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A quarter century ago, in the summer of 1999, Indians were glued to their television screens and radio sets, listening to daily stories of tragedies and triumphs of the young, bold and intrepid soldiers from the frontlines of Kargil, Dras and Batalik.
India’s first televised war had the entire population transfixed and engendered patriotism not seen for many years. India was of course caught by surprise by the tactically brilliant but strategically naive Pakistani Army and its Chief Gen Pervez Musharraf. A blame game erupted on advance warning or lack of it.
Intelligence or no intelligence, the Pakistani intrusions came as a big shock for the Indian Army. Till then its main focus was on counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir.
Ladakh was low on priority. From Zoji la to Batalik, troop deployment was thin, patrolling perfunctory and occasional. The concern was about terrorist infiltration from east of Zoji la towards the Kashmir valley.
Looking back, many mistakes were made in the Kargil war at different levels but what mattered in the end was India’s victory— it came at a significant cost – over 540 dead and many more injured.
8 Mountain Division, forever-in operation division, is now the permanent guardian of Western Ladakh. The LoC in this sector is fully secure now. Infrastructure has improved way beyond recognition. Batalik, Yaldor, Garkhun, Khalubar Kukarthang, areas that were not accessible in the summer of 1999 now have roads connecting the last posts.
Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale & a young team of camerapersons, supported by generosity of Bharat Forge, one of India’s leading industrial house, made two extensive trips to the sector to weave together this story of Kargil, looking at those challenging months through the eyes of half a dozen war veterans who had played a key role in winning what seemed an impossible victory against all odds.
Those who made the ultimate sacrifice will never come back but they will forever remain in our memory. The 25th anniversary of Kargil is as good an occasion as any to remember the brave hearts and imbibe the right lessons from the 50-day war 25 summers ago.
Author, thought leader and one of South Asia's leading strategic analysts, Nitin A. Gokhale has forty years of rich and varied experience behind him as a conflict reporter, Editor, author and now a media entrepreneur who owns and curates two important digital platforms, BharatShakti.in and StratNewsGlobal.com focusing on national security, strategic affairs and foreign policy matters.
At the beginning of his long and distinguished career, Gokhale has lived and reported from India’s North-east for 23 years, writing and analysing various insurgencies in the region, been on the ground at Kargil in the summer of 1999 during the India-Pakistan war, and also brought live reports from Sri Lanka’s Eelam War IV between 2006-2009.
Author of over a dozen books on wars, insurgencies and conflicts, Gokhale relocated to Delhi in 2006, was Security and Strategic Affairs Editor at NDTV, a leading Indian broadcaster for nine years, before launching in 2015 his own digital properties.
An alumni of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Hawaii, Gokhale now writes, lectures and analyses security and strategic matters in Indo-Pacific and travels regularly to US, Europe, South and South-East Asia to speak at various international seminars and conferences.
Gokhale also teaches at India’s Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), the three war colleges, India's National Defence College, College of Defence Management and the intelligence schools of both the R&AW and Intelligence Bureau.
He tweets at @nitingokhale
