By K K Muktan
July 26, is celebrated as “Operation Vijay day” every year for India’s victory in the historic Kargil War of 1999. This day bears a special significance to us, the Meghalayans, when Captain Keishing Clifford Nongrum of Shillong sacrificed his life for mother India. He gave the most heroic fight against the Pakistani intruders on July 1, 1999 and went down fighting at Batalik sector of Kargil. On this day we remember him with a sense of pride and joy and offer our respectful homage to him as well as to all those brave sons of India who fought heroically and laid down their precious lives. Captain Clifford Nongrum belonged to 12th Jammu and Kashmere Light Infantry and was instrumental in killing as many as six Pakistani soldiers and capturing Point No. 4012 of Batalik front. He was awarded MAHAVIR CHAKRA posthumously for his extreme bravery and e’lan.
Tiger hill, the main battle field of Kargil, being located only four kilometers away from the LOC was one of the most strategic posts held by the Pakistanis which had a dominating command over the Srinagar-Leh Highway, the life line of Indian defence. The Tiger hill being located on top of a high mountain ranging between 15000 to 18000 feet above the sea level, the topography of the enemy position gave them extra logistic advantage. It rose steeply ending in a conical shape with no spar or ridgelines on either side which rendered climbing most difficult for Indian troops. The enemy plan was, however, frustrated by powerful Indian air strikes which proved to be an effective encounter which the Pakistani army had never thought of. Side by side with air strikes the Indian land force started artillery shelling from below and our Indian troops advanced towards the enemy posts. Heavy fighting continued in all sectors. Indian jawans fought heroically inflicting heavy casualties on the intruders. On June 8, 1999, after a fierce gun battle in Kargil sector Indian troops achieved a major success by recapturing two main features in Batalik subsectors. The Indian jawans killed and captured a number of intruders and recovered from their possessions significant documents revealing them to be the regular Pakistani army in the guise of Mujahideens.
The nefarious game-plan of Pakistan vis-à-vis India’s good intent did not remain unnoticed by the world community. Great Britain expressed deep concern over the Pakistani intrusion into Indian territory and urged Pakistan to withdraw immediately. The U.S asked Pakistan to vacate Kargil and stop indulging in terrorism. Even China, Pakistan’s close ally, failed to appreciate Nawaz Sharif’s action and asked him to resolve the dispute through peaceful means. The then Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Bajpayee, however did not forget to discharge his neighbourly responsibility by conveying a message of peace to his counterpart in Islamabad which read – ‘Even now if good will is shown by the other side India will more than reciprocate’. The reply was neither affirmative nor negative as Mr Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan had virtually lost control over the situation.
In the mean time the war raged in its full fury in all sectors. By May, 31 1999 the valiant Indian jawans succeeded in pushing back the infiltrators from most of the posts except a few hill tops where intruders were strongly entrenched. The intruders were dislodged from the Tiger hill and Tololing sectors also. Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia and a jawan laid down their lives after fighting bravely and killing eight Pakistanis. A major success was achieved on June 20, when Indian jawans recaptured Peak No. 5140 under the able leadership of Captain Vikram Batra of 13th Jammu Kashmere Rifles. He however lost his life in another daring encounter for which he was awarded the country’s highest gallantry award – PARAMVIR CHAKRA. By the end of June Indian troops had recaptured almost all the important positions and expelled the enemies.
Among the prominent forces of the Indian army which played crucial role in the operation Vijay were the Jammu and Kashmere Infantry, 2nd Rajput Rifles, Naga Regiment, 11th Gorkha Rifles, Garhwal Rifles, 7th Assam Regiment, 8th Grenadiers and the 8th Sikh Regiment. All these regiments fought bravely and earned their names at the cost of many precious lives. The Gorkha regiment contributed heavily by sacrificing as many as twenty-two lives of young Gorkha jawans. Incidentally, all the twenty-two Gorkha boys were the sons of Indian Gorkhas settled in Darjeeling, Dehra-Dun and North-Eastern states and most of them were army ex-servicemen. Other brave sons from the north-east India who made their names immortal by sacrificing their lives were – Captain Jintu Gogoi of 15 Garhwal Regiment (Assam), Captain Nukezhahua Kengurus (Nagaland), Lance Naik Kaleswar Kom, Rifleman C. Nicholai Moyon of Naga Regiment, Lance Naik Chinmoy Bhowmik, Grenadier Uddhab Das of Assam and Nandchand Singh of Manipur.
These brave soldiers left their homes with the promise to their wives, children and parents to come back after the end of the war, but alas, what really returned back were their mortal remains in coffins draped in the tricolor and wreathed with multi-colored summer flowers , reminiscent of the famous poem of Lord Alfred Tennyson – ‘Home they brought her warrior dead’. The whole nation mourned their death and shared the grief with the near and dear ones of the great sons of the soil who covered themselves with extreme bravery and honor . The country salutes them and sings with tears – “Ae mere watan ke logon, zaraa aankh me bharlo paani. Jo shaheed huye hain unki, jaraa yaad karo qurbaani”.
(The writer is a retired civil servant)