soldiers – Fifth Pillar

The Soldiers on Foot

By ~ Gaurpriya Singh Roy

All capacities of the 7 oceans together wouldn’t be good enough to fit in our gratitude and indebtedness towards the Indian Armed forces. As a whole their greatness, pride, and impeccability are depicted in The Soldiers on Foot, I would be delighted to elucidate with you about the profound infantry regiment of the Indian Army, One of the largest in the world also anointed as the “Queen of the Battle”. The infantry is the Indian Army’s backbone.

Infantry Day is ascertained in India to commemorate the first military event of Independent India, when the first battalion of the Indian Army’s Sikh regiment fought a battle to defeat the Pakistan Army’s first attack on Indian soil on October 27, 1947, in Kashmir valley, in an attempt to seize Jammu and Kashmir.

They were part of the team defending Indian territory against Pakistani invaders advancing on Srinagar. Infantry Day 2022 honors the bravery and valor of the Indian soldiers who took part in the difficult mission.

During wars, infantry soldiers bear the main brunt of the damage. These men possess the traits like belligerence, physical fitness, and rigor. With the passage of time, the Indian Army’s infantry units have been modernized, equipped, and trained to rank among the best in the world.

Bill Mauldin once said, “The surest way to become a pacifist is to join the infantry.” And I think it is justified after the rash decisions the Government exerted during such critical times of 1947, let it be influential political leaders approaching the UN when India was already on the lines defending its land or let it be the delayed sending of the soldiers to the battlefield or be it declaring cease-fire even when Pakistan disagreed that his soldiers were at line Says the Himalayan blunders an extremely controversial war memoir penned by Brigadier John Dalvi. This book also explains why a Referendum was not Necessary after the Weapons were already taken, even after such missteps

The infantry regime remained fearless and followed orders courteously in 1947, The Sikh regiment’s first battalion landed at the Srinagar airbase. They demonstrated extraordinary courage and strength in thwarting the Pakistan Army’s invasion of Kashmir with the help of tribals. During the first India-Pak war, the Douglas DC-3, also known as the Dakota, transported troops from the Army’s 1 Sikh Regiment to Srinagar, as well as supplies and refugees. This regiment served as a border guard for the Indians. Thus, Infantry Day commemorates the first military event in India.

To vaguely narrate the night of the 26th; Initially, it was decided to send a brigade-level force. However, because the road from Pathankot to Srinagar was in poor condition, the Sikh regiment was flown in by Dakota aircraft. The road was then followed by the brigade-level troop. Around seven Dakota planes were built. Only two of these seven were from the Indian Air Force. The remainder came from private airlines. This included Biju Patnaik’s aircraft (former chief minister of Odisha). The troops were assembled in the middle of the night and airlifted at dawn. Everything was planned in a single night.

At this point, it is not even surprising how flawlessly trained and skilled our Jawans are, appreciating, acknowledging, and admiring their sacrifices and bravery is the only sinch thing we can do; soldiers like Capt Vikram Batra PVC (9 September 1974 – 7 July 1999) late officer of the Indian Army, posthumously awarded with the Param Vir Chakra.

Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai, commanding the 1st battalion of Sikh Regiment in Gurgaon wherein his role was making arrangements for the refugees, was given the nation’s second highest gallantry award, “Maha Vir Chakra” for his outstanding leadership, fighting spirit, and supreme sacrifice. He became independent India’s first officer to receive the Maha Vir Chakra, he was also called the first shed in independent India.

They forever live among us, and we to date celebrate them through their heart-whelming phrases like “Either I will come back after hoisting the Tricolor, or I will come back wrapped in it. But I’ll be back for sure”

~ Captain Vikram Batra.

“Ye dil maange more”~ Capt. Vikram Batra.

Well-known media platforms as such The all India Radio news also celebrated by tweeting :

The 76th Infantry Day is being celebrated today. It was on this day in 1947 that Infantrymen from #IndianArmy, led by 1 SIKH, landed at Srinagar Airfield and saved J&K from a ruthless and treacherous Pakistani invasion.#infantryday

Respect and pay tribute to the valiant Indian infantry soldiers who fought and were martyred to save the nation and its people during the Pakistan Army’s invasion of Kashmir during the period of independence. This year marks the 76th Infantry Day for the Indian Army and we humbly and truly honor them very mundanely through this glorious day.

Bow to Bravery

I , me , Myself ! This is the current attitude amongst many of the citizens. We always tend to give priority to ourselves while there are some exceptions, the armed forces personnel. They are ready to give their lives for the nation! The exception being the soldiers who hold “Naam, Namak aur Nishan” as their inspiration. Roughly translated, they hold alleigence to their Paltan that has nurtured them and uphold the flag of their paltan and the nation. The Army officers passing out of Indian Military Acadeny are inspired by the Chetwoode Motto

The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time.

The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next.

Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.

The Indian Navy has Shano Varun – May the lord of seas be auspicious unto us and The Indian Air Force Sparsha Nabha Deeptam- Touch the sky with glory.

Coming to the citizens, let’s not to go citizens,let me ask you, how many of you can just show where Siachen is? Or may be even Kargil? Quite a few. But I bet that you guys can easily point the locations of Paris, Amsterdam etc. That place, Siachen, it is where our bravehearts are fighting for our country for the past three and half decades. That’s shameful.

“Fauj main Mauj Hai”- This is the perception of civilians. They think that we get free accommodation, ration, canteen items and the heights of imagination, that we get free liquor.Let me get this straight, there is nothing like free lunch. The ration is entitled whereas the remaining are paid by the personnel. There are way too many problems in our country but “providing ration” to armed forces became an issue and they even managed to remove it for a period of 2 years and “Non-Functional Upgradation” and the list is so long.The discrimination is way too evident yet it is ignored.

You’ve see the perception of civilians, now it’s time to dive into the life of a service chap! The first chapter: Training.

We can’t even manage to wake up at 5am whereas in NDA they are already dressed for their PT/Parade practice. Their training is so rigorous that they maintain a countdown ”Days Left to Go Home”. The food served in the mess is delicious, they get caramel custard, eggs to order etc yet going to the mess is a bit painful! We Vitians can stay in our pajamas and roam around the campus whereas in NDA you need to dress up in uniforms to walk around the campus and in the mess a proper dinner etiquette is followed.

The Second Chapter: Unity and Hardships

In the army they show their allegiance to their paltan. They don’t care about the name on their chest,which is their own name, they care about the name on their shoulder which is their paltan name. We all complain about this caste has more reservation, they have extra benefits and all but in armed forces we don’t have mandir, masjid we have Sarv Dharm Sthal where all the religions are at one place.

The life of an army personnel is toughest as they go through their postings in the icy heights of Siachen , Jungles of North east, deserts of Rajasthan and low intensity conflicts of Kashmir each having their own share of hardships and tough life. The airforce also has similar postings while the Navy has their own fight sailing with the stormy seas . The life of a service person cannot be appreciated by persons trapped in their Air conditioned rooms performing jobs at their desks. Who can appreciate life at siachen where summer temperatures are minus 10 deg and winter at minus 50 degrees Celsius. It is said that the babus of defence ministry were sitting on files related to procurement of equipment for soldiers operating in snow bound areas. The then Defence minister (A rare breed amongst politicians) ordered the MoD babus to visit the forward areas & within 24 hrs after their return they processed the requisite files for procurement of equipment.

Each service has their own rigours which can be termed as Occupational Hazards. Sailing on a cruise ship or a luxury liner is entirely different from operating on a Warship. The naval personnel are supposed to gain at the earliest their “Sea legs” – ability to move around the ship in rough seas. Life on board ship depends on Sea State (on a scale of 1 to 5) estimated from “sea horses” –the white froth of the waves. Higher the sea state , lower the health and morale of sailors because of “sea sickness” which induces vomiting. During this time only item on a la carte menu is khichdi with lemon pickle . I understand some air force officers taking a ride on the ship preferred their G sickness over being sea sick.

The armed forces have covered themselves in glory during the various wars after independence. Their skill , dedication and devotion to duty have been amply displayed during natural disasters when called upon to assist civil administration.

The Third and Final Chapter: Families

We the family members are mentally prepared for everything. You all saw the URI movie, where the daughter instead of crying and weeping she shouted the war cry! That scene literally gives goosebumps and that happened in real life too. The transfers actually affect us, we shift from one place to another in every 2-3 years, we get transferred to one place and start adjusting and by the time we start getting comfortable there is another transfer, because of this we call ourselves BRATS-Born Raised and Transferred. I think for majority of Fauji Brats, their engineering phase is only place where we reside for 4 years straight.

The recent skirmishes at the Galwan Valley showcased the bravery of the Indian Army, where 20 of our bravehearts were martyred. The CO of 16 Bihar Regiment Col Santosh Babu led the troop in the most gallant way!

Soldiers don’t fight with weapons, they fight with a high morale. Soldiers don’t go to a war because they hate the enemy on the front, they go to a war because they love their countrymen at the back

The Other Side of Kashmir Insurgency

What are your instant thoughts when you hear the term “Kashmir Insurgency”? A lot of people would think of how the entire region has been militarised and the state looks like a ‘prison’. They talk about human rights violations of the innocent Kashmiri populace. Ever since its inception in 1958, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act has always been under fire. The Army has been consistently blamed for allegedly perpetrating violence against civilians by using excessive force while enjoying immunity.

Before judging what happens in the valley and why it happens, it is important to make peace with the fact that we may talk about ultimately bringing normalcy in Kashmir, but as of now, it is not an ordinary state. And therefore, extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures.

It is extremely important to understand the Act and the context that it was decreed in. Pseudonationalists and the so-called woke, fake liberals of the country usually portray India as an expansionist country, and the army as an occupational force that kills, rapes, and maims Kashmiris. What’s extremely hypocritical is that these people usually remain silent on stone-pelting, or the blasting of Army vehicles, or the unspeakable crimes committed by Naxals in the jungles of Central India.

Eradication of terrorism from Mizoram and Punjab is a testament to the fact that enforcing AFSPA has yielded brilliant results in the past. It is an undeniable fact that the Indian Judiciary is extremely slow. In a place which is marred by the presence of hundreds of anti-national elements, it becomes important to employ a method which delivers justice quickly.

A lot of people protested against the lockdown that was imposed after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A. The entire Kashmiri populace was presented as innocent people who were being terrorised by a ruthless State. It is important to remember that major sections of this innocent population protested against the killing of Burhan Wani, calling him a martyr. He was a terrorist who was caught on camera brandishing weapons and reiterating his belief in Ghazwa-e-Hind (the ultimate conquest of India by Islam). What’s more upsetting is that local leaders like Mehbooba Mufti condemned his killing and sympathised with his family. There have also been instances where some local leaders have publicly supported the Separatists or Pakistani sympathisers. Therefore, it is clear that crowds get swayed easily by the local leaders who are hell-bent on getting “Azaadi” without even knowing what it means. Leaving such anti-national elements on the loose after the Abrogation of Article 370 would have certainly caused massive protests and unrest in the valley, leading to large scale violence.

It’s funny that the people who talk about human rights violations of separatists stay mum on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. 500,000 people evacuated overnight, leaving behind their jobs, money, homes, and their sense of belongingness. Technically, the history of Insurgency begins in 1989, but for most people, it begins in 1991 because it is very convenient to leave out this crucial detail of how lakhs of Hindus became refugees in their own country overnight. There is an absolute lack of conversation about violations of their rights. This is done to misinform people and advance their own selfish agendas.

The term “Azaadi” is an easy one to throw around in the valley. As far as I can interpret it, Azaadi from India can mean only two things – becoming an independent entity, or merging with Pakistan.

If you think logically, Kashmir is simply not capable of surviving on its own without any intervention. In the last 70 years, hundreds of thousands of crores have been spent in providing subsidised food, firewood, salts, pesticides for orchards, agricultural pursuits, and feeds for animals. Liberal loans for training in professional colleges outside the state are also provided, along with huge subsidies for the establishment of industrial units. In the country as a whole, 15% of people are homeless but in Kashmir, every family has a permanent house.

During 2000-2016, Jammu and Kashmir was given 10 percent of central grants, while its population constituted only 1% of the entire country. Therefore, it becomes important to ask if Kashmir will be able to survive on its own without any resources and the grants that it has been receiving from India.

The other option is Pakistan. Before some misguided youth talks about a merger with Pakistan, it is important to see the condition of Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. These two entities are living in absolute hell under the Pakistani regime. They are certainly not capable of providing subsidies or preferential treatment to the Kashmiris because of their ongoing economic crunch. Pakistan has repeatedly asked India to give Kashmiris the choice to determine their own destiny by invoking peoples’ right to “self-determination”. India actually agreed to hold a plebiscite as per the guidelines of the United Nations Security Council Resolution no. 47 of 1948. Quite hypocritically, the attempt was foiled by Pakistan not holding up their end of the bargain, which was to withdraw all troops from the valley and prevent the invasion of Pashtun Tribes in the region.

Everyone seems to be living in an ideal world where discussion and deliberation can solve everything. We haven’t yet received tangible results since the last 70 years of dialogue. Kashmir insurgency has claimed more than 30,000 lives. India never initiates violence but if such anti-national elements keep on causing mass unrest and perpetrating violence against civilians and the army, we should not hold back our punches either.

***This article is not from the right-wing, it’s from the Indic Wing***

REFERENCES:

Click to access A1958-28.pdf