Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A Man for All Seasons

by Kingshuk Nag

During winters, when temperatures reached sub-zero levels, soldiers from both the sides retreated from their hilltop positions, only to return next summer. This had been the practice for many years. However, in the spring of 1999, when Indian soldiers were yet to reoccupy the heights in the Kargil region, Pakistani soldiers occupied their heights and also the Indian heights. The Kargil region is 200 km from Srinagar. The hilltops of Kargil are strategically located because they overlook the highway that runs from Srinagar to Leh and thus connects Ladakh to the Kashmir valley. Therefore, if Pakistani troops could shell the highway from the hilltops, they could cut off communication lines to Leh, the capital of Ladakh. Incidentally, Kargil was just 170 km from Skardu in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), therefore the soldiers could be serviced by the Pakistanis from not too distant a place. In the event, soldiers of the Northern Light Infantry (NLI) and the special service group of the Pakistani army occupied the heights. Indian army patrol parties became fully cognizant of the infiltration after being tipped off by local shepherds in the second week of May. To Atal it was clear that on one side the Pakistanis were talking peace and on the other hand they were pursuing aggression. Nawaz Sharif later said that he was not aware of these occurrences and came to know of them only when Atal called him telephonically and informed him. Pakistan continued to maintain that the men who...