07-27-2005, 08:19 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Strange amnesia</b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
On July 26 six years ago, Indian Army's Operation Vijay finally ended with its troops recapturing the freezing heights of Kargil, earlier occupied stealthily by regular troops of the Pakistani Army and irregulars trained by Islamabad's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate.
Thus had ended over two months of fierce warfare in the course of which its officers and men, effectively supported by the Indian Air Force, scripted history by their deeds of courage and valour. Climbing steep sometimes at inclines of almost 90 degrees-mountainsides under heavy fire, they took on enemy troops entrenched in heavily fortified bunkers and vanquished them in fierce close-range combat. The history of human warfare has many records of men scaling forbidding heights and triumphing over entrenched enemies.
In 1759 British troops under Maj-Gen James Wolfe climbed the heights of Abraham along a narrow cliff path and, in the battle that ensued, defeated French troops under Lieut-Gen Louis, Marquis of Montcalm, to capture Montreal. During World War II, allied troops, particularly Gorkhas and Poles, scaled the most challenging heights to oust the Germans from Monte Casino in Italy. Yet, in perhaps no other conflict in history, had so many and so steep mountainsides to be scaled under such daunting circumstances as in the Kargil War in 1999. In doing so, 570 Indian Army personnel, including young officers who, in the highest traditions of the force, led from the front, died.
As casualties go in war, the figure was by no means heavy. In terms of valour, however, the deeds of those who perished have few parallels in the chronicles of warfare. Understandably, the conflict, though limited, was marked by the award of a large number of medals for gallantry and, while it lasted, and for some time after that, the media lavishly highlighted the bravery of the men in olive green and Government and the public figures stridently announced in diverse fora not to forget either their deeds or the memories of the martyrs.
Yet, Wednesday July 26 came and went as any other day for most people in the country. The victories and the dead were remembered mostly by the formations to which both belonged.
How a nation remembers and honours those who died defending it provides a reliable indication of the level of patriotism that prevails in it. Earlier this year, one witnessed how Europe and the United States, solemnly and with great dignity, observed the 60th anniversary of their victory over the axis powers. Last year, they observed the 60th anniversary of D-Day landing in Normandy. On Wednesday, India hardly remembered what happened only six years ago. What could be a more unfortunate commentary on this country's sense of patriotism and feeling of gratitude toward its martyrs?
And it is not Kargil War alone. How many remember the feats of Brigadier Mohammad Osman and Major Som Nath Sharma during the first Kashmir War immediately after Independence? Or the courage of the Indian troops at Rezang-La, Chushul, Walong and Dhola during the 1962 conflict with China? Or the capture of Kargil and the Haji Peer Pass, the victory at Khem Karan and the halting of Pakistani offensive at the Munwar Tawi river in Jammu, in 1965? How many remember the storming of the Daulatpur cantonment and Hili in the 1971 war with Pakistan? On the war memorial in Kohima is written the epitaph, 'When you go home/Tell them of us and say/For their tomorrow/ We gave our today'. Have we forgotten those who gave their today in Kargil and other battlefronts?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The Pioneer Edit Desk
On July 26 six years ago, Indian Army's Operation Vijay finally ended with its troops recapturing the freezing heights of Kargil, earlier occupied stealthily by regular troops of the Pakistani Army and irregulars trained by Islamabad's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate.
Thus had ended over two months of fierce warfare in the course of which its officers and men, effectively supported by the Indian Air Force, scripted history by their deeds of courage and valour. Climbing steep sometimes at inclines of almost 90 degrees-mountainsides under heavy fire, they took on enemy troops entrenched in heavily fortified bunkers and vanquished them in fierce close-range combat. The history of human warfare has many records of men scaling forbidding heights and triumphing over entrenched enemies.
In 1759 British troops under Maj-Gen James Wolfe climbed the heights of Abraham along a narrow cliff path and, in the battle that ensued, defeated French troops under Lieut-Gen Louis, Marquis of Montcalm, to capture Montreal. During World War II, allied troops, particularly Gorkhas and Poles, scaled the most challenging heights to oust the Germans from Monte Casino in Italy. Yet, in perhaps no other conflict in history, had so many and so steep mountainsides to be scaled under such daunting circumstances as in the Kargil War in 1999. In doing so, 570 Indian Army personnel, including young officers who, in the highest traditions of the force, led from the front, died.
As casualties go in war, the figure was by no means heavy. In terms of valour, however, the deeds of those who perished have few parallels in the chronicles of warfare. Understandably, the conflict, though limited, was marked by the award of a large number of medals for gallantry and, while it lasted, and for some time after that, the media lavishly highlighted the bravery of the men in olive green and Government and the public figures stridently announced in diverse fora not to forget either their deeds or the memories of the martyrs.
Yet, Wednesday July 26 came and went as any other day for most people in the country. The victories and the dead were remembered mostly by the formations to which both belonged.
How a nation remembers and honours those who died defending it provides a reliable indication of the level of patriotism that prevails in it. Earlier this year, one witnessed how Europe and the United States, solemnly and with great dignity, observed the 60th anniversary of their victory over the axis powers. Last year, they observed the 60th anniversary of D-Day landing in Normandy. On Wednesday, India hardly remembered what happened only six years ago. What could be a more unfortunate commentary on this country's sense of patriotism and feeling of gratitude toward its martyrs?
And it is not Kargil War alone. How many remember the feats of Brigadier Mohammad Osman and Major Som Nath Sharma during the first Kashmir War immediately after Independence? Or the courage of the Indian troops at Rezang-La, Chushul, Walong and Dhola during the 1962 conflict with China? Or the capture of Kargil and the Haji Peer Pass, the victory at Khem Karan and the halting of Pakistani offensive at the Munwar Tawi river in Jammu, in 1965? How many remember the storming of the Daulatpur cantonment and Hili in the 1971 war with Pakistan? On the war memorial in Kohima is written the epitaph, 'When you go home/Tell them of us and say/For their tomorrow/ We gave our today'. Have we forgotten those who gave their today in Kargil and other battlefronts?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->