Tiger Hill, The Hill that Twisted Kargil War
Being very sure of the fact that you all must be aware of the great Tiger Hill which was the turning point of the Kargil war that was fought between India and Pakistan. This place is of strategic importance as it comes under the Kargil sector of Jammu & Kashmir now Ladakh. In this sector this is the highest peak which as captured the most significant objective of the Indian forces at the time of War of Kargil.
When we planned for visiting Tiger Hill I was pretty excited to visit the place which was the turning point of the Kargil war where thousands of soldiers lost their lives to capture the Tiger Hill. As it was a place of strategic importance, and it being on the height was with the Pakistani forces, taking the advantage of this height they could easily watch the moves of the Indian forces. From here the Srinagar-Leh Highway was also visible and this was the major route of supply of the Kargil sector, so it was very important to take over this hill as if the Pakistanis would remain on the hills then they would easily locate the Indians location any time.
During the battle was on the information that was with me was not enough so wanted to know more about the war, I was going through the net so could find videos on Tiger Hill, watching the videos I was shocked, that the war was fought on such a great extent looking on through television sets does not give an idea about what was actually happening but through these videos and the articles on the net made a perfect picture in my mind about the courage, suffering and achievement of the soldiers.
The Indian army began its shelling on the Tiger Hill to force the enemies to bring them on their knees, in the mean time 8 Sikh Regiments, 2 Naga and 18 Grenadiers were all ready to counter attack on the Hill. you all must have watched the movie ‘Lakshya’ where in seven to eight soldiers were engaged in the task of climbing the steep slope which was very dangerous and on the other side the Indian army was shelling them from the other side so that the enemies couldn’t come to know that they can climb from a steep slope, this was a surprise gift planned by the Indian army for the enemies. This was a 36 hours operation, reading all this brought goosebumps on my body. Though it was making me proud to be an Indian at the same time I was just trying to analyze the sufferings the army faced will doing all this, it truly well said that your soldiers are our real heroes. Finally when I was on the destinations standing down the Tiger Hill all that I read was just revolving and when I was that steep slope on the Tiger Hill I was very shocked that only people with sure determination for their mother land can do this, soldiers actually have a brave heart, I think here brave was a very small word used for the great souls.
Jammu & Kashmir is the place which is called heaven on earth, I feel rather than only concentrating on the natural beauty of the place like Dal Lake, Sonamarg Hill, Gulmarg and many more one should also try visiting Tiger Hill.
