CHENNAI: When war broke out in Kargil in 1999, the second battalion of the 8th Gorkha Rifles was mobilised to fight the battle from the borders of Rajasthan. Col. David Devasahayam (Retd) commissioned the battalion. While he guarded the borders, his wife Dr Renuka David, then a frontier doctor in the Indian army, was housed in a separate family accommodation in Thiruvananthapuram. “We were all ladies staying alone but united in a way. There was no fear as we supported each other. We met the ladies of the jawans and gave them encouragement and strength, while taking care of each other’s welfare,” shares Dr Renuka, founder of the Radiant Wellness Conclave.
Instituted in 2015, the Conclave celebrates nine dimensions of wellness, including physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, occupational, and technological. This year’s Conclave celebrates 25 years of the Kargil War victory by inviting the war veterans, to honour their contributions to the nation’s defense. “Five years back, one panel was moderated to commemorate 20 years of the Kargil war victory. It was so well received. Then, we realised that so much about the war needs to be told, which many civilians do not know about. Hence the 25th year celebrations,” she says.
Ahead of the event, CE chats with Major General Lakhwinder Singh (Retd) and Lt General Yogesh Kumar Joshi (Retd) to capture their roles and memories of the historic war.
Cold challenges
“The initial days were not so coordinated because we thought that infiltrators were fighting for azadi and the response by the Indian military was based on that. But, it turned out that they were Pakistan Army units, and then the reaction changed,” points out Lakhwinder Singh, the commander of the artillery brigade of 8 Mountain Divisions. Describing the Indian Army, he says, “The Army is very professional and is experienced in combat.”
With changes in strategies and becoming war-ready, several other difficulties were faced by the soldiers. Explaining them, the commanding officer of 13 JAK RIF, YK Joshi says, “This battle was unique because the Army fought at a very difficult high altitude terrain with heights ranging from 10 to 18,000 feet. The enemy was sitting on top. But before you could reach the enemy, the army had to fight the climate and the terrain.”
At that altitude, climbing the mountains without the enemy sitting on top was a huge feat in itself. “In these areas, just walking takes at least four to five times of energy than what it takes in normal terrains. The terrains were the most hostile imaginable. Thus, our movement to the mountains was slow because you are also carrying your ammunition, weapons, warm clothing, and communication equipment,” he says, adding that the low temperatures increased the chances of wear and tear of weapons.
The second challenge was that the Pakistani army would be on hilltops and the approaches to attack were narrow. The troops had to work in a single file. The enemy on top was firing machine guns and the Indian troops had nowhere to hide. “There was not a blade of grass to take cover. The terrain completely favoured the enemy. The troops had to acclimatise before they ended up in this area. Therefore, the progress of the operation was slow,” he narrates. Calling the task “nearly impossible”, Joshi shares with pride that the Indian Army overcame the challenges and evicted the enemy from the places it had occupied on the Line of Control (LoC).
Think beyond bullets
The Indian Army was also able to make progress because of the military tactics applied by the ‘Enraged Bull of Dras’, Lakhwinder Singh. “The artillery came into battle when we suffered two failed attacks from a closer distance of 300-400 m. It was a moment of worry,” he recalls. The commander made shooters fire guns including Bofors, 105 mm field guns and 120 mm mortars standing in a straight line and launching an attack on the enemy on top.
“Some 100 gunners opened fire continuously at the Pakistani’s hideouts. It was a hard hit, we heard them running and crying for life. The enemy cried ‘Hell has fallen on to us’. Every time we shot our guns, we heard them crying the phrase,” says Lakhwinder. This move was a huge blow to the Pakistan army, they were demoralised. So much so that after the war came to an end the Pakistan high command commended the move. While the rockets were launched, the infantry got acclimatised to the weather and the army moved forward.
After this attack, the Pakistan Army was stepping back and the Indian Army was progressively regaining the territory. The battle did not stop at any point, it was on throughout day and night for almost two months. The points 4875 and 5140 were other challenging areas to conquer. “We launched an attack on the night of July 4 and were to capture the point in the early hours of July 5. We were positioned closer to the enemy with no cover available and suffered casualties. I was at the firebase moderating the supporting fire. When Lt Sanjay was leading the Charlie Company, he launched the attack capturing the bunker. He had injured his arm, but he used the enemy’s machine guns to capture another section,” elucidates Joshi.
These points were the most important bunkers in the war. Capturing them eventually led to victory. The recovery took some time because many soldiers were dead, and many others were injured. “The loss is very traumatic but once you recognise their contributions to the nation, then you can overcome the loss of dear ones,” shares Joshi. Lakhwinder says, “An army man is built to overcome the loss. After the war came to an end, the army had other jobs to carry on, like increasing vigilance in those areas. More brigadiers and army men were positioned at the spot.”
To share more about the lived experiences, Lt Gen Mohinder Puri, Air Marshal Narayan Menon, Capt Yashika, Shabbir Boxwala, Anitha Ravindranath, Lt Gen SL Narasimhan, Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma, Ambassador Gautam Bambawale, General Ved Prakash Malik, Shashi Tharoor and Barkha Dutt are coming together to discuss the series of events during the war and aftermath at the Conclave.
Radical Wellness Conclave 2024 will be held today from 9 am at Taj Coromandel.