised in the common words of any language because their acts of gallantry are beyond words and emotions. They touch the level of the divine.

We must not forget that everybody does not have the courage and spirit to do what these brave men have done. Yes, they died with a lot of things undone. Many of them did not get the chance to become fathers or even husbands, but they were blessed with a great honour, the honour of dying for their nation. We must not forget, that each day, we sleep safely in our beds, because somewhere a young man pays for our peaceful sleep, with his blood. What is more, he does so smilingly, because he feels blessed to be one of the chosen ones, to have got the sacred chance of dying for a pure cause. The final hour of the martyr is his finest hour. And he has only one thing on his lips, at the moment of martyrdom a prayer for the welfare of his country and a request for his countrymenKar chale hum fida Ab tumhare hawale watan sathiyo jano tan sathiyo,

Heroes of Kargil is a beautiful book which teaches the reader lessons in bravery, sacrifice and patriotism. It is a must read for every Indian.