Indian
soldiers praying at Kargil
Vajpayee
Deliberately Ignored Kargil, Causing 500 Deaths
By
Arun Rajnath
NEW
DELHI: Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee knew
about the Kargil infiltration long back, but he did nothing in
time, and more than 500 lives of army men were lost.
Most
of them were young pass-outs from the Military Academy and other
army institutions, who were sent straight to the battle field
to avoid hefty compensations in case of casualties. The 17th day
of April, 1999 is very important in this regard.
None
of the two review committees dared to blame Vajpayee for security
lapses. Though the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government
has absolved the previous government of its role in the Kargil
imbroglio, mystery will remain unraveled until Vajpayee’s
role is questioned.
The
first committee ‘Kargil Review Committee’ headed by
K Subramanyam was appointed by the previous government after the
war. This committee accused the intelligence agencies for failure
to pre-empt infiltration. The second committee or a study was
appointed by Army Chief NC Vij. The report has been prepared by
the Directorate General of Military Operations and the Army Training
Command.
In
fact, Vajpayee came to know about the Kargil infiltration on April
16, 1998 when a civilian delegation from Kargil, Batalik and Mushkoh
came to see him at his official residence at 7, Race Course with
some local BJP leaders. The entry of the delegation to the prime
minister’s residence was registered at the reception. The
official records of the Special Protection Group (SPG) can be
verified.
The
Kargil delegation was allowed to see the Prime Minister. When
they met Vajpayee, some members of the delegation started weeping,
crying and requesting to protect them from the infiltrators. The
leaders categorically told Vajpayee that several infiltrators
had constructed bunkers on hill-tops of Kargil. They often opened
fire at Army convoys and villagers. The delegation also demanded
of the prime minister to instruct the army to protect innocent
villagers and other civilians.
Vajpayee
assured the delegation that his government would take all necessary
steps to protect the civilians from the shelling from the hill-tops.
He also promised them that army would soon initiate combing operations.
This
clearly shows that infiltration on the hill-tops of Kargil, Batalik
and Mushkoh started long back, and former prime minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee knew it very well, but he did not take any adequate
action in time.
Thereafter,
a story was concocted by the Vajpayee government that the Indian
army detected military movements on the hill-tops in the region
of Kakarthang in Batalik on May 6, 1999 during patrol. The Indian
army spotted many bunkers, and initiated action on May 29, 1999
to flush out the infiltrators.
Another
theory being floated is that bunkers were detected by a shepherd
on May 8, 1999 on whose report the Indian army reacted. The previous
government and the army gave much weight to a shepherd’s
report, but they ignored the memorandum of the Kargil delegation.
The
Indian army blamed Pakistan for infiltration masquerading as Kashmiri
militants. The army claimed to have seized certain documents from
the possession of armed men stationed on the hill-tops such as
‘Army Leave Book’ and ‘Pay Book’.
The
sources say that usually army employees do not carry such documents
on the front. During war, army men submit their leave books and
pay books to the office of their Company Adjutant. For their identity,
a chain bearing their numbers, etc is tied round their necks.
On the other hand, if such documents were found from infiltrators,
then why Pakistan did so? Did Pakistan want to expose itself before
the international community? This concoction was necessary for
the Vajpayee government to present it as a full-fledged war to
gain political dividends.
Another
concoction was made by the Vajpayee government is about physical
torture and inhuman treatment with some Indian army men at the
hands of Pakistani soldiers. At least the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) thinks so. Marxists are now part and parcel of the new
government.
The
‘People’s Voice’ has published a report
written by a leftist journalist B Prashant. This newspaper is
published by the Communist Party of Canada, and Prashant also
reports for ‘People’s Democracy’, a
media organ of the CPI-M.
In
his report, Prashant says that the doctor who conducted autopsy
on the bodies of Lieutenant Saurabh Kalia, soldiers Arjun Ram,
Bhuvan Lal, Barva Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh had clearly
stated that the militants after killing them, mutilated and desecrated
their bodies. But the Vajpayee government presented it otherwise.
Sources
told South Asia Tribune that before releasing formal
orders for military action against the infiltrators, Vajpayee
requested former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral to talk to
Nawaz Sharif. Sharif expressed ignorance of any such episode,
but he promised to look into the matter. On Gujral’s advice,
Sharif talked to Vajpayee also, and assured him full assistance.
Sources
say initially Nawaz Sharif had promised to control the situation.
He himself called up Vajpayee and once again assured him full
assistance. He also expressed his regrets. He did not directly
take Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s name for the imbroglio, but
he asked Vajpayee to exercise restraint to diffuse the situation.
He even sent his foreign minister Sartaj Aziz to New Delhi in
June 1999.
The
opposition parties at that time ignored two points — electoral
interests of the Vajpayee government and war cries of the RSS.
The
decision of initiating military action in Kargil was not taken
at the army headquarters. The decision was taken at the RSS headquarters
at Keshav Kunj, New Delhi, and was implemented by the army headquarters
at South Block.
The
Vajpayee government fell on April 17, 1999, and here lies the
true story why the Vajpayee government took such a long time to
initiate action against infiltrators.
A
top BJP leader who is famous for his anti-Vajpayee attitude and
now he has been shunted out of the capital by the party, told
South Asia Tribune when he visited Delhi, much water
had flowed under the bridge between April 16, 1998 and May 6,
1999.
The
BJP leader said initially Atal Behari Vajpayee was under the impression
that his government would last for full five years. He wanted
to take full credit for normalizing relations with Pakistan so
he could put up a confident face before the electorate after five
years. When he came to know about the Kargil imbroglio, he deliberately
did not take action as he still believed in peaceful negotiations.
The US pressure on Vajpayee was also high at that time.
Vajpayee
phoned President Bill Clinton as soon as he came to know about
the infiltrators. It is clear that he knew the facts, but deliberately
delayed action. Instead of acting on his own, he requested the
US to exercise pressure on Pakistan. He also sent a BJP sympathizer
journalist RK Mishra to Islamabad to hold talks with Pakistani
diplomats.
But
when his government was defeated in the Parliament by a single
vote on April 17, 1999, the ground situation abruptly changed,
and the reins of power went into the hands of the hawks. The decision
to launch attacks on the militants was then taken at the RSS headquarters.
The
RSS brass hats had assembled in the headquarters in Delhi on May
21, and they discussed the Kargil issue. Defence Minister George
Fernandes was reportedly invited to the meeting. Lal Krishna Advani
also attended.
The leaders discussed the probable impact on the electorate after
declaring war against Pakistan. Advani and Fernandes asked the
prime minister to call a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security
to endorse military action in Kargil.
The
new Congress government should take this in account, and should
probe, especially, into Vajpayee’s role besides the whole
leadership instead of holding intelligence agencies and other
government outfits responsible for the Kargil imbroglio.
More
than 500 young army men lost their lives due to the failure of
Vajpayee’s leadership.
