The stark naked mountains, craggy, knife-edged peaks jutting into the sky and the gushing rivers along the road to Kargil are memories etched in my mind. Living in these mountains, often under protruding rocks with soldiers, trying to duck Pakistani shells, a wonderful feeling of camaraderie developed. This was not only of tremendous help professionally but also a source of comfort personally. In May, when the intrusions were detected, the army was tense, and in the initial days, facing setbacks. Patrols climbing the peaks were shot at and soldiers retreated, bleeding, injured and having taken a body blow on their morale. This was the time that field commanders were angry and under pressure to deliver positive results. They, in turn, were pushing the soldiers to win peaks and casualties were high. In those freezing days of May and early June, when the temperature in Drass, at an altitude of 10,600 ft, plummeted down to zero at night, soldiers were climbing peaks another 6,000 ft higher without adequateacclimatisation or high-altitude clothing.Success eluded the Army. For some reason, in the first week of May, the entry of journalists was stopped east of Sonamarg. Only three journalists remained. I was one of them. The Army learnt a crucial lesson on the importance of artillery in mountain warfare and an entire brigade of artillery was inducted. The infantry and artillery began to work in tandem. On the night of June 12, as many as 120 guns fired on a single peak Tololing through the night, completely pulverising it.
The infantry soldiers waded through the fire that the artillery rained and won the peak. My reports reflected their bravery. And this was the beginning of my acceptance in their ranks. In fact, an officer even gave me his paratrooper's jacket and camouflage cap which I then wore throughout my stay there.
Eating with the jawans, sleeping in their camps, sitting through their operation briefing sessions be it in Mushkoh valley and Drass, Kaksar, Kargil and Batalik gave me aninsight into the battle. Often writing letters to their families for them or conveying a message through my satellite telephone endeared me to them and also gave me a chance to know the man, the human being who wore the olive green uniform and was prepared to die for the country without a thought of the family he left behind.
During the early days of the operations I stayed in Kargil with colleague Muzamil but an unfortunate injury during shelling forced him to return to Srinagar. I hired a Gypsy and drove extensively from Kargil to Drass, Batalik and Mushkoh valley in the course of the next two ,months gathering information about operations, charting the course of the battle and chronicling the conflict. Often I would be accompanied by other journalists both from print and electronic media and at times I was alone. Colleagues Praveen Jain and Ravi Batra captured crucial moments of the war, braving the shells and the climate. Life varied between moments of happiness when soldiers won peaks and cameback safely to days of acute depression when missions failed and friends became martyrs. The sight of blood, injured soldiers limping back to their camps, moaning in pain in underground bunkers was chilling. But the sound of victory on July 26 when Operation Vijay was declared a victory brought a cheer.
Though the war was over, I stayed on for a few more days to see the beginning of permanent deployment when resources were being pumped in. Though Operation Vijay was over, jockeying for heights continued and skirmishes still do...
`Captured Forever: Kargil Express, A Photo Journey' . At CST Local Station, Platform 1. From Nov 18 to Nov 20. Time: 11.00 am to 6.00 pm.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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