The history of the Kargil war has been revisited and some parts of the record will have to be rewritten.
The history of the Kargil war has been revisited and some parts of the record will have to be rewritten.
The Armed Forces Tribunal has indicted a former lieutenant-general for bias against a brigadier under whose command some major victories were achieved in the 1999 conflict.
The tribunal has directed that the affected officer, Brig Devinder Singh, who led the 70 Infantry Brigade during the operation, be considered for notional promotion to the rank of major general. It has also ordered that the documents written by Lt Gen Kishan Pal (then general officer commanding — GOC — 15 Corps) on the operations of Brig (retd) Singh’s formation in the Batalik sector be corrected.
The defence ministry and the army’s top brass will take a decision shortly whether to go in appeal against the verdict.
Brig Singh, a former 9 Para Field Artillery officer who carried on with his duty despite suffering battle injuries, had alleged that reports about his performance in Kargil had been fudged. He blamed Lt Gen Pal for downplaying his performance, because of which he missed a promotion and a gallantry medal. In 2006, he filed a case in the high court, which was transferred to the tribunal.
Former army chief Gen VP Malik, who headed the force during the Kargil conflict, came out in Brig Singh’s defence, but said the case was an aberration. “I had seen Brig Singh during the war. He took a little time... But thereafter, he and his formation did extremely well,” Malik said.
Brig Singh told DNA: “Lt Gen Pal said in his post-war reports that the deputy GOC of the Leh-based 3 Infantry Division, Brig A Duggal, shared responsibility for the performance of the 11 battalions which I had totally under my command.
There was no sharing of responsibility. Obviously, he said all that to cover up his shortcomings in the assessment of the number of intruders in the area.”
Instead of a gallantry medal, Brig Singh got a peace time honour — the Vishisht Sewa Medal. He holds Lt Gen Pal responsible for his unsatisfactory annual confidential reports (ACRs), about which he had complained to the defence ministry, to no avail. “I got some relief in 2004, but everything was done due to vindictiveness against me. The fudging of the battle account was done at the army headquarters level,” said Brig Singh, who retired in 2007.
He said the chief of the Northern Command, Lt Gen HM Khanna, should have looked into the reports as he retired much later, unlike chief of army staff Gen VP Malik, who retired soon after the conflict. “I am not asking for a promotion or a medal now. I am happy at justice being rendered,” Brig Singh said.
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