For a few good men

Since May 9, Indian soldiers have fought a lonely battle in the hills in Kargil. It's a battle that comes every year in the summer. The s...

Since May 9, Indian soldiers have fought a lonely battle in the hills in Kargil. It8217;s a battle that comes every year in the summer. The soldiers sit alone surrounded by an unspeaking crowd of sandbags, overlooking the deceptive beauty of the mountains that hold the enemy. Undefended, they fight for every inch of land and mostly within an inch of their life.

This year, it won8217;t be so lonely with the helicopter gunships and fighter jets whirring above. This year some sandbags will still carry the burden of bodybags, but it won8217;t be lonely. They8217;ve got help from above.

The soldier who sits holding on to a piece of territory for dear life will not get shot to martyrdom because there was no one who cared for that life.In a country of 980 million it is easy to assume that a few less won8217;t be missed. But even in a country only just short of a billion there are never too many to be left alone to die.

Sending the Indian Air Force in to help the Army close in to clear the position engaged by the Air Force, is aMoment of Reason in a time of complete political confoundment. For a generation that was born after the 1971 Bangladesh war, it is a Moment of Revelation to know that India too in the words of Bill Clinton can defend its own.

But a moment that may yet remain unknown to many because it will remain untold. For who is there to tell the story of an air attack that is killing many, maiming others, raising a lot of dust and causing much dismay among the generous of spirit, and yet make them believe in it. To tell those who will say: 8220;We don8217;t need a war with Pakistan.8221; Even to tell those who have been wooed away from the daily dogfight by a mere bus ride and a motley crowd of artists that went on it.

Barring inane official8217; statements that go to the effect of 8220;from the air angle obtuse or otherwise, some increased movement has been observed on the other side of the LoC but they are not provocative,8221; there is no sanguine spokesman to make us fall in love with Operation Vijay.

Or it is to say that wehaven8217;t got anyone in the class of the two Jamies NATO spokesman Shea and US State Department talking shop Rubin to sell us a fight. A little bit of information, a few purple passages, the odd hint of black propaganda, a smattering of jokes and a whole load of ego-tickling seduction is the daily fare offered by the NATO spokesman as the war in Kosovo enters its third month.

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The journalists in Brussels, as they listen to the greying man with pouting red lips and a cockney accent, seem strangely awed to be in the presence of a superior intelligence force. Being one myself I can tell you it8217;s rare for hacks to look impressed much less overawed.

Despite the smart bombs not being so smart and for all the menace of Chinese whispers, Shea is telling the people of the world, with a frank stare, to believe that NATO8217;s war is just and fair. And, in the face of daily damaging revelations he is making them listen and laugh.

Whereas in Kargil, when Indian fighters go out to defend their own partners in their owncountry, the world at least on television is allowed to debate on whether this can lead to war.

Sure it can, even if no one8217;s looking for it. But find us someone to tell us instead, so that we8217;ll believe, that nonetheless we8217;ll fight, not necessarily for a million foreign refugees, but surely for the love of our land and a few good men.