Vijay Diwas: Recalling the first battalion that joined the Kargil war

"The first reception I got the moment I landed at the battle field was heavy shelling of the Pakistani artillery, and the reception party, which had come to receive me, had to run for cover. That grand reception was enough for me to gauge the level of difficulty of the task for which I had landed there."

This was the first experience of Kargil war for Col (Retd) Lalit Rai who led the 1/11 Gorkha Rifles in the war. The 1/11 Gorkha Rifles was Indian Army's first battalion to take on the enemy in Kargil war when even the picture about the strength of the enemy, their ammunition, their positions were not clear.

Recalling the heroics he and his men showcased in 'Operation Vijay', Rai said, "Before going into the war, I was posted in Doda district and our next posting was in Pune. In fact, the advanced party of my battalion had already moved to Pune. And when we all were in a process of moving to Pune, we were diverted to go to Batalik sector. I feel proud of the fact that my battalion was the first battalion which was to sent to fight the enemy."

Rai remembers that when his battalion was sent to the Batalik sector, they did not even have the idea about who their enemy was. He said, "Fear of the unknown is terrible. When you know the enemy, you can prepare and go into the war. However, we did not know if it was group of militants or Pakistani soldiers that we had to fight."

This was an all-out war between the arch rivals, and the enemy had already taken a commanding position at the top. "The initial idea was that a big group of militants had crossed over the LoC and taken position at the top. However, when our men went there to extricate patrolling party which was caught up in the mountains and we received the quantum of fire, we saw the types of weapons that were used by the enemy. We found out that it was not a group of militants, but Pakistani soldiers have taken position there," Rai said.

After gathering information about the enemy which had moved into Indian territory, Rai volunteered to lead the attack. The plan was to recapture the Khalubar top and regain the position of advantage. However, it was not so simple.

"When I volunteered to lead the attack, some thought it was a suicidal decision. Before going into the battle field the way people hugged me, I felt as if the song 'Alvida' was being played in the background. I, in fact, told my boys to go to the battle with the possibility of not returning. 'Sar pe kafan bandho aur chalo' was the clear message for my boys," Rai recalled.

Explaining the importance of recapturing Khalubar top, Rai said it changed the course of the war in India's favour. He said, "Capturing Khalubar was the toughest battle. With enemy raining bullets on us while we had no cover, we had to close in on the enemy. We had to make sure that when we get close to them it is dark. So we could not afford to halt. However, my Gorkha boys showed exemplary courage as even when some were being hit with bullets, rest of them kept moving forward. And they literally chopped off the heads of the Pakistani soldiers, who were nearly twice in size, with Khukri," Rai remembered.

"Pakistanis, even in their wildest dreams, never thought that Indian army would come up at the top in hostile conditions with difficult terrain and chilling cold to not only attack them but to chase them back. That was their biggest miscalculation. After taking over the Khalubar top, we routed the enemy and chased them across the LoC over the next ten days," he said.

Rai remembers his bravest boy, Captain Manoj Pandey who was posthumously awarded Paramvir Chakra. "Manoj was simple and liked by troops, but he was extremely courageous. At the age of 23, his sense of responsibility towards his duty was impeccable. He made supreme sacrifice for the country, and I can rightly say though he was short in stature, he walked tall amongst the tallest."