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Life on the battlefront is never easy. But when it entails high-altitude warfare and days-long treks on vertical mountain paths undertake...

Life on the battlefront is never easy. But when it entails high-altitude warfare and days-long treks on vertical mountain paths undertaken in the dead of the night to escape trigger-happy intruders perched above, despair becomes an ever-lurking companion.

It is perhaps a measure of the pursuit of purpose that animates the jawans engaged in wresting back control of the Kargil heights that complaints are conspicuous only by their absence 8212; except for the very human need for a few words exchanged with loved ones back home. It is only right then that on the prime minister8217;s intervention on the basis of a report in this newspaper, the government has responded by making available ten satellite phones to the jawans in Kargil.

The Department of Telecommunication has also offered to extend free telephone facilities similar to those operational in Siachen, pending Defence Ministry clearance. Small gestures that can prove to be great morale boosters.

As Operation Vijay extends deep into a violent summer, thepsychological overload on the battling men, their worrying families across the country and a concerned nation is bound to start telling. For the men on the front, a conversation with those back home can be a perfect antidote for aching homesickness, a welcome diversion from the endless boom of guns and shelling. For their loved ones, keenly tracking the army manoeuvers through the media, nothing can be more unbearable than not knowing.

As a Field Post Office says: 8220;Probably just to hear from their son, out in the cold mountains, a large number of telegrams saying, mother serious or father serious8217; have started pouring in. We received 137 such telegrams on May 31 alone.8221; And even as requests for inland letter envelopes swamp the field office, the odd STD booths in Kargil have become veritable Towers of Babel, with jawans from every corner of the country yelling cheerful don8217;t-worry messages and forking out chunks of their salaries to pay exorbitant STD bills.

Providing a number of free calls to eachjawan will not entail a great financial burden in a conflict that is costing the nation an estimated Rs 17 crore per day.

Addressing the soldier8217;s very human need for communication, however, is just one service the nation can extend. As the armed forces advance successfully and reclaim strategic positions along the Line of Control, it is becoming increasingly evident that they are up against an extremely well-organised adversary. As Indian jawans determinedly soldier forth, they must have no doubt whatsoever that New Delhi seeks the status quo ante, nothing less.

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As this war of nerves drags on, as the conflict is played out in other arenas 8212; diplomatic and propaganda 8212; care must be taken that no confusing signals are sent out to the men on the front about the nation8217;s resolve to achieve its objective. Politically discordant voices in a long-drawn-out electoral season would be just the sort of thing to jam those signals.