Sikhs in Kargil War

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Sikhs in Kargil War

Colonel Dr. Dalvinder Singh Grewal

1925, Basant Avenue, Ludhiana, 919815366726​

Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year on July 26 to honour the soldiers who fought in the Kargil War. On this day in 1999 India won the Kargil War against Pakistan It drive out the Pakistani troops from their stealthily and secretly occupied positions on the hilltops of the northern Kargil district of Ladakh. On this day Prime Minister of India pays tribute to the soldiers every year at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate. Events are also organized throughout the country to commemorate the contribution of the Indian Armed Forces, but this year, July 26 is special because it is now 25 years since this war a Silver Jubilee year. It is being celebrated with great fanfare all over India.

Author at Gurdwara Charan Kamal Sahib, Kargil Author at Kargil Divas Daras


I remember those moments in July 2018 when I reached Kargil from Leh on Kargil Day in search of Guru Nanak Dev ji's footprints. I offered my devotion to Gurdwara Charan Kamal Sahib in Kargil where Guru Nanak Dev ji had rested his feet. I reached Daras where the Kargil War Memorial is built and in which Kargil Day was being celebrated.

Origin of Kargil War

It was 1988. In Pakistan Brigadier Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto planned to separate Kashmir from India. The easiest way was found to occupy the hills of the National Highway which runs from Srinagar to Leh. The temperature reaches minus 40 degrees on Kargil Daras and Batalik hills, which would have made it very difficult to get out of through it due to snow cover. Before this, it was a silent agreement between Pakistan and India that the troops would be withdrawn from the hills during the snow season. When Pervez Musharraf became the chief of the army, he implemented the plan and deployed soldiers disguised as jihadis in the Kargil region during the winter season.

The Indian Army was surprised when on May 3, 1999, a shepherd informed about Pakistan troops having entered the Indian border and set up their posts there. On May 5, the Indian Army sent a five-man patrol with Captain Sourav Kalia to see if what was said was true. When the patrol did not come back, the images of the area were searched by airplanes and helicopters. It was found that Pakistan had built a large number of bunkers on Kargil, Daras and Batalik hills. India then gathered 30 battalions to that area so that these intruders could be chased away from here. Eight Sikh Battalion was a very important part of these troops.

This area of Kargil is located on the main road from Srinagar to Leh in the northern part of Kashmir and is a hilly area generally covered with snow in winter. On 26 July 1999, India badly defeated the soldiers sent by the Pakistanis in the guise of civilian jehadis and forced them to lay down their weapons.

Kargil area

The main intention of the Pakistanis was to take possession of the main hills, Tiger Hill, Tololing, etc., along this highway that passes through Mushkoh, Daras, Kaksar, Kargil, Batalik and joins Leh, and then keep an eye on this road, shelling the incoming convoy. Main aim was to cut off Leh from the Kashmir Valley by blocking this route. Pakistan used its soldiers to infiltrate into the terror valleys in May 1999 and then built bunkers on these hills. By the time the Indian Army came to know of this movement, the Pakistanis had firmly established themselves on these hills. Indian forces drummed them heavily against all odds and killed many of them in mostly hand to hand battles at the tops. Most of the Pakistanis were killed but those who survived were surrounded but were allowed to leave with the mediation of America. This nefarious move of Pakistan was thus foiled and the battlefield fell into the hands of India.

121 Independent Brigades of 15 Corps of Northern Command, 56 and 79 Mountain Brigades and 50 Independent Para Brigades of 8 Mountain Division and 70 Infantry Brigades and 102 Independent Infantry Brigades of 3 Infantry Division took part in this war. There were also two brigades of artillery.

Among the three Sikh regiments of Punjab, 8 and 11 Sikh Regiment and 14 Sikh LI Regiment and two Punjab Regiments 3 Punjab and 13 Punjab also advanced and contributed to trample the enemy badly. Sikh, Sikh LI and Punjab Regiments of India have been honoured with the highest number of war awards.

Bravery is another name of Sikh regiment. It has a long and distinguished history. It remains the most highly decorated regiment in the Indian Army with 73 war honours and 38 theatr honours. Before independence it received 14 Victoria Crosses, 21 Indian Orders of Merit (equivalent to Param Vir Chakra) and many other coveted awards. Most decorated was 1 Sikh hero Nand Singh who had a Victoria Cross on his chest before independence and a Mahavir Chakra after independence. In addition, the regiment has, in the post-independence era, won two Paramveer Chakras, two Ashoka Chakras, two Param Vishishta Seva Medals, 14 Mahaveer Chakras, 4 Ashoka Chakras, 5 Kirti Chakras, 64 Veer Chakras, one Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, in addition to numerous other medals.

The Sikh LI Regiment received one Ashoka Chakra, 5 Mahavir Chakras, 6 Kirti Chakras, 23 Veer Chakras, 13 Shauria Chakras and over 300 other awards. The Punjab Regiment received 21 Victoria Cross, 187 Military Cross, 2 Padma Bhushan, 1 Padma Shri, 18 Maha Veer Chakra, 18 King's Cross, 20 PVSM, Veer Chakra 69 and over 500 other honours. Three Sikh Units including 3 Punjab and 3 Medium regiment were among those who taught China a lesson in Galwan Valley, Gurtej Singh of 3 Punjab single-handedly killed 12 Chinese and set an example and was awarded the Vir Chakra.

In 1999 two brigades were brought forward to protect the Kargil region. Brigadier MPS Bajwa was commanding 192 Infantry Brigade and Brigadier Devinder Singh was commanding 70 Infantry Brigade. Both were Sikh officers. 3 Infantry Division was commanded by Major General Mohinder Puri who was a Punjabi. Chief of Army Staff General Malik was also a Punjabi. The most difficult target for Brigadier Bajwa was to clear Tiger Hill from enemies.

Brigadier MPS Bajwa Tiger Hill

He was given two battalions of 8 Sikhs and 18 Grenadiers for the attack on Tiger Hill. According to Brigadier Bajwa's writing, 'I chose the most difficult route for the attack on Tiger Hill, the direct ascent... 8 Sikhs were put forward for this most difficult task and I told the commanding officer that it was a question of the honour of the Sikhs. We selected 52 men, including two officers and two subedars and 48 Jawans. These 52 brave men fought so bravely that they changed the map of the war. Artillery especially Bofors (Artillery Brigade was also commanded by a Sikh Brigadier) helped us a lot in this difficult time because our men were under direct fire of enemy rifle, LMG and MMG. The young men showed great lion-heartedness and reached that peak by constantly advancing in the pouring rain of bombs and bullets.

The enemy retaliated on them due to which 14 soldiers were martyred and many were injured. Two officers were injured and both subedars were martyred. Brigadier Bajwa wrote that 'when the Pakistani counterattack was taking place, 8 Sikh subedar told me that a very tall Pakistani was constantly inciting his men to attack again, due to which it was difficult to stay at the height. I told him that this officer should be eliminated so that the counterattacks are stalled. I say with certainty that their counter-attacks were so strong that our Sikh warriors could have been knocked off the top at any time. But our warriors shouted ‘Bole So Nihal’ a Sikh slogan so loudly that the enemy was shaken up and their counterattacks were broken. First of all we killed that Pakistani officer and then chased the others who left the field empty for us. The name of that Pakistani officer was Captain Colonel Sher Khan. "30 Pakistanis were killed in this battle and the rest retreated giving us a famous victory. Captain Colonel Sher Khan rallied his men and fought very well," said Brigadier Bajwa. “I reported to the GOC about the bravery of him and my Sikh warriors. Seeing more attacks happening, I encouraged them regularly.

The names of the martyrs of Punjab in the Kargil war are as follows:

8 Sikhs-Subedar Karnail Singh-Vir Chakra, Naik Ranjit Singh-Sena Medal, Subedar Joginder Singh-Sena Medal, Naik Bahadur Singh-Sena Medal; Sepoy Major Singh-Sena Medal, Havildar Desa Singh, Havildar Amar Singh, Naik Nirmal Singh, Naik Baldev Singh, Havildar Vikram Singh, Sepoy Kulwinder Singh, Sepoy Tarlochan Singh, Sepoy Darshan Singh, Sepoy Surjit Singh, Sepoy Jaswinder Singh, Sepoy Gurmail Singh , Sepoy Jeevan Singh, Sepoy Rashwinder Singh, Sepoy Sukhwinder Singh, Sepoy Sukhwinder Singh second. 14 Sikh-Sepoy Buta Singh.

Punjabi Martyrs of Other Platoons: Majors: Harminder Pal Singh, JDS Dhaliwal, KG Singh; Subedars: Naunihal Singh Bhullar, Kuldeep Singh, Sucha Singh, Daljit Singh; Naib Subedar Kamil Singh; Havildar Kamaldev Singh, T{censored}m Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Amarjit Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Karam Singh, Gian Singh; Lance Havildar Baldev Singh, Naik Puran Singh, Sucha Singh, Paramjit Singh, Sikandar Singh; Lance Naik- Balwinder Singh, Rajinder Singh, Dalveer Singh, Gurmail Singh, Amarjit Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Ranbir Singh; Sepoy Gurmej Singh, Pawan Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Darshan Singh, Jaswant Singh, Gurmail Singh, Daljit Singh; PTA Harvinder Singh, Gopal Singh, Grenadier Gurinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Avtar Singh and others.

Other Sikhs and Punjabi also did very commendable job but due to space restriction only sample details are given.

 

[Dalvinder Singh Grewal]

Amazing Bravery of Sikh platoons in Kargil War

Colonel Dr. Dalvinder Singh Grewal

1925, Basant Avenue, Ludhiana, 919815366726​

Amazing bravery of 8 Sikh Battalion

On 14 May, 8 Sikh was tasked with recapturing Tiger Hill. The information received about enemy deployments was very scanty. It was news that only a few Mujahideen were in the upper heights. The attack began with an initial probing operation along the southern approach. Intense and observed fire, both direct and indirect, came from the enemy. Regardless of the shelling from the front, Subedar Joginder Singh and his platoon continued their march and successfully reached the base of the spur leading to the top of Tiger Hill. In this action, Subedar Joginder Singh, who along with Lance Naik Ranjit Singh led the retaliatory fire, made a great sacrifice. Subedar's breakthrough in the final capture of Tiger Hill proved to be crucial.

From the amount of shelling of the enemy, there was no doubt that the number and strength of the enemy shelling was much more than expected and the enemy's hold on Tiger Hill was very strong. The hill complex includes Tiger Hill (Top), Eastern Spur, Western Spur, India Gate, Rocky Knob and Helmet.

The army planned to isolate Tiger Hill before occupying it. This was achieved by 8 Sikh Sepoys Rashwinder Singh, Sukhwinder Singh and Jaswinder Singh by 21 May to occupy prominent heights to neutralize enemy fire. With complete disregard for their personal safety, these brave men succeeded in capturing key targets for making foothold.

Between 31 May and 2 July, the men and officers of this battalion continued to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy through both direct and indirect fire and moved forward to encircle the enemy. Each night, they would crawl through the snow, make a crawling trench and set up a new post—slowly but steadily moving toward the top. Unaware of the extremely harsh weather conditions with rain, and snowfall along with enemy firing every day, the brave soldiers dared to defeat their enemy and prepared for their final destination.

For die-hard Sikhs, extreme weather and snowy heights did not matter. Subedar Nirmal Singh, Naib Subedar Karnail Singh and Naib Subedar Ravel Singh laid a firm foundation. Lt. RK Sehrawat was to coordinate the attack by three teams. By midnight, all three teams were adequately prepared to capture India Gate, Helmet and Rocky Knob. As soon as Bole so Nihal was shouted, the chants of Sat Sri Akal resounded and the Sikh warriors advanced. From there, the enemy rained bullets. Heavy enemy shelling and direct firing began. A "fierce battle" ensued during which the bunkers were cleared one by one. By 4 a.m. the India Gate had been reached and in view of the violent retaliatory action from the enemy, all preparations were made to thwart any attack.

In fact, two major attacks were foiled in which Pakistan's Major Iqbal and Captain Kamal Sher of 12 Nl were killed along with 30 others. Three JCOs - Sub Nirmal Singh and Karnail Singh and Naib Subedar Ravel Singh - and 18 jawans paid the supreme sacrifice. Besides Major Ravinder Singh and Lt. Sherawat among the wounded, the capture of Western Spur made it possible to capture the top of Tiger Hill on 7 July. The unit lost a total of 35 men. About 70 were injured - a huge cost. But with all due diligence, 8 Sikhs won Tiger Hill. This article will be incomplete without mentioning the amazing bravery of some of the 8 Sikh brave hearts.

Subedar Nirmal Singh

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Subedar Nirmal Singh

Subedar Nirmal Singh joined the 8th Sikh in 1976. On July 4, 1999, he was among those seriously injured in a Pakistani counter-attack but retained command of his troops and was in wireless contact with the brigade commander (Brig MPs Bajwa) who continued to motivate him. Brigadier Bajwa said “8 Sikh jawans fought their way to the top but came under heavy fire from the Pakistanis who were well prepared. 8 Sikh soldiers had to retreat and hang on to the top. I gave them a pep talk on the radio and told them not to back down even an inch in the face of repeated Pakistani counter-attacks. With two officers wounded and three JCOs killed, Subedar Nirmal Singh was the only leader left and I told him that he had to ensure that the honour bestowed upon the Sikhs by the Dasmesh Pita (Guru Gobind Singh) was preserved. Honour should not be allowed to diminish”.

Subedar Nirmal Singh led his stalwart men in heavy hand-to-hand combat to repel the Pakistani attacks, despite being seriously injured and eventually succumbing to a gunshot wound to his head. “Before he was killed by a direct shot at the head, Subedar Sahib asked us to shout 'Bole So Nihal Sat Sri Akal' and send message to the attacking enemy and the officer leading them”. Havildar Satnam Singh said.

Havildar Satpal Singh

Havildar Satpal Singh was a brave soldier of 8 Sikh who killed Captain Karnal Sher Khan and others in a hand-to-hand fight. According to Satpal Singh, on July 6, 1999; their first task was to reach India Gate, which would help conquer Tiger Hill. Satpal Singh, whose father Ajaib Singh was martyred fighting in the border of Ferozepur in 1971, considered himself a very responsible soldier, said: "8 Sikh Regiment was tasked to occupy the left bank of Tiger Hill and form the base for the attack on Tiger Hill. They sent up their small platoon consisting of two officers, four JCOs and 46 men. On 4th July 1999, the Ghatak platoon started climbing after reciting Japuji Sahib and Ardas (saying prayer). Their target was to reach the India Gate and take possession of it so that an easy way for them to climb the Tiger Hill can be made and the Tiger Hill can be liberated from the Pakistani army.”

He further said that ‘on the morning of 5th July, they attacked the India Gate by raising the slogan of 'Bole So Nihal'. Some Pakistani soldiers were killed but some escaped. On the second day on 6th July, those Pakistani soldiers attacked again in very large number but the Sikh soldiers bravely repulsed the advancing Pakistani soldiers twice while raising Bole so Nihal slogans. Pakistan commander was Captain Karnal Sher Khan who having again assembled his troops, attacked us for the third time, but we gave him such a blow killing Captain Sher Khan himself’.

Captain Sher Khan was in a track suit. At that time, we didn't know that he was an officer. We had a five-minute fight with him and there was a lot of swearing. He kept cursing us. I opened fire on him and injured him. He then collapsed and within seconds I fired another shot but he too fired at me before he collapsed and died. I received four rounds of AK 47 fire from Captain Sher Khan which hit my right leg, stomach, left hand and left shoulder. I still controlled myself and fired. By then Pakistanis had either been killed by other soldiers or have escaped, I was evacuated to the Battalion Headquarters where I was given the first treatment and then evacuated to the Army hospital, where I was saved from the clutches of death from serious injuries. Captain Karnal Sher Singh was honoured with the highest award of Pakistan on the basis of Brig Bajwa’s chit and I got Vr.C.”

Bravery of 14 Sikh Battalion

Having completed their task in the high traditions of the Sikh Regiment, it was the turn of the 14 Sikhs of the Sikh Battalion to teach the enemy another lesson.

On 27 May the battalion was airlifted to Leh. An advance party led by Major Rohit Sehgal had already been sent to Channigund to prevent enemy incursions into Kasar area. This party occupied a defensive position to prevent any further incursions into the sensitive Batalik sector and provided a strong base for offensive operations.

On 27th May, the enemy opened effective and rapid fire on this defensive position. To neutralize the enemy's shelling, Sepoy Buta Singh, showing exemplary courage and bravery, deployed the medium machine gun at an effective position and opened effective fire on the enemy for about four hours. The enemy concentrated their fire to neutralize this effective fire. Sepoy Buta Singh, despite being hit by enemy small arms fire, continued to fire his MMG till he breathed his last and prevented the enemy from capturing the company's protected area.

On June 7, 14 Sikhs were assigned the responsibility of Chorbatla. It advanced along the Line of Control towards the Commanding Heights and captured it. Soon after reaching Leh, 14 Sikhs dispatched a company column to Chorbatla to reinforce the lightly held position there. The company proceeded to Hanuthang and Handenbroek, covering a distance of 22 km at an altitude of over 15,000 feet. This was a feat in itself and showed the physical and mental fortitude of the brave Sikh soldiers.

Enemy activity in the sector was somewhat light. Naib Subedar Jasbir Singh established a section post at point 5620 (about 19,000 feet) in an exemplary effort. His venture secured the eastern part of Chorbatla. After this the enemy was completely overwhelmed. Thus 14 Sikh too showed exemplary courage and determination and held the ground at crucial moments.

Similarly, other regiments of Punjab also showed bravery in the war, the details of which have not been given for fear of making this article long.