India-Pakistan border - IV

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

Saturday, June 2020

THE NEXT POST 

Y.R-

    In a PALTAN, a C.O.  is always protected by about 10 soldiers. They generally always accompany him whenever he moves out of his Headquarter & protect him from any personal harm or danger. These 10 soldiers are specially selected for this purpose. In addition to them, there are at least another 10 to 15 officers/ JCOs / soldiers who accompany him but keep changing, depending on the area being visited or the subject to be discussed. 

On the first day of my tour, I & my party, of approximately 15 people in all; started fairly early in the morning, after early breakfast, from my Headquarter so that I could go to the maximum number of POSTS & interact with as many soldiers as possible. Although, ponies were arranged by the Q.M. for me & a few others but I decided to go on foot. Therefore, everyone else also walked with me & nobody used the ponies (which were thereafter returned to the owner). All of us were walking on a narrow track where not more than 2 men could walk alongside. After walking along a stiff climb, we reached our first POST on our way, which was approximately 1.5 kms, in about one hour. That POST was manned by a young officer( who had about 2 years of service) , one J.C.O. &  approximately 20 soldiers. There, I was briefed about whatever activities of Pakistani Armymen they could see, our own POST’s deployment to counter any misadventure in the enemy, the logistical & administrative arrangements that had been made for these 22 personnel of ours & to what extent they had settled down in the new environment. I interacted with each one of them individually & collectively & found them quite cheerful & in fairly good physical & mental state. While chatting with each other, we all had our tea in Army enamel mugs with some quickly made pakoras. After spending half an hour with them, my party & I proceeded to the next POST, which was another one Km away. 

Again, the climb was steep & tough. We all were sweating profusely but did not halt till we reached our next POST in the next 1.5 hours. That was a bigger POST which was manned by approximately 40 to 45 men under the command of a Company Commander (a MAJOR). At this Post, we all had our tea & Pakoras after which I was briefed by the Company Commander on the similar lines as was done at the previous Post. Although, all of us were carrying our Haversack lunch (lunch which every soldier carried on his person & which is kept in a sack- a small bag which is called the Haversack, but the Company Commander insisted on providing hot lunch to all of us & thus we had lunch there & saved our Haversack lunch for the evening. After lunch, we  had a little rest & again started for the next POST, which was ATMA-2.

Y.R-

    We walked on a steep slope for about one hour & reached ATMA-2, covering a distance of one km. This POST was held by one J.C.O. & about 20 soldiers. The supplies & all other requirements of ATMA-1 POST used to be sent through this Post. Here again I was briefed about the ground situation, I went around the POST, met everyone & interacted with all of them individually as well as collectively, had tea with them & started for the final lap of our journey, heading towards ATMA-1 POST. This post was the highest POST of our PALTAN ( was located at 14,000 feet), it used to be covered with clouds most of the time & with chilly winds blowing at high speeds. Though the distance from ATMA-2 to ATMA-1 was only 500 meters but the climb was so steep, the track so narrow & covered with snow ; it took us one full hour to reach there. Incidentally our “doggy friend“ was also accompanying us on this patch of our journey. By the time we reached there, we had covered a distance of 4.5 kms , had walked for about for about 5 hours & were fairly tired. 

ATMA-1 POST was located on the top of a hill,  it had just about enough space to accommodate fighting & sleeping bunkers  and some area for their FTLs( Field Trench Latrines)/ bathing etc, for those 10 men who were manning it. With the arrival of 5 more persons of our party ( I had left behind the rest of my entourage at ATMA-2 POST, knowing the constraints of accommodation & space at ATMA-1. Out of 10 soldiers located there, two used to be on the SENTRY DUTY, manning the FIGHTING BUNKER with Machine Guns 24X7 & one N.C.O. ( Non Commissioned Officer) a NAIK or a CORPORAL with two stripes; thus taking care of 3 persons. The remaining 7 persons used to remain inside the Sleeping / Resting Bunker.

Y.R-

    Thus, there was space to accommodate 3 additional persons there, if it became necessary. I asked the POST COMMANDER , a HAVILDAR with three stripes; if my party of five could spend the night with them, to see how they live, how they man the Fighting bunkers, what was his plan to fight the Pakistanis if they were attacked & so on. He was a very tall, well built man with typical South Indian style of mustachios ; with good Military bearing/ appearance & used to be part of our Paltan’s Kabaddi Team at Dehradun. During our stay at Dehradun, our Kabaddi Team has won many Inter PALTAN Kabaddi Matches/ competitions & I had the occasion to interact with man, Havildar Ganesan, many times. He was, thus, quite frank & straight in talking to me without any hesitation. He told me that he & his men were very happy & felt honoured when they learnt that I & a few others were coming to  their POST on the very first day of my tour. He further said that their happiness was doubled when I showed my keenness to spend the night with them. He very happily welcomed the idea of our night stay with them but, very reluctantly, said that his POST’s resources were very limited & were not enough to look after his C.O. I told him not to worry too much about looking after us & assured him that all 5 of us would manage to sleep / rest in the space of 3 persons, who would be on FIGHTING BUNKER duty. While I was interacting with them, one man from my party made some tea & laid out the goodies which we had carried for them. These goodies included some sweets, Vadas, other South Indian snacks, Rum bottles & some woolen clothings for all of them.

Y.R-

    Everyone in the PALTAN was quite surprised that the C.O. Saheb had decided to spend the night at ATMA-1 POST. A few officers, including our R.M.O., rang me up there, advising me to come down to any other Post at lower height because it was medically unsafe to go from 12000 to 14000 without acclimatization (acclimatization involves going from lower heights to higher heights in stages & not in one go, as that can cause serious heart problems). But, since I had already reached ATMA-1 & had expressed my desire to spend the night there, I could not have gone back on it.

Out of 4 persons accompanying me were (a) the Company Commander (a MAJOR) of the Company of which ATMA-1 was part ( b) the Subedar Major of The PALTAN- the Subedar Major is the senior most rank a Jawan can achieve in his entire service career & there is only one Subedar Major in a PALTAN. He is the most experienced person in a unit & is a trusted & confidential advisor to the C.O. on all matters of The PALTAN. He accompanies the C.O. almost everywhere & is generally referred to as the shadow of the C.O. In our PALTAN everyone used to refer to me & him as RAMA & LAXAMANA.)  & two Jawans, who were part of my Protection Squad. I called everyone of ATMA-1 Post for tea/snacks/ sweets & asked these two toughies to man the Fighting Bunker’s machine gun while those who were doing so before reached were invited for tea. During this tea party, we were 13 of us( 10 Jawans of the Post, the Subedar Major, the Company Commander & me.) I had very frank & free discussion with them regarding the needs of that Post & I was pleasantly surprised to find that almost all their needs had already been met by the concerned officers. However, I still instructed the Q.M., through Field Telephone, to send some extra rations of sugar, tea leaves, Atta, rice & kerosene oil to that Post so that they could have their tea & snacks more often & keep themselves warm by using the BUKHARI,  which was fired by kerosine, for longer periods. These were done on the next day itself.

Y.R-

    Let me tell you something about this wonderful gadget called BUKHARI. You see, at high altitudes above 9000 feet & above; it is so cold that one cannot survive with just warm/ woollen clothes. Additional heat is needed to prevent cold related sicknesses & ailments like frost bites, pulmonary o edema, pneumonia, heart attacks etc. Some kind of fire has to be fire has to be lit inside the bunkers to keep not only the men but the arms & weapons also warm. Don’t be surprised after reading that even rifles, machine guns & other such weapons also need to be warmed. The steel of all these weapons becomes so cold at these altitudes that if a soldier touches his weapon without either keeping the bunker warm or without wearing snow gloves, his skin which comes in contact with the steel gets burnt. 

To warm up the bunkers, either fire wood is required (which is extremely costly), it’s carriage & trasportation is also very costly & lots of trees have to be felled to get the fire wood. That’s why it’s use is almost prohibited in our country. The other options is use of coal but even that is quite cumbersome & costly to transport on mules/ ponies. It is for this reason that the most popular fuel for warming purposes in hilly areas is kerosene; the cheapest of all these options. To use a BUKHARI, a tin full of kerosene is attached to the BUKARI with a pipe from where the oil keeps dripping into the BUKHARI after it is fired & keeps burning for as long as the oil is fed into it. An iron pipe from the BUKHARI goes outside the bunker through which the smoke goes out & there is no smell inside the bunker.

Sunday,June 2020

Y.R-

    That night we hardly slept. Most of us, except those on sentry duty by rotation, in the Fighting Bunker( two sentries at one time, for a duration of two hours. They are relived by another pair of sentries after two hours & this process continues 24x7. This is done by 6 Jawans & 3 commanders ( N.C.Os.) wherein every man does sentry duty for 2 hours & then gets rest for 4 hours- kept talking, some of them sang some South Indian as well as Hindi songs from Bollywood movies ( THAMBIES are very fond of Hindi movies), we played ANTAKSHARI & each one told his own life’s story to others. In between we kept having tea, rum, Pakodas & snacks ( ome of which we had carried for them from my Headquarter). They prepared a meal of rice & Sambar & we gave our Haversack lunch to supplement their effort. They also opened two cans each of meat & mango fruit to make the meal wholesome. In this process, we all got to know each other like friends & didn’t realize how the time slipped by. In a little while it was morning, though the sunshine was not visible due to clouds; & we decided to start back for ATMA-2, after a hot cup of tea. 

Coming down a steep hilly slope is more dangerous than climbing it because there are chances of slipping & rolling down into the deep gorges. The doggy friend was leading us & we reached ATMA-2 safely in about 45 minutes. We did not halt at ATMA-2, bid good bye to “B” Company Commander & carried on walking towards the second Company( A Company). The Company that we visited on the previous day was “B” Company. After walking for another hour or so we reached the Company Headquarter of “A” Compamy, in the area called Three Pimples ( there were three small hillocks in that area & thus the area was named as such. There, we all had our ablutions, wash/ bath & breakfast, after which we rested till lunch time. After lunch, I went around the Company area, was briefed by the Company Commander & we discussed various possibilities or probabilities of how the Pakistanis could attack our position  & how we could / should defend our positions. We also discussed their problems, needs of additional resources, the physical & emotional state of soldiers  & administrative/ logistical aspects. We spent almost four hours there & by the time we finished our discussion, it was almost evening time. We, therefore, spent that night there itself.

Major J T Palamattam

Y.R-

    Let me tell you something about this Company Commander, Major J T Palamattam. He is a National level player of HAND BALL Game. (to explain the game of Hand Ball in a lay man’s language; it is a game where the ball, which is neither like a Football nor like a Basketball nor like a Rugby Ball but is slightly different from all of them. As the name suggests, this game is played by throwing/ passing the ball towards own team mate & the points are scored by throwing the ball into a goal post which looks like a Hockey goal post but is slightly smaller in size). He is the one who introduced this game to the Indian Army, 6 GUARDS’ Handball team always wins Services Handball Tournaments every year due to his training, He is not only the Captain of Services Handball Team but is also the Captain of Indian Handball Team. He has won 4 International Gold Medals & 44 Gold medals in domestic tournaments. ( Now, after having retired as a COLONEL, he runs his own Handball Academy in his home town in Kerala State.

I really enjoyed chatting with him & the Jawans of his Company, found their spirits / morale high , took note of their needs & spent a restful night there.  Next morning, after breakfast, we left for the next location/ POST which was named as LEDGE POST. That was about one km away & it took us about 30 minutes to reach there. It took us less time to reach there because now we were going down the slope & not climbing. This POST was commanded by a Captain & had one J.C.O.  & about 20-25 Jawans. This was an important POST which provided link between two Companies. As usual, I was briefed by the POST COMMANDER about his operational deployment, the threats which he expected from Pakistanis, his plans to counter/ foil their attempts, their needs of additional resources , the physical & emotional state of the Jawans & so on. By the time we finished our interaction, it was lunch time. We all had lunch there & thereafter proceeded for the next location, which was “C” Company & was about 2 kms away. We covered that distance in about 1.5 hours because the going was downhill & very steep. If not careful, one could slip & go down into the deep mullah. By about tea time, we reached “C” Company-locality, where I was received by the Company Commander- a 6 feet tall, excellent Badketball player & an overall very good sportsman. I found him quite cheerful & self-confidant. 

This post was known as MANZIL POST & was closest to the opposing Pakistani Post. The gap / distance our POST & the Pakistani Pist was just about 50 metres & from there we could observe almost all their daily / routine activities during day. Here, the troops on both sides could hear each others’ shouts &, thus, it was here that they used to exchange taunts as well as abuses. At that time, our opponents were BALUCHI troops., which we could make out from their physical features & voices. ( perhaps, you may be aware that in Pakistan, there are four provinces namely PUNJAB, SIND, BALUCHISTAN & PAKHTOON KHWA, apart from Pakistani Occupied Kashmir-P.O.K.- which is supposed to be an independent State with its own Constitution, President & Prime Minister. It is directly controlled by the Pakistani President from their capital of Islamabad. Incidentally, it was at this POST where they used to face towards EAST( towards PIR BABA’s MAZAAR) instead of facing towards MECCA in the WEST- about which I have narrated before. Since this was the closest Pakistani Post to our MANZIL POST, I wanted to    spend a lot of time there to observe things for myself during day as well as during night. This POST was commanded by a MAJOR & had approximately 80 to 90 Jawans. After seeing things for myself, we discussed other general things like the physical & emotional state of his troops,  what were their additional needs of resources & so on. I spent the night at this POST & interacted with almost all the J.C.Os. & Jawans. Next morning, after breakfast, we departed from there & arrived back at my Headquarter by lunch time. 

After receiving me, the Company Commander briefed me about his Company’s deployment, possible/ probable Pakistani plans to attack us & his plan to counter the enemy. He briefed me from inside a FIGHTING BUNKER because we could not take the risk of standing in the open where the Pakistanis could easily fire at us. During my briefing, I observed that both our sentries manning the Machine Guns had the pictures of their Gods/ Godesses in their bunker instead of having the pictures of South Indian movie stars. They had become so religious by now, due to fear of the unknown. It was a common saying/ joke in our PALTAN that the THAMBIES had become so much more religious since they were so much closer to the Gods/ Goddesses due to the height of our POSTS.

I spent lot of time in our FIGHTING BUNKERS during day as well as during night.

To be Continued...