Participating in the war was a dream come true. It is not to say I wished a war. Once things were forced upon us, we had to defend the country which was our primary role. I felt good. Today, when I look back at Kargil, we (my regiment, my soldiers and myself), did a wonderful job. Mann ko tassali hoti hai. Acha lagta haithat everyone did a good job. Professional satisfaction is what we got. It is like what you feel after winning a good match.
We had all the odds against us in Kargil, be it climate, terrain, resources or manpower. I wouldn’t hesitate to say probably we were not prepared for it. Our Prime Minister (Atal Behari Vajpayee) had just gone to Pakistan in the Delhi-Lahore bus as a friendship gesture. As an independent commander in the area, I never thought a war could take place. Truly speaking, I was anticipating only a few infiltrators and that I would be able to thwart them with small firing. Then we realised they were actually trained Pakistani soldiers occupying a 151-km area around the Kargil border.
Kargil was a war of artillery because tanks and other big equipment was not there and the Air Force was not effective. Infantry mattered but because of the height, terrain and weather, but it was difficult for infantry to go and occupy those bunkers of the Pakistanis. It was only the guns or shells which could be used to attack the infiltrators.
I was taking care of the heavy motor battery which is only one of its type in the entire country. It is the heaviest equipment, the heaviest artillery that we have got with a shell of approximately 60 kgs. Just to lift it, needs nine persons and another eight to operate the motor. With a 60-kg explosive the mountain shakes.
I had a spine injury owing to three fractures from a freefall. I had to leave the Army. The journey for me to resettle was very difficult because as an injured person, nobody gives you a job. We all talk big things, but for a soldier who has been injured, there is hardly anything. A soldier has to fend for himself and his family. In retrospect, a martyr’s family is very well taken care of, which undoubtedly they deserve. There were more than 600 people who never came back home. They didn’t even know whether we won or lost Kargil.
But, the people who fought the war and who were injured in the war, they must also be equally taken care of. If you don’t do that, the youth who have seen the injured soldiers are discouraged to join the army. So, you have to respect your injured, your veterans too.
