Victory in trial by fire

Brig Jagbir Singh Grewal (Retd)

The history of warfare is replete with ghastly and bizarre events. In one such incident, Pakistani soldiers set afire dried-up grass adjoining the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu & Kashmir on a warm, dry evening in May 1984.

I was then commanding a well-fortified outpost of 18 Punjab; almost simultaneously, Pakistani machine guns had opened fire. Their bullets flew, interspersed with tracer rounds, and hit our post endlessly. This sheer display of belligerence achieved its motive because it hindered our movement and deterred us from extinguishing or containing the fire.

The fire fanned out rapidly. A couple of landmines in the forward slope exploded, thus adding to the inferno. Soon, the sky became aglow with a fiery reddish tinge. Birds of all hues that had sung cheery melodious songs during the day disappeared swiftly. Even the sun turned into an orb of fluorescent burgundy-red and deserted us as it sank behind the mountains. A gust of wavering smoke trailed. Sparks flew high and sideways in all directions. The grass and scrub burnt noisily as a white moon gradually emerged.

It was celebration time for our adversaries across the LoC as they chided us, hoarsely shouting in chaste Punjabi, ‘Bharavo, raatan garam ne’ (Brothers, the nights are warm). Trying to soothe my frayed nerves, I promptly mulled over our course of action. While being reminded of the invaluable lesson that the Army had taught us as cadets — ‘All men are afraid in war, but the brave are those who can control their fear’ — it dawned on me that there was a saving grace. We had periodically created no-fire lanes around the precincts of our post by removing the grass and shrubs and, thus, the possibility of the raging fire touching our fortifications was minimal.

Not wishing to ignore the grave provocation, we retaliated expeditiously. Firing recklessly in a trigger-happy manner achieves no purpose; so, we fired selectively to nullify the adversary’s advantage. As we endeavoured to attain ascendancy, the wind changed its direction towards some Pakistani posts, and the flames swept their posts too, setting them ablaze. Our post was now merely smouldering with the burnt-out ashes. Apparently, we had emerged victorious in our trial by fire. Providence had upheld morality and righteousness — values that are so well nurtured by the Indian Army.

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