Flying salute to heroes of Kargil
LUCKNOW: It’s been around 17 years since the Kargil War was fought in Kashmir. But it’s still fresh in the memories of Colonel (retired) SPS Kaushik, who was then commanding a helicopter unit in Srinagar.
Kaushik, who hails from Lucknow, still remembers the day when his helicopter unit – Army Aviation – was told to move the helicopter detachment to Kargil. “It was around 7 or 8th of May, 1999 I got a call and we subsequently moved to Kargil – a place between Srinagar and Leh,” he recollected on the eve of Kargil Vijay Diwas (July 26) – the day when India successfully took command of the outposts on the higher altitude that were occupied by Pakistani intruders. The Kargil War, which was fought for more than two months, concluded on July 26.
In winter season, Kaushik said, these sectors in J&K experience heavy snowfall, measuring up to 1500-1800 feet which not only makes army movement tough but also makes survival in the area difficult. “It’s perhaps the lone reason why helicopters were pressed into service to locate the enemies, who had occupied the winter vacated posts at super high altitude,” Kaushik told HT.
It was difficult to locate the camouflaged enemies in the snow-covered terrain, said Kaushik. “But we did a good job and eventually located the enemies, paving way for the further operations,” said Kaushik. But, since it was winter time, it was nearly impossible for the army to move. “Hence, the army’s aviation wing was assigned another task. This time, it was to air drop the soldiers at the locations opposite the enemy-occupied outposts and to sustain our soldiers by providing adequate fooding, rations and arms and ammunition to our soldiers. It was done to stop the enemies from advancing further into Indian territories,” he said.
This task too was accomplished successfully by Kaushik and team, who was then assigned another crucial task to neutralise the enemies at their own locations and to cut off their supplies. “It was the toughest task that we accomplished successfully. In extreme weather conditions, it was difficult for us to attack the enemies and to destroy their supplies,” he said. In that year, summer approached a little early, resulting in melting of snow. It thus paved way for the army to make movement and attack the enemies.
“It was the time for which we all were waiting for. Our forces advanced to Dras and Kargil to combat the enemies,” he said. But this didn’t mean that aviation wing’s duty was over. In the war, Indian forces too faced huge losses. He said the wing was assigned task to evacuate the casualties to safer locations.
Kaushik said it was for the first time when helicopters were used so extensively on the super high altitudes.