Agencies
NEW DELHI, July 26: On May 2, 1999, a 30-something Tashi Namgyal stumbled through the snow in the upper reaches of Kargil's Batalik sector looking for his missing yak through binoculars. What he found instead was something that lives on as a grim marker in the subcontinent's volatile history. Twenty-five years later, as India celebrates its victory over Pakistan in Kargil, memories of those three months are fresh in the minds of people living in the area, soldiers who fought the high altitude war, and for Namgyal who recalls every moment in vivid detail.
He said he saw a few men breaking rocks and clearing the snow on the mountain, but it was the absence of any footsteps on the Indian side that sent alarm bells ringing. Namgyal forgot all about his yak and rushed back to inform the Indian Army outpost.
"The men were dressed in black uniforms and were building a post with rocks. My job was to report; identifying who they were was the army's job," Namgyal told PTI Videos.
"Eight days after my report, the fighting began. The Pakistanis fired first, and then our army advanced. The Indian Army eventually succeeded and drove the enemy back," Namgyal, a resident of Garkone village in Batalik sector of Kargil, said.
He was the first person to report the intrusion into Kargil by Pakistani soldiers that days later turned into the Kargil War between India and Pakistan. The victory After receiving Namgyal's information, Indian soldiers observed more than 50 soldiers at another route in the area.
The war broke out from the Batalik region and further infiltrations were made in Dras, Kaksar and Mushkoh sectors.
According to official figures, more than 500 Indian soldiers laid down their lives and over 1,300 were injured, fighting a battle in which the elements and altitude were not in their favour. Kargil war veteran retired Subedar Major and Honorary Captain Yogendra Singh Yadav recalled his time on the battlefield.
"It is a matter of good fortune for me that I was in front of the commanders, as a soldier I got a chance to fight in these mountains with these commanders. Under their leadership we got good planning and leadership quality and that is why these 19-20 year old boys wrote the history of the country with their blood," Yadav told PTI.
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