Kargil Vijay Diwas.
India celebrates 26 July every year as Kargil Vijay Diwas. The country is celebrating the silver jubilee of 25 years of Kargil Vijay this year. In the Kargil war, two heroes from Himachal Pradesh, Captain Vikram Batra and Sepoy Sanjay Kumar, earned the highest honor of Param Vir Chakra. In this war, the Indian Army defeated the Pakistani Army by showing indomitable courage and bravery. On the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, Brigadier Kushal Thakur, who took part in the war, has shared interesting stories related to the war. Let us tell you that then Khushal Thakur (retired) was the colonel and commanding officer in 18 Grenadiers who conquered Tiger Hill.
When the platoon got the order to move
Brigadier Khushal Thakur said that 25 years ago in 1999, Pakistan once again betrayed India’s trust and infiltrated and occupied the areas of Kargil, Draz and Batalik. As soon as the Indian Army realized this, the exercise to kill the infiltrators began. At that time no one had thought that this exercise was the beginning of a fierce war. My unit 18 Grenadiers of which I was the commanding officer was deployed in the Mansabal area of the Kashmir Valley in those days. We used to have encounters with terrorists there almost every day. Within a few days of deployment, we killed 19 terrorists. Then we received orders from our senior officers that the platoon has to move to Draz immediately.
18 Grenadiers got the responsibility of liberating Tololing
In the Dras sector, the enemy had captured all the important peaks in Tololing, Tiger Hill and Moscow Valley. The enemy was obstructing the movement of the Indian Army on the national highway which is called the lifeline of Leh Ladakh and Siachin Glacier. Khushal Thakur said that 18 Grenadiers were given the task to free all the peaks of Tololing from the enemy at any cost. We attacked the enemy sitting on Tololing with a better strategy.
The attack lasted from 22 May to 14 June
Khushal Thakur said that at that time there was a lack of accurate information about the enemy’s numbers and their preparations. Also, there was a great shortage of equipment and other military units, especially artillery, necessary to fight a high altitude battle. This was the reason that we were suffering losses every day. But the brave soldiers of 18 Grenadiers kept their spirits strong despite all these adverse conditions and continued to attack the enemy without caring for their lives. This attack, which started on 22 May, continued till 14 June and in these 24 days we all faced difficult and inaccessible climbs, bad weather and continuous heavy shelling by the enemy. In this battle, Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari sacrificed his life and was posthumously awarded the Mahavir Chakra.
When a teammate died in my arms
Brigadier Khushal Thakur said that during an attack which I was personally leading, my deputy commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel R Vishwanathan was shot and he breathed his last in my lap. R Vishwanathan was awarded the Vir Chakra for his indomitable courage. Finally, on June 12, we, along with 2 Rajputana Rifles, hoisted the tricolor on the peak of Tololing and also conquered the important peak on June 14. In the battle of Tololing, two of our officers, two subedars and 21 soldiers sacrificed their lives. Khushal Thakur said that seeing the bravery of 18 Grenadiers, the senior officers of the army once again entrusted us with another important task. This was to capture the most important small Tiger Hill of the Dras sector. I and my team once again started preparing. We reconnoitered Tiger Hill from every possible direction and made a very accurate strategy by incorporating the suggestions of the commanders of all the units.
All-out attack on Tiger Hill
Taking the story forward, Brigadier Khushal Thakur told that on the night of 3 July, we attacked Tiger Hill from all sides and chose the most difficult route. From the side where it was impossible to go, our D Company and Ghatak Platoon reached the top and stunned the enemy. A fierce battle took place throughout the night and we succeeded in making our foothold on Tiger Hill Top. After this, we continued the attacks and on 8 July we hoisted the victory flag on the entire Tiger Hill. Today every child knows the saga of bravery of Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav in this battle, for which he was awarded the Param Vir Chakra. In this battle, 9 young men of our unit sacrificed their lives. Lieutenant Balwan Singh was awarded the Mahavir Chakra and Captain Sachin Nimbalkar was awarded the Vir Chakra. In the Kargil war, 18 Grenadiers created a record in themselves by winning the Shaurya Medal.
There was chaos in Pakistan’s army
Brigadier Khushal Thakur said that as soon as we hoisted the victory flag on Tiger Hill, there was panic in the Pakistani army. The then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif ran to the US President Bill Clinton to plead for a ceasefire. But our then Prime Minister late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee clearly said that until we do not drive out the last Pakistani intruder from the Indian border, the question of ceasefire does not arise.
527 soldiers sacrificed their lives
Brigadier Khushal Thakur said that in this war of Kargil, 527 warriors of Indian armed forces had to sacrifice their lives. Out of these, 52 warriors were from our Himachal Pradesh. I remember our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji when he was a campaigner in Himachal. Dhumal ji, who was the then Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, went to the battle front with him and met his soldiers. On 5 and 6 June, he encouraged his soldiers and met the injured soldiers in 92 Base Hospital and distributed sweets with them.
Young people should understand the value of freedom
The Kargil war proved once again that India is a peace loving country but if the enemy dares to raise his eyes towards us, then the Indian armed forces are always ready to teach that enemy a lesson. Brigadier Khushal Thakur said that I would just like to tell the youth that they should understand the value of this freedom and for the prosperity and happiness of India, empower themselves, make themselves skilled and contribute to the development of India by becoming self-reliant.
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