One war, two soldiers —Hero and wreck

Lt Gen VG Patankar (Retd)

IT is often said that a crisis brings out the best in people. Sometimes, it could also bring out the basic instinct of survival. Two incidents during the Kargil War in 1999 brought that out in ample measure. 

In the area where we were deployed, the enemy occupied the ridge along the Line of Control (LoC). Our troops were at a disadvantage being deployed on the lower ground which was dominated by the enemy. To our immediate East, the enemy had intruded into the Mushko valley and further into the Dras sector. There was a distinct possibility that the intrusion may spread sideways towards us. Our immediate task, therefore, was to ensure extra vigil and keep a firm hold over our defences so that it did not happen. After making certain that there would be no loss of the ground, we began exploring ways to exploit the opportunity to improve our defensive posture by moving up to the LoC and occupying the ridge. That would have not only given us a tactical advantage but also posed a threat to the rear of enemy's ingress in Mushko, forcing them to recoil.

Enemy's domination was such that they could watch our every move and could, therefore, discern our intentions. Moving along razor-thin spurs was hazardous even by day and worse by night; the enemy could effectively interfere with accurate fire to prevent any movement. Just when it started looking like mission impossible, a hero stepped up.

A brave young NCO, Havildar Shishram Gill, volunteered for the task. The plan was imaginative yet simple.  To minimise casualties, Shishram’s team was to avoid the spur and take the difficult steep climb from the valley to a ‘saddle’ along the ridge. Once his team secured a foothold on the ridge, the remaining assaulting force would quickly move up and capture its objective.  

It is said that fortune favours the brave; a few days later bad weather set in. By mid-day clouds descended low over the ridge and obscured the enemy's observation. Without waiting for darkness, Shishram and his brave comrades climbed up and secured a part of the ridge.  At his signal, others moved up and captured the objective. The enemy soon discovered their presence and opened fire to dislodge them. Shishram again led the assault and silenced their machine gun. Unfortunately, he attained martyrdom. He was awarded the Vir Chakra posthumously.                                                               

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In the beginning of the Kargil War, the Pakistan army had maintained that its regular troops were not involved in the fighting and that the infiltrators were ‘freedom fighters’. However, as the Indian Army began pushing the infiltrators back and retaking areas occupied by them, the Pakistan army began reinforcing their troops. 

As part of our proactive stance and to dominate the LoC, we were carrying out vigorous patrolling. One such patrol caught enemy troops by surprise forcing them to make some rapid adjustments in their positions. While doing so, one of its soldiers lost his footing and tumbled down the slope. He was promptly captured and made a prisoner of war (PoW).

The soldier belonged to a regular battalion of the Pakistan army. He seemed to be in shock after his capture. He had not eaten for quite some time, was cold and quite miserable. The prisoner was treated humanely. Over the next day and a half, after given some food and warm water to bathe, he began talking easily about his unit, his family and so on. But soon, fear appeared to get hold of him. He started shivering and asking questions about his future.

I was informed that he was imploring everyone to be given a chance to speak to me. I agreed. Having met a few Pakistani PoWs after their surrender in Bangladesh in 1971, I was expecting to see a disciplined soldier, much like our own jawans. I was, however, in for a surprise.

As I stood before him, he fell at my feet and began pleading to spare his life. I asked him to behave like a soldier, but he didn’t stop sobbing. After thinking about it, I stumbled on the reason for his mental collapse. He was convinced that he was being readied for execution much like the sacrificial goat, all well fed and bathed! Our good gestures had obviously had a completely unintended outcome!

One war, two soldiers: One an intrepid hero, the other a mental wreck.