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Journalism of Courage
While there are indications that the mobilisation and training by Pakistan to intrude into the Kargil Sector may have been going on for at least two years, there is enough evidence to establish that its operational preparedness had been complete by January 1999.
Though the Government has claimed that the intrusions took place during April-May, official documents as well as personal papers recovered by the Indian Army from the bodies of intruders and bunkers vacated by them indicate major activity during the winter months.
In Januarythis year, one of the documents, bearing security classification 8220;secret8221;, revealed, that Headquarters 80 Infantry Brigade had issued a list of passwords and counter-passwords to be used in that sector from February 12 to March 13. The list was to have been returned by units to brigade headquarters by March 17.
A similar document, which appears to be part of a series as some variables are handwritten on a printed form, gives out the code words to be used for military personnel. Code words include those for the Pak army chief, corps commander, and GOC northern areas as well as doctor, nursing assistant and mujahideen. Areas and posts had been assigned numeric codes. Kargil, for example was 8220;7138221; and Drass was 8220;1308221;.
Another document showed that the 5th Battalion of the Northern Light Infantry ex-82 Brigade, Minimarg, had moved out of its peacetime location in November 1998 to establish a tactical headquarters at a place called Muntho Dhalo.
The battalion, which had lost at least three officers inthe Kargil operations, had been deployed along with 3, 4, and 6 NLI battalions. These units, along with two companies of the Special Services Group SSG, were used to create four independent groups for infiltration across the Batalik-Chorbatla-Turtuk axis. Elements of 7, 8, 11 and 12 NLI had also been mobilised and were deployed in Tiger Hill, Mushkoh Valley and along the Drass-Tololing-Kaksar axis.
Additional support had been provided from 20 artillery batteries as well as from mercenaries from the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul-Ansar groups.The personal diary of Lt Muhammad Maaz Ullah Khan Sumbal of 8 NLI whose name does not figure in the list of dead Pakistani officers released by the Indian Army, has logged the arrival at a forward post of three Pakistani helicopters two Lama and one Mi-17 bringing in supplies and evacuating casualties on January 31.
The diary, written in English, mentions the 8220;terrible experience8221; of taking a bath at 19,000 feet in minus 22 degrees celsius and also gives outdetails about movements and activities of other officers of the rank of Captains and Majors during the following months.
The helicopter crash which killed the commander of Pakistan8217;s 62 Infantry Brigade, Brig Nusrat Sial, is also logged in the diary. The fact Lt Sumbal wrote that he had received this diary on the day the three choppers had arrived suggests that he had been deployed before that.
A series of personal letters recovered from one of the re-captured posts, written by a woman identified from her signatures as Farida to her brother-in-law addressed as 8220;Bhanoi Sahib8221;, dates back to October 26, 1996.One of them, written in mid 1997, mentions that there has been no indication as to whereabouts of the addressee for a long time. While there is little to suggest whether the addressee is a mercenary or a regular, his family is not sure if the letter would be received by him. The letter said: 8220;Please reply if you get this letter.8221;
8220;The language used in these letters is a mixture of Persian andPushto with numerals in English, though written in the style of Urdu,8221; a language expert said. 8220;The dialect appears to be Afghan or Baluch,8221; he added.Interestingly, the handwriting as well as the signature in each case is markedly different. 8220;The signatures are confusing. They could imply 8220;Farida8221; or a number, possibly 55520 or 528,8221; the expert added. Also several phrases and expressions are repeated in several letters. Two handwritten receipts in Urdu with index numbers in English giving an account of clothing items issued to Mohamad Ibrahim by L/Nk Mir Baz Khan of 4 NLI on May 4, 1998 have also been recovered. 4 NLI is the reserve battalion of the Force Commander Northern Areas, based at Gilgit.
