Kargil Diwas: Kargil War, a chapter in Indian history that narrates the saga of the brave Indian soldiers. In response to the intrusion of Pakistan on our soil, Indian soldiers had brought them to their knees. During the war, Brigadier Sudhir Sawant was posted as a Major in Brigade Head Quarters (Drass Sector). He first carried out the responsibility of transporting arms, explosives, and other materials from Srinagar to Drass, Kargil and other battlefields. He was posted in the warzone in the Drass sector till the end of May.
'The plan was to capture the main line from Srinagar to Leh'
Brigadier Sudhir Sawant started narrating the success story of the Kargil war by remembering the day (May 3) on which a shepherd gave a piece of important information to the Army. On May 5, when Lt. Kalia went patrolling, he was tortured and killed. Following this, a piece of information came as a shocker to the Indian Army. The troops got to know that Pakistan Army had captured the major area of Drass to Kargil and beyond. He said that Musharraf was trying to capture the main line from Srinagar to Leh.
First battle with challenging weather
He recalled that war in the mountains was so challenging. So they followed the strategy of moving platoons forward one by one. He then said that during the supply of weapons, they used to be the primary target of the enemies. He told that "I had gone to Kolhapur at an altitude of 0 feet to 9 thousand to 14 thousand feet." He said that the first battle was with the weather, the enemy was on top of the mountains and we were below them.
'Capture of first point Tololing'
Moving further he said, "we captured the first point at Tololing. Lt. Thapar was martyred during this operation, his forehead was hit by a bullet in the night. It was then revealed that they have night vision cameras and are equipped with modern killers. It is not extremist but the Pakistani army is involved in it. After that Captain Batra won Tiger Hill and blew up 4 bunkers. He talked to his mother and said, 'Ye Dil Mange More'. Then, while capturing point 4875, he was martyred."
'Important role of Bofors guns and cannons in Kargil war'
He told that there was another soldier named Yadav, "he (Yadav) directly climbed the hill and blew up many enemy bunkers. Bofors guns and cannons played an important role during the war, for which we were responsible for delivering ammunition." He added, "our jawans fought the entire battle in minus 20 degrees. Everything was very difficult there. Indian Army never gives up, we fought with full force and won."
