A thousand Kargils wil be waged to liberate Kashmir.
by Moin Ansari
Kargil was Pakistani territory before 1971, and there is documented
proof of this from international sources, from Japan and other
countries (which had sent climbers to the area and had to get
Pakistan's permission). Bharat had the gall to call this an incursion
when she herself had occupied the territory. And this was the Cease
Fire line. Bharat has the gumption to call this an incursion when it
sent thousands of Bharti soldiers across the border under the banner
of the Mukti Bahni, and has been sending terrorists into Swat and FATA
under the umbrella of the TTP. Delhi has done the same with
Bangladesh, when it tried to rule the country under the Rakhi Bahni,
and she did the same in Nepal. Her despicable role in Sri Lankais also
known to the planet. The death of the Indian agent Parphakhan was a
victory for freedom everywhere. Bharat has also tried to destabilize
China in Tibet and more recently in Xinjiang.
Kargil internationalized Kashmir.
Kargil made Bharat forget the "atoot tang line".
Every day, some nincompoop comes up with a new story about the so
called "victory" in Kargil. The brave soldiers of the Pakistan has
have exemplified thier guts through blood sweat and tears. They found
the Bharti army lacking in strength, courage, stamina, tactics, and
strategy. They were caught napping. taking over 300 peaks is no man
feat. The brave jawans of the Pakistan did it. It is these soldiers
that keep the agressors away.
Kargil made the world wake up the simmering war in South Asia.
The peaks and caves of the Himalayas hide many secrets. Kargil cannot
be explained in one line or a paragraph. The secret history of Kargil
is shrouded in tactical, laconic and incommunicative Pakistani
silence, deliberate Indian obfuscation and nonsensical banal Bollywood
bluster.
The Pakistani military in professional terms ranks among the best in
the world, along with the Indian army according to Col. Puri. The
implicit irony here is that India is fives times larger than Pakistan.
For Islamabad to create this balance of power in just five decades is
a Pakistani achievement. Indian Army Col. Puri
Kargil told the world, Pakistanis have not forgotten Kashmir.
The facts are lost because of the sensitive nature of the operation,
the reticence of commandos to discuss it, the as well as the army
tactiturn not to address the issues which may impact current or future
operations. Let us look into the seeds of time, and decouple the story
from history andbring out the truth.
Indian Top Secret Kargil Tapes: The impact of releasing them
"We Shouldn't Have Given The Secret Kargil Tapes To
Pakistan":Vajpayee's handing over the Musharraf tape to Nawaz Sharif
was an intelligence disaster
Revisiting Kargil a decade later: Fact and Fiction
Kargil:When Five Kashmiri-Pakistani battalions overcame four Indian
Division and captured more than 300 peaks–deep into Indian occupied
Kashmiri territory. Kargi: When the USA, Western Europe, Israel, and
India forced the status quo to remain.
http://rupeenews.com/2008/06/03/kargil-sharifs-policy-of-plausible-deniability/
Kagil reminded the planet that Kashmir was un unresolved issue.
For obvious and partisan reasons the Pakistanis have not been
forthright about the American and Israeli involvement in Kargil.
However there is enough evidence to findthe kernels of truth. Recently
during his trip to India, Mr. Olmert the Israeli Prime Minister
publicly reminded Indians and the world on the valuable assistance
Israel had provided to to India during Kargil. What help could have
Israel have provided? Satellite pictures, drones, AWAC surveillance
andhigh altitude aviation are some of the areas that would have helped
India.
Kargil told the world, the Kashmir issue is not dead!
The Kargil episode was like the 1973 Ramadhan War between Egypt and
Israel–by crossing the Suez Canal and destroying the Bar Lev Lines the
Egyptians forced the Americans to paint the Star of David on their
F-16s and bomb the Egyptian forces. It thus showed the world that the
invincibility of the Israeli soldier was a myth…and they sued for
peace.
During the Kargil War in 1999, India received from Israel unmanned
aerial vehicles, laser-guided bombs and other hardware to knock out
Pakistani hilltop bunkers. Israel's support helped India appreciate
its sophisticated electronics and weapons systems. Salem News.
Israel's Military Supplies to India, By Hari Special to Salem-News.com
Kargil also announced to the planet that India from that day forward
can never cross the international border ever!
The world accepted Siachin, but did not accept Kargil (which was
Siachin in reverse). According to General Pervez Musharraf, the
architect of the operation, Kargil was a preventative action which
stopped Indian incursions into Pakistani Kashmir. It was a success in
every way.
Kargil made the world think of Indian Occupation of Kashmir.
There is a lot of junk out there on Kargil. Many are exposed to the
Bharti point of view. Here is a an unbiased perspective. Bollywood has
come up with all sorts of yarns and Mr. Nawaz Sharif has used Kargil
for political advancement and to gain sympathy from the Americans and
his friends across the border Mr. Vajpayee. Mr. Sharif's current book
"Ghaddar Kaoun" is actually an apology for himself and a justification
for horrid propaganda from across the border–which is being
periodically released in small poison pill dosages. Kargil: Sharif's
policy of plausible deniability exposes lies.
Mr. Sharif lied to President Clinton and even to Prime Minister
Vaypayee. Mr. Sharif went to the extent of handing over edited but
taped conversaitons between Pakistani commanders to the Indians. After
the coup Mr. Sharif and his son were in touch with the Indians.
At the height of the Kargil conflict, former Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif is said to have told then US President Bill Clinton that
he was prepared to help resolve the crisis if India committed to
settle the 'larger issue' of Kashmir in a specific time-frame, but the
American leader snubbed him saying it would amount to a 'nuclear
blackmail.' When Sharif visited Washington in 1999 to discuss Kargil
with Clinton, he insisted, 'I am prepared to help resolve the current
crisis in Kargil but India must commit to resolve the larger issue in
a specific time-frame,' former US deputy secretary of State Strobe
Talbot writes in his new book Engaging India – Diplomacy, Democracy
and the Bomb.
The above narrative clearly shows that Mr. Sharif wanted to leverage
Kargil and then lost his nerve. An incensed army and establishment
deposed him. His act of treason should place him on trial and the
gallows.
Mr. Sharif has lied about Kargil. Mr. Sharif has denied that he was
even aware of Kargil. Mr. Shairf should have waited for a few more
weeks, and there would have been no Kashmir problem to solve. At some
juncture, he ran to White House.
Kargil made the Bhartis wake up to a threat!
Let us look at the Line of Control and dig a bit deeper. Kargil is
intricately tied to Siachin. Here are some maps of Siachin, Kashmir
and Kargil. These maps show the Kashmir region, the Northern Areas and
Azad Kashmir in three folios.
Kargil cannot be explained in a soundbite. Let us look into the seeds
of time, and decouple story from history and bring out the Pakistani
narrative. Let us begin the story of Kargil by describing the story of
Siachin first
Siachin was "India's Kargil operation". India's incursion was allowed
to stand, and Pakistani'soperation was not allowed to stand.
Kargil proved to the world that the Pakistanis were not asleep.
Who does Siachin belong to? It was Pakistani territory right up to the
80s when Indian forces snuck in. The fact that the Siachen Glaciers
were under de-facto control of Pakistan, was even recognised by the
Indians and also by the International community. Even after the Simla
agreement, the international alpinerswere taking Pakistan's permission
for their mountaineering expeditions. It is a long list, but some of
the teams include:-
1. 1974- Japanese Kwoto university- Karakoram mission to conquer K-2
at the heights of 74680 meters.
2. 1975-UK North-West Karakoram Expedition- To conquer Sherbi Kangri
at height of 23960 feet.
3. 1976- German KK Himalaya Expedition- For Salotre Kangri at 77060 Meters.
4. 1978- Japanese Kojo Alpine KK Expedition- Terim Glaciers at 6476 Meters.
5. 1980- Mr. Glen Roel-USA KK skating and tracking party-Lofound Glaciers.
6. 1984-Austrian Arex Expedition for K-12; were given permission
effective for June , but Indians landed forces in April 1984.
In taking over Siachin, India was in total violation of all
international agreements as well as Simla.
Simla like Versailles was signed under duress, when the dice was
heavily loaded against Pakistan. The Indians who took the lead to
violate their own agreement. The most relevant clauses of the Simla
agreement are:-
Article 1(ii) of the Simla Agreementstates: Pending the final
settlement of any problem between the two countries, neither side
shall unilaterally alter the situation and both sidesshallprevent
organisation, assistance or encouragement of any acts detrimental to
the maintenance of peaceful and harmonious relations.
Article 4(ii) states: The Line of Control shall be respected by both
sides and both sides shall refrain from threats or use of force in
violation of this line.
In 1972, soon after signing the Simla Agreement, India transgressed in
the Chorbatal area. In 1984, when Pakistan was busy in the Afghan war,
India occupied the Siachin Glaciers in complete violation of the Simla
Agreement. In 1988, the Qamar sector was seized. Since 1996, India is
using the artillery fire to interdict the road running through the
Neelam valley. In May 1999, the Indians made an abortive attempt to
occupy the Shyocksector on the Pakistan sideof the Cease Fire Line.
Retaking Kargil. Kargil used to be under Pakistani control also.
Kargil was not agression. the peaks of Kargilwere under Pakistani
control to begin with.
Kargil informed everyone that Kashmir will be liberated.
The truth about Kargil is hidden under Pakistani secrecy laws andthe
politicization of the event–both in India andPakistan makes it very
difficult to get to the truth. The situation has gotten worsebecause
some of the naive and appeasing Pakistanis who seem to think, that if
we forget Kashmir, all problems will end, and India will give up its
support for Balauchistan, Pakhtunsitan, Sindhu Desh, and Akhand
Bharat. Some of thesedefeatist Pakistanis are under the illusion that
if we forget Kashmir they will forget their desire to extend "Bharat"
from Kabul to Raj Kilhani East of Bali. These "Pakistanis" seem to
think that if we forget Kashmir, they will withdraw from Saichin,
andSir Creek. This "Fifth Column" amongst us thinks that if we forget
Kashmir, they will immediately liberate the 150 million Muslims in
India. These enemies of Pakistan seem to think that if we forget
Kashmir the unemployment, discrimination, andactual genocide of
Muslims in India will evaporate. These traitors forget that if if we
don't draw a red-line on Kashmir, they will stop our water, starve us,
and then treat us like the 250 million untouchable Dalits of India.
Even in the USA some Hindus do not allow Muslims to touch their food
even if they are friends.
At the strategic level, besides embarrassing India, Pakistan's aim was
to internationalise the Kashmir issue, as it was losing its grip in
the valley and had to do something sensational to bring the issue to
international centre stage. Pakistan perceived that the political
situation in India was fragile and in such an environment the Indian
polity would not have the stomach to retaliate to any aggressive
designs. Militarily, Pakistan selected areas for the intrusions which
would offer minimum resistance and where they could exploit the large
gaps in the defences. Also by launching such an operation, Pakistan
aimed to secure maximum territory for strategic and tactical gains,
change the status of the Line of Control (LoC), revive insurgency in
the valley and elsewhere in J&K as well as isolate Ladakhfrom
Srinagar. It was a highly ambitious plan andsince it surprised the
Indian Army, it was tremendously successful.
The Indians have had a tough time spinning the defeat anddeveloping a
story that disguises their failed policies in Kashmir. Part of the
problem with this operation is that some of the issues are hidden in
the partisan politics of Pakistan. Let us try to narrate the facts
about Kargil.
Kargil told the Kashmiris that Pakistanis will continue to fight for them.
In response to the partisan carping by General (Retd) Talat Masood,
General Ali Hamid says the following:
Those who criticize Kargil never attempted to analyze the operation
from a politico-military perspective. It was a limited operation –
more so a border conflict – designed to achieve strategic effects.
Limited operations have a planning and operational dynamic of their
own and cannot be approached in a manner in which a general war is
planned and executed. Major-General (retd) Syed Ali Hamid
The truth about Kargil cannot be inunciatedin a soundbite. The entire
complex background of Kashmir has to described in detail.
0) Kashmir does not belong to India. India occupied it by showing a
forged article of accession which was never submitted to the UNO or to
Pakistan. India claims that the original article of accession is now
lost. The dates even on the forged article of accession are all wrong.
Stanley Wolpert and Alistair Lamb have written extensively about the
discrepencies. Azad Kashmir revolted against the Raja of Kashmir, so
he did not have any right to sign over any territory which was not
under his control.
00) Northern Areas were not part of Kashmir. Gilgit Skarduvoted with
their feet to join Pakistan andsigned the articles of accession to
Pakistan. Many foreign maps show Northern Areas as part of Kashmir.
Nothing is farther from the truth. President Zia ul Haq absorbed the
Northern Areas into Pakistan and they are as much a part of the
Pakistani Federation as the Punjab or Sindh.
The Kargils keep the Kashmir issue alive.
A thousand Somnaths, and Kargils will liberate Kashmir.
000) Foreign news agencies should be informed as follows: Only Azad
Kashmir is the area that should be labeled "Pakistani administered
Kashmir." Northern Areas are not "Kashmir", they are part of Pakistan.
1) First of all it needs to be pointed out that Kargilwas under
Pakistani control for about 40 years after independence. After the
aftermath of 1971 it was illegally taken over by India.
2) The same applies for Siachin. Siachin was under Pakistani control.
This has been discussed in a separate article.
3) Indian forces snuckover the Cease Fire Line and captured
Siachinwhen Pakistan was busy fighting the war in Afghanistan. The
world was quiet. The silence is deafening. The world allowed India to
take over more Kashmir because many in the West do not want the
Chinese to have land access to the Arabian Sea. This is not personal,
only geo-political. India wants to cut off Pakistan's link to China.
4) Let us look at the historical perspective on Kashmir. India has few
access points to Kashmir. One of the most important ones is through
East Punjab. Gurdaspur was a Muslim majority area in East Punjab. it
was a strategic point of access to Kashmir. Without Gurdaspur, Indian
and British forces could not get to Srinagar as they did later to
force the Maharaja out ofoffice with a forged article of
accession.There were four districts in Gurdaspur. Three were Muslim
Majority areas and should have been given to Pakistan. Lord Radcliff
after receiving 6 corore Rupees from Birla and other Hinuvata
businessmen who had also created the marketing image of Mr. Gandhi.
This bribe influenced Mr. Radcliff from demarcating the border which
takes reversal convulsions in East Punjab. In one of the most blatant
and heinous crimes in modern history, the Muslim majority areas of
Gurdaspur were handed over to the republic of India.
5) In the 80s the geography had not changed. Gurdaspurremained a choke
point for India. With the Khalistani insurrection raging
uncontrollably, the Indian supply lines from Gurdaspur were in
jeopardy, and India could not count on sending its troops via rail or
road to Kashmir without being harassed by Sikh nationalists and
Kashmiri separatists. A raging insurgency in East Punjab deprived
India of effectively controlling Kashmir.
5) APPEASING INDIA ON KASHMIR: Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto understood all
of this. Ms. Bhutto did not have a clue. Ms. Benazir Bhutto came to
power and wheeled and dealed with Mr. Rajiv Gandhi on Sichain for East
Punjab. The deal confirmed by many Indian authors lately has been
described as follows. Pakistan would stop all support for Khalistan in
return for Indian withdrawal from Siachin. Mr. Ahtizaz Ahsan handed
over a list of all Khalistani freedom fighters to India. In one night
the entire leadership and cadre of the Khalistan movement was
extinguished. A massive crackdown across India led to the denouement
of the movement that would have deprived Gurdaspur to India–and
therefore Kashmir.
5) During Rajiv Gandhi's visit to Pakistan, the sign in front of
Kashmri House was removed, the name of Kashmir Road was painted over
to hide it, and the maps of Pakistan were changed on PTV not to show
Kahsmir as part of Pakistan.
6) RajivGandhi either hoodwinked Ms. Bhutto, or reneged on the deal or
could not deliver on his promise. In either case the denouement of the
Khalistan movement caused irreparable damage to Pakistan and the
Kashmir. This was the main reason for the removal of Ms. Bhutto from
power. She was a security risk and was henceforward prohibited from
visiting the nuclear facilities of Pakistan.
6) Pakistan wanted to pay back India for Siachin and re-take Kargil
which used to be under Pakistani control for decades.
7) An operation was planned to put pressure on India to withdraw from Siachin.
The Pakistanis had been seething since Saichin. They were also
planning to unseat Indian from Siachin and not accept any more status
quos. General Pervez Musharraf in book mentions India's intentions of
preparing for an attack since 1998 and that Pakistan's
Kargiloperations were merely defensive in nature. The timing of the
intrusion did not coincided with Mr. Vajpayee's vist it at all.
Kargil was an appetiser of things to come.
General Karamat was opposed to the Kargil operation. He was removed
and General Musharraf was appointed as the COAS of the Pakistan Army.
It was a well known fact that General Musharraf was ready to spearhead
the Kargil operation that had been planned by the army and also
presented to Benazir Bhutto.Some of earliest intrusions had occurred
as early as Dec 1998. It was an ongoing operation so some of the
stocks recovered later only represented the only the tail end of the
operation in Feb/early Mar timeframe.
9) General Pervez Musharraf, no matter what you think of him as a
politician is a brilliant commando and great strategist. He planned
the entire Kargil program and was able to take over 300 peaks in the
Kargil sector during the dead of winter where even winds avoid the
area. This was one of the most difficult terrains on the planet where
only seasoned mountaineers andmountain climbers can trek under the
best of conditions. Moving entire battalions across the high altitude
passes and capture the peaks was probably the most brilliant maneuvers
in the history of mountain warfare.
10) With all their satellite technology, and drones, Kargil was a
massive failure of Indian, American, and Israeli intelligence. The
Indian did not have a clue about the encroachment of Pakistani forces
which had been undertaken to re-take peaks that were previously under
Pakistani control for decades anyway. The Indian posts were not manned
during winter and had been abandoned.
Indian Military intelligence has limited depth in picking up
information and much is left to other intelligence agencies for
acquisition of information. During the operations air photos were
supplied to us by Research and Analysis Wing but there was a total
mismatch in the interpretation of the air photos with the maps mainly
due to difference in the scales with the result we could not with
accuracy locate the information available on the photos. Intelligence
was a total failure. There was no worthwhile information coming our
way and we were totally dependent on the troops in contact
11) With great care, one peak after the other was taken. Once a peak
was secured, arms and supplies were sent to the peak. Cell or
satellite phone were not used, so as not to alert the Indian, America
and Israeli ears in the area.
12) Inevitable, but quiet by accident the Indians discovered that one
of the peaks that it wanted to return to could not be accessed as it
was occupied by the Pakistani crescent and Star forces.
The terrain in which the operations were conducted was rugged with
precipitous slopes and heights varying from 18000-21000 ft. The
inhospitable and daunting terrain took a heavy toll of men
andmaterial. The extreme high altitude made breathing difficult and
movement sapped one's energy. Our initial failure to evict the
intrusions could well be attributed to lack of acclimatization of the
troops. Ladakh was served from Srinagar by the highway to Leh which
remained closed from end Nov till May due to heavy snow. The road was
used during fair weather period for the logistic stocking for the
military garrison and the local population of Leh which was indeed a
Herculean task. It was on the heights dominating the highway that
Pakistan infiltrators intruded and began to effectively interdict
movement on the main road axis to Leh. The timing of the intrusion has
been hotly debated in the media and in military circles.
13) The Indians did not know what had hit them. Teams were sent to
Washington, Tel Aviv, and all European capitals complaining about the
Pakistani encroachment.
14) The Indians initially tried to re-capture the peaks. They failed
miserably. They were unable to climb the mountaintops. They panicked.
They asked for help from Israel. A massive flow of weapons, materials
and forces were sent to New Delhi. A satellite was repositioned to
focus on Kargil. American reconnaissance toys were deployed in Kargil.
In the 1973 Ramadhan war, when Israel faced imminent defeat
andpossible annihilation. American F-16s were painted with the Star of
David and ran bombing missions on Egypt's 3rd army. A similar feature
awaited Pakistan.
15) If Pakistan had held out for about 3 more weeks, the snows would
have prevented India from retaking the peaks.
16) Pakistan was a nuclear power, and India knew it. This was a golden
opportunity for Pakistan. Therefore crossing the international border
was not an option. All Pakistan had to do was to wait out about 3
weeks and that would have sealed the fate of Kargil, Drass, and would
have forced India to withdraw from Siachin.
17) India, America and Israel realized that they could not inflict a
military victory in Kargil. The only option left was political
pressure. Unfortunately for Pakistan, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, Mr. Shahbaz
Sharif and Abbajee ran the government in Islamabad. Mr. Nawaz
Sharifwas under tremendous pressure from America to withdraw. Within a
few days, the whispers out of the White House turned into a crescendo
from world capitals.
18) Mr. Nawaz Sharif's tube light was off. Under normal conditions it
takes a tube light some time to come on. It flickers and waits, and
then finally comes to full luminescence. For Mr. Nawaz Shiar, the tube
light sometimes fails to come on at all. Most of the time it flickers
and comes on after a long time. Mr. Sharif at the time of
Kargillwanted to make some lucrative deals with India to help his
friends in the industrial sector.
19) Mr. Sharif had the option to believing his chief of staff, General
PervezMusharraf, or believing his friend and business partner Mr.
Vajpayee. He had an option to take the entire matter to the National
Assembly or build national consensus on this or resolve it without the
parliament andmake a decision with his kitchen cabinet.
20) Mr. Sharif the frightened funk failed to see the long term
consequences of his actions. He ran to Washington and surrendered what
the Pakistan army had won on the battle field. Mr. Clinton humiliated
him by calling the Indian Prime Minister before, during andafter the
meeting which was not even held in the White House.
21) It wasn't just General PervezMusharraf, but the entire army the
nation that was livid with Mr. Sharif.
The United Jihad Council was the primary public voice of the
Mujahideen in the Kargiloffensive. Pakistan backed the guerrillas in a
bid to change the cease-fire line through the territory. The United
Jihad Council, including four fighting in the Kargilmountains, said
the guerrillas would not leave the area becauseit is their homeland.
The Pakistani government pullback of its troops and allied Kashmiri
secessionist and Taliban fighters from the Kargil-Dass-Batalik region
of Indian-held Kashmir in July 1999 caused considerable criticism of
the Pakistani government, and contributed to the military coup of
October 1999.
22) The removal of Mr. Shairf was welcomed not in the army, but in all
quarters in Pakistan.
23) The rest is all Bollywood nonsense.
A thousand Kargils wil be waged to liberate Kashmir.
--
*Shahzad Shameem*
--
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