Tag: Kargil Vijay Diwas

Kargil Vijay Diwas 2021

Introduction

Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year on July 26th to remember the sacrifice of the Indian soldiers during the Kargil war of 1999 with Pakistan. The brave-hearted men of the Indian army had aided the Indian air force in defeating Pakistan on this very day 22 years ago.

Kargil War

The war was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the district of Kargil which is in Kashmir, along the Line of Control (LOC). It is also known as “Operation Vijay”. India launched “Operation Vijay” to clear the Pakistani infiltration in the Kargil sector. A huge part of this war was the Indian Air Force’s role in acting along with the Indian Army ground troops. Indian Air Force’s role was to flush out the regular and irregular troops of the Pakistan Army. This operation of flushing out the Pakistani troops was given the codename “Operation Safed Sagar” which means “White Sea”.

Cause of the War

This war was caused because the Pakistani troops infiltrated the Indian side of the Line of Control acting as Kashmiri militants. The Line of Control is the de facto border between India and Pakistan in Kashmir. In the starting stages of the war, Pakistan blamed Kashmiri militants for all the fighting but later they messed up and left some documents because of casualties which showed clear involvement of the Pakistani paramilitary forces. Adding to that, later a statement by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, and the Chief of Army Staff, General Pervez Musharraf, confirmed the involvement of the Pakistani paramilitary which was being led by General Ashraf Rashid. With the help of Operation Vijay and Operation Safed Sagar, the Indian Army recaptured most of the area. Adding to that, Pakistan was facing international diplomatic opposition so they had to withdraw their forces as well.

This War is the most recent example of high-altitude warfare in mountainous terrain which for obvious reasons posed logistical challenges.

World’s Opinion

Pakistan was greatly criticized for instigating war. They claimed they did not start the war and that it was the Kashmiri militants but a lot of evidence contradicted their claim and nobody believed them, for one, the war was at heights where only trained soldiers could fight, and not some simple freedom fighters.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif had flown to the United Stated to ask the US President Bill Clinton for support, who showed his clear disapproval and asked him to withdraw his soldiers from the Indian territory.

The G8 nations at that time, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States supported India. Even the European Union opposed Pakistan’s violation of the LoC. China who is known as a long-time ally of Pakistan also suggested retreating and settling the issue peacefully. Even ASEAN supported India.

Gallantry Awards

Four Param Vir Chakras were awarded to – Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav, Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey, Captain Vikram Batra, and Rifleman Sanjay Kumar. And eleven Maha Vir Chakras were awarded.

Facts

  • The war was fought at a height of 8,780 feet. 
  • The soldiers had to fight at a temperature of minus 10 degrees Celsius. 
  • Operation Safed Sagar was the first time the Air Force conducted an operation at the height of 32,000 above sea level. 
  • The pilots and engineers of the Air Force were given just one week to train. 
  • As many as 527 Indian soldiers laid their lives and the Indian Army built a memorial wall with all the names of the soldiers who lost their lives. 

Conclusion

The victory of the success of Operation Vijay meant a lot to India and all the Indians. Till now, every year Indians remember July 26th as the day of victory and remember the sacrifice their fellow Indians paid for the safety of all.

References

Kargil Vijay Diwas

July 26 is celebrated as the Kargil Vijay Diwas to cerebrate the victory of Operation Vijay, the moment which was launched by Indian army to recapture Indian Territories from Pakistani Army and Pakistani militants .Since 1999,This day is celebrated to show respect and gratitude to our brave soldiers who laid down their life to recapture the seized position from Pakistani Army.

The Kargil war was fought in 1999 between India and Pakistan. Kargil war was fought for more than 60 days and ended on 26 July 1999. however Indian prime minister at that time declared operation successful on 14 July. This war started when Pakistani troops silently occupied some Indian posts. However, Pakistani army denied their involvement . But later their Prime minister and other big officials revealed about the involvement of Pakistani forces, that was led by general Ashraf rashid.to give a response Indian army launched operation Vijay to clear the Pakistani Forces and militants.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister of India at that time. This war was not an easy war to be a part of. because this war was in high attitude in mountaineous terrain. Initially Pakistan captured various important Indian posts and India very well responded with recapturing the posts and pushing Pakistani troops back to their country.

To respond back ,India sent 5 infantory divisions, 44 battalions of Paramilitary forces in Kashmir and 73000 Indian troops. and after that deployment of 60 frontline aircrafts was also done. But all these things were not so easy.it was a high altitude region and very few tracks were connected with main roads. and snow was also a factor. Pakistan had occupied those posts keeping these factors in mind. The Pakistani army was trying to take a strong position in Kashmir by doing this. They were divided into many groups of intruders in Kargil. There total strength was considered to be 1000. with heavily armed with guns like AK-47, mortars, artillery and many other weapons.(Source:https://m.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/kargil-war-history-1595672853-1)

But soon Indian army detected the intruders occupying , and without wasting much time Indian army operations were planned in may 1999,’ operation Vijay’ was launched by Indian army. Indian army was successful in clearing of Drass sector. and many of those were pushed back to Batalik sector. Indian army with the help of Indian Air force attacked those intruders. Thousands of guns, bombs artillery guns were used which created havoc in kargil. Indian troops destroyed their positions and forced them to leave .till July 1999, Tiger hill was recaptured.In July 7,mashkoh valley was also re-captured. Gradually many were recaptured by our army. Air force also made a huge rule in the kargil war , over 300 aircrafts were used.It was believed that 700 intruders were killed by aircrafts.

The war was concluded on July 26,1999. with Indian army regaining all occupied posts by Pakistani Forces, but India also had to sacrifice a lot in Kargil war. More than 500 soldiers laid down their life in Kargil war, and more than 1300 were injured. Today is 22 nd Anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas and today whole nation is remembering soldiers’ Sacrifice for the country.

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