There was a moment of silence in the already quiet town of Drass, punctured by the army’s buglers as they played the Last Post. Life paused in that (in) finite moment of silence, commemorating those immortals whose absence left us much poorer as they gave their all. Ironically, the solemnity of the silence was to mark the gallant actions of those who raised their war cries in the heat of the battle in the frigid cold and at dizzying heights a quarter of a century ago.
This at the Kargil War Memorial is nestled at the base of the now famous Tololing – also a Battle Honour earned by sheer grit, dedication, resolve, an unconquerable spirit and a sense of sacrifice in what was a literal uphill war. The event, modest by Indian standards, was attended by a few hundred from all parts of the country. Those who participated in the event were either conquering victors or members of families which can never be complete. Veterans and brave families alike, smilingly speaking of those with us only in spirit with a great sense of pride.
From the famous battle of Tiger Hill to the less-known battles that were waged to the east in Batalik and the even lesser-known Sub-sector Haneef. Soldiers of the Indian Army led by young brave officers overcame the toughest of challenges at altitudes where even eagles dare, going on, many a times hungry and tired but yet dauntlessly and tirelessly waging war on grand and formidable mountain tops so desolate to not even be named but to have existed as mere numbers on maps, with centuries of intrepid explorers not fool-hardy enough to conquer these peaks that were so heavily contested. The awe-striking and humbling ruggedness of the terrain can only be witnessed, it cannot be described.
The Indian Army, the tamer of mountains, has now made roads to the top of these mountains. The journey to the top, where the army is poised to stay, is now measured in hours and not days, in some cases fewer hours than it took days to reach these solitary posts located a few thousand feet higher than the roof of the world—the pathways resembling a rope circumscribing the massive geographical features.
The then Army Chief General Ved Prakash Malik (retd), who graced the occasion, had once famously and rightly said during the war,’ We will fight with what we have’. The Indian Soldier then and even now selflessly gives and doesn’t ask for anything in return. However now the material situation has witnessed a sea change both in terms of quality and quantity. As the day came to a close, one was reminded of the epitaph at the Siachen War Memorial, which reads, ‘Quartered in snow, silent to remain, when the bugle calls, they shall rise and march again’.
Privileged to have been there, Dhruv Yadav and Aditya Musa
