Kargil Vijay Divas - What was the Kargil war ?
My Dear Young and Little Indians,
Today is Kargil Vijay Divas. Its been 22 years when our soldiers and families of soldiers sacrificed their all for us.
Why is the war of 1999 called the Kargil war?
Because the mountain peaks on which this war was fought are situated in the Kargil district of Laddakh.
Today we say- Kargil District in the Union Territory of
Laddakh. In 1999 it was Kargil District in Laddakh region of the state of
Jammu and Kashmir. On 5 August 2019, J&K was split into two.
 |
| J&K and Laddakh after 5 August 2019 |
When you read about Kargil war, you come across names of places like- Mushkoh, Drass, Batalik and names of mountain peaks like Tiger Hill, Tololing, Point 4875, Pimple complex, Kahllubar. All these places and hill tops are in the Kargil District.
Kargil is one the two districts in Laddakh. The other
district is Leh. The capital of Laddakh is Leh city. (Headquarter of district Leh is called Leh city).
The area marked as ‘Baltistan’ was also a part of Laddakh before it was illegally occupied by Pakistan.
Area marked as 'Aksai Chin' is illegally occupied by China. This is also a part of Laddakh.
Area marked in yellow was illegally occupied by Pakistan and then it shamelessly gifted this land to China.
 |
At the tri-junction of Laddakh, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin is Siachen- The highest battlefield in the world.
The military convention
Kargil-Laddakh and adjoining Baltistan is a cold area with high mountain peaks. Height of mountains ranges from 14,000 feet to 18,000 feet. During winters these mountain peaks experience heavy snowfall and the entire area becomes inhospitable.
(Just to give you an idea of how high this is….Hill station of Nainital in Uttarakhand is at a height of just 6,800 feet).
The military convention is that at the onset of winters, soldiers of both the countries- India and Pakistan- vacate their posts on mountain peaks and come down to posts at lower height.
After winters are over, soldiers of both countries return to their respective posts on mountain tops.
What happened in 1998-99
When winters started in late 1998, soldiers on both sides
vacated their military posts on mountain tops with the implied understanding that they would return to their own posts later.
But Pakistan has a nature of deceit and lawlessness. Before the winters could get over in 1999, soldiers of Pakistan Army along with their trained terrorists climbed up the mountains and occupied the Indian Army posts. These were the posts that were on the Indian side of LOC on mountain tops.
What happened then ?
In response to this offensive act of Pakistan and to get back its own territory, the Indian Army launched a military operation that was named- Operation Vijay.
The Indian Air Force also participated and supported the Indian Army with air operations. This operation was named- Operation Safed Sagar सफ़ेद सागर. Snow covered mountains and land looks like a Safed Sagar सफ़ेद सागर from the skies.
The Indian Navy blocked sea ports of Pakistan to stop the supply of oil and essentials. The Indian navy named its operation as Operation Talwar.
The Kargil War lasted from 3 May 1999 to 26 July 1999.
Some of the brave were publicly honoured in person and some posthumously. But each and every soldier who put his life on the line and families that lost their dear ones are our HEROES.
My Dear Young and Little Indians,
Remembering our soldiers on special days like today is GOOD but not ENOUGH.
Let us live each day of our lives to do something worthwhile, something valuable as a mark of respect to our soldiers.
Let us do our duty honestly and sincerely. It is the moral duty of you and me and every Indian to make India better and stronger.
Comments
Post a Comment