India-Pakistan Border-II

1983-84     

 (LINE OF CONTROL on India-Pakistan Border)

This is a continuation to the conversation set between me (S.G) and my nanu (grandfather),a former brigadier, (Y.R).This initiative was taken so that people know about the incidents that have taken place in the army unfiltered by the media.RAW.

Tuesday,June 2020

        

(S.G)- 

      Good afternoon nanu!

(Y.R)-

      Good afternoon Shoku. Now I would continue the story. 

        

PEER BABA

(Y.R)-

     In our Paltan’s area of responsibility in KAIYAN Bowl, there was a MAZAAR ( the grave) of a Muslim Saint/ Religious person which used to be referred to as PEER BABA. The Pakistanis used to worship at that MAZAAR on every Thursday evening, when that area was with them before December 1971. Since we had pushed them away from that area during war, the MAZAAR came under Indian control. As you know, we the Indians respect all religions, unlike Pakistanis ( who do not respect any religion other than their own Islam) , we used to maintain that MAZAAR. It was so sacred to the Pakistanis that on Thursday evenings their Army men( who were deployed opposite us at a distance of just 100 metres- ( in Army parlance such deployments of opposing Armies are called EYE BALL TO EYE BALL CONFRONTATIONS) used to face towards the EAST to pray to that PEER BABA ( normally all Muslims of Asia face towards the WEST while praying because their holiest religious place , The Mecca is located in Saudi Arabia which is to our West. These Pakistani Army men used to revere this PEER BABA so much.

Since Pakistanis & us were separated by just about 100 metres only, we could see some activities of each other during day time. We also used to taunt & abuse each other. They told us the reason for facing towards East / PEER BABA during one such chat.

(Y.R)-

     6 GUARDS PALTAN comprises South Indian troops. The older ones generally address their younger ones as THAMBIES (which in Tamil language  means younger brother) & the younger ones address their elders as SARA (which actually is SIR). They are not religious fanatics but in Leepa Valley they all became God fearing because of the gloomy & frightening environment of that place. The only outsiders in the unit were the local laborers(all Muslims) & their ponies. There was no  market, nobody could wear civvies (normal civil clothes) & there were no sources of entertainment- no TVs (because we were surrounded by high mountains, the TVs could not catch any Indian or Pakistani channels. Yes, at times, some transistors at some right spots used to catch the Pakistan Radio stations. We used to enjoy their dramas / plays & songs. 

Because of such environment, even the not-so-religious THAMBIES generally became very very God fearing. All the POSTS (we had approximately 20 Posts over a frontage of 10 Kilometers) had their own small small Mandirs & all the trenches & bunkers had photos of Gods & Goddesses, instead of the photos of South Indian cinema stars (which used to adorn their dormitories in Dehradun). All of us became so God fearing that on all Tuesdays & Thursdays, none of the 1000 persons took any non- vegetarian foods nor any alcoholic drinks. In the  early mornings of these  two week days, the cooks in all the LANGARS (cook houses) used to have bath  before cooking the breakfast for the men, visit their local makeshift Mandirs , offer PRASAADAM to PEER BABA before starting their daily duties.

Wednesday,June 2020

(S.G)- 

     Good afternoon nanu

(Y.R)-

     Another day ; another Good After Noon, Shoku? Okay, here is the next installment .

ATMA-1 & ATMA-2 

(Y.R)-

     As I have already told you, our PALTAN was facing the Pakistanis over a frontage of approximately 10 kilometres, with almost 20 POSTS ( POST is a piece of ground occupied by the Army tactically, i.e. their trenches/ bunkers/weapons are sited in a manner so that it can take care of the enemy’s sudden or deliberate attack from any direction at any time of the day or night. Their logistical & administrative elements are also located within the area of each POST. 

Our highest Post was at a height of 14000 feet, it was at one end of the entire area & was occupied by 10 soldiers. It’s name was ATMA-1. Just short of it was another Post called ATMA-2. Though the  distance between these Posts was just about 500 metres but the going was extremely tough. Both theses Posts were occupying their areas along a very narrow Spine-like ridge line of the mountain whose width was just about 2-3 metres. From those two posts as well from the ridge connecting them, we could clearly see most of the activities of Pakistanis, like basking in the sun shine, eating their lunch, having their evening tea etc since we were on higher ground. We sometimes used to taunt them that we could kill them by merely rolling down some boulders from our Post & without firing a shot. The going from ATMA-2 to ATMA-1 used to become extremely slippery & risky during winters as chances of slipping of our men, while negotiating this snow-covered route, were very high. Therefore, we used to move in groups of 4-5 men, with a rope tied  to their waists, so that even if an odd man slipped, he would not go down the hill either in the Pakistani territory or into our own rear area where there were very steep slopes & in both cases there were no chances of survival if someone slipped. Because of these circumstances, it used to take almost one hour to travel that distance of 500 metres.

Let me tell you something very unique about this ATMA-1 Post. We did not want the identity of our PALTAN to be known to the Pakistanis. Similarly, they also hid their identity from us. But, we could make out, from the colour of their skins, facial features, heights & language whether they were Punjabis, Pathans, Pashtuns or Sindhis. I am sure, they must also be doing the same to identify our troops by our languages/speech, physical stature & so on. But, we used to try our best to hide our uni’s identity from our enemies.  We even went to the extent of obliterating the names of all those 10 persons & the name of our PALTAN from their private letters so that even if the carrier of such letters ( which used to be a local

shepherds’ dog) fell off the ridge line/ cliff, the Pakistanis would not know our unit’s identity. We had made two lists of those 10 men & given a serial number to each one. One copy of the list used to be at ATMA-1 & the second copy was kept at ATMA-2. On top of each person’s private letters, after obliterating their names, their serial number used to be written at ATMA-2.

We had a local dog at ATMA-2, which we had inherited from the previous PALTAN, whom we had replaced. We had made a small bag in which we used to put all the letters, some newspapers/ magazines etc. & some sweets/ eatables for the men of ATMA-1, tie that bag around the dog’s neck, feed him with a tin full of Keema at ATMA-2 & used to direct him towards ATMA-1. From the side of ATMA-1, the men used to call that dog by name & slowly but surely in about 30 minutes he used to reach there. Of course, before sending the dog, ATMA-2 used to inform ATMA-1 on our telephonic network about it. Persons at ATMA-1 used to keep their private letters ready & , on the arrival of the dog, they used to take out their letters, newspapers & magazines etc. from the bag & used to put their letters in it & send the dog back. On arrival at STMA-2, the dog used to get another tin of Keema as incentive.

(S.G)-

     That's a nice incentive

                                           

                                                                                                         TO BE CONTINUED. ..

(P.S - Thank-you for the reading the articles, and the positive feedback, for the people who asked about the letters from the previous blog, they are there but they're in Delhi. So i'll put them up asap

Also,I cannot reach out to all the readers out there and update everyone, so if we aren't in contact directly do follow or keep a regular check on the site for the further updates)