Unsung heroes of Kargil

8220;CO Commanding Officer of the unit Saheb sent a lieutenant the next day to Garkhun Nullah with us, but that day the intruders were not seen,8221; he recalls. After a couple of days the two brothers again saw the Pakistani soldiers and went back to the Army unit. This time, a patrol led by a senior officer was sent on May 5 and the Army discovered, much to its horror, that the intrudershad occupied the heights overlooking the Indus, Morop says.

The intruders had piled up large stones to build several sangars8217; makeshift bunkers on the hills and even secured them with walls of boulders to shield themselves from imminent Indian firing, he says. 8220;The sangars were strongly-built and well equipped with large stocks of rations and ammunition,8221; Morop recalls, having accompanied the troops who carried out the assault on the intruders8217; shelters and brought back the captured booty. 8220;In the beginning the Army authorities simply refused to believe us, but when the presence of the intruders was confirmed, a lot of soldiers came to the area and the battle started,8221; he says.

Morop8217;s Buddhist tribal village on a scarp overlooking the gushing Indus was shelled heavily, forcing the residents to take refuge under the rocks in make-shift shelters.

Morop is slightly bitter that their bravery did not fetch them any rewards from civilian or army authorities. Although the two brothers are heroes intheir village, life has remained virtually unchanged for them. They did get some money by acting as porters for the Army, but they also lost a lot of their animals, which were eaten up by the intruders when they went for grazing in the nullahs.

Army intelligence sources contacted in Srinagar while confirming that two locals had been roughed up, said they had definite information that someone was directing artillery fire from the area where the due was picked up.The porters are still being interrogated, and the frayed nerves of Armymen even led to a couple of them being thrashed during the conflict, Morop says.

8220;We stayed holed up without food or water for three days under relentless artillery fire from across the Line of Control LoC,8221; he says. Most of the men from villages in the area served as porters for the Army, carrying logistics for the troops up the treacherous mountains, and also acted as guides for the Army.

8220;We showed the Armymen an alternate route to get to the Jubar hill the capture ofwhich got LT Manoj kumar Pandey of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles his Posthumous Param Vir Chakra through Dah Nullah after Garkhun Nullah came under heavy enemy fire,8221; Morop says.

The porters, although they stayed behind the troops, had their share of action and even went hungry for up to four days as the meagre rations they carried for the warring soldiers got exhausted, Morop says.

8220;Initially the villagers prepared food for soldiers and we carried it all the way, often ending up with blisters on our backs due to the heat from piping-hot chow,8221; he recalls.

8220;But the soldiers were quite nice to us and shared their food with us,8221; Morop adds. 8220;We even made make-shift stretchers and brought down the badly decomposed bodies of four soldiers who died fighting the intruders on the hills,8221; he says.