India-Pakistan border-IX

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)

THE NULLAHS

Wednesday,June 2020

Y.R-

    By now, it was the month of April 1984 & the winter had started to recede. There, the snowfall starts to get converted into rain during that time, thus slowly washing down the accumulated snow towards the Nullahs & rivers. In fact , during the snowfall season, the snow gets accumulated everywhere & if not removed from the tracks or from the roof of Bunkers then, with passage of time & due to chilly winds blowing almost all the time, the snow becomes ice which is very hard to break & is very slippery. Also, if the snow is not removed from the roof tops if the Bunkers, the Bunkers can cave-in due to heavy weight of the snow.

Y.R-

    You would be surprised to know that when the snow melts, the grass which had been covered by the snow for almost six months starting from October onwards, looks very soothing to the eyes. The local BAKARWALS, who start migrating from the plains to the hills at that time, find lots of vegetation some of which is eaten by their sheeps & goats & some of it is used by them to make vegetables for themselves.

With the onset of the rains in April, the ground became very slushy & slippery. Moving from one place to other took longer time than what it used to take in winters. I realised this during my monthly visit to all the POSTS in that month. Also, our enemies; the Pakistanis opposite us, started becoming slightly active. While during the winter they used to be fairly inactive; they now started coming out in the open from their Bunkers & could be seen removing snow from the roofs of their Bunkers too. Therefore, now was the time to be more vigilant & careful lest they created any problems for us. We too became more active & reoccupied all those Forward positions which we had vacated during the winter. You see, some of our Forward positions were in such close proximity of the Pakistanis that it was not possible to construct Bunkers there. We did try to make a few Bunkers for our Forward elements before the onset of winter so that they could continue to stay there during the winter too, but the Pakistanis objected to it & told our Forward Posts that if we dug / made new Bunkers in the NO MAN’s LAND ( the land / area which lay between our forward most trenches & their forward most trenches, was referred to by this name), then they too would do the same on their side; something we could not allow. It was these Forward elements; who could stay there during non-winter days but not in winters. In winters to stay there, proper Bunkers with BUKHAREES were necessary. It was because of this reason that we used to pull back our Forward elements by about 400-500 metres behind in winters & used to re-establish them again during April/ May. Pakistanis also used to do the same.

SIX MONTHS

Thursday,June 2020

Y.R-

    By the end of April, our winter-stocking of six months, which we had done during the summer of 1983, was getting exhausted. We were by then left with rations etc only for the next 2-3 weeks & , therefore, it was becoming necessary to start bringing in additional rations & other logistical support into Lipa Valley from the REAR AREA. Our higher Headquarters too were conscious of this need of ours & had already started planning for it in March itself. Thus, from the beginning of May, by which time we had completely cleared all the mule tracks starting from TUTMARI GALI PASS   to KAIYAN BOWL, as well as within our PALTAN Area; the supply of fresh vegetables, meat, rice, Atta, Dals( pulses) etc started coming in vehicles upto TUTMARI GALI & by ponies & porters into KAIYAN BOWL. During the entire winter of almost six months ( from mid- October 1983 to mid-April 1984), we had survived mainly on tinned rations, potatos & onions & were now eagerly looking forward to the arrival of some fresh items of food.

On 07 May 1984, the first lot of ponies & porters came in with fresh rations for about a week. Our QUARTER MASTER ( Captain Ronnie Sahi- who retired as a LIEUTENANT GENERAL later) who was handling all the logistics very diligently & meticulously, ensured that all the POSTS got their one week’s fresh rations on the first day itself. It was a day of great joy for all of us & all the LANGARS ( cook houses) cooked fresh vegetables/ meat dishes on that day. These supplies continued thereafter on regular basis & , apart from eating fresh rations daily, we also started stocking the hard varieties of rations for the next few days. 

Y.R-

    For this supply & stocking; we had divided all the ponies & porters ( about 40-45 of each category) into two lots. About half of them, who used to start from TUTMARI GALI early in the morning & used to reach my Headquarter in about 3-4 hours, used to be sent to various POSTS. In the meantime, the second half of the ponies & porters with their loads, used to start from TUTMARI GALI between 10 & 11 AM, used to reach the Headquarter in about three hours, unload their loads there & used to return to their Base beyond TURMARI GALI in the afternoon. In the meantime, the ponies & porters who had gone to POSTS in the forenoon, used to return to Headquarter by evening & rest there for the night( near the MAZAR of PEER BABA, where a few huts had been constructed for them).These ponies & porters then used to go back to TUTMARI GALI next morning, get loaded & return to headquarter by same evening, rest there for the night & carry their loads to forward POSTS in the morning.At the same time, i.e. in the forenoon, the ponies & porters who were already at TUTMARI GALI,  used to take the rations directly to the POSTS , return to Headquarter by evening & rest there for the night. Thus, every night half of the ponies & porters used to spend the night near TUTMARI GALI & the other half near our Headquater. This process used to continue till mid- October.

Y.R-

   During my monthly visits in May 1984, I noticed that the snow had been partially washed away by rain & partially cleared by the Jawans from their respective localities, they had shed their heavy winter clothings & had started having baths almost every day; the BUKHARRES  were no longer needed to be lit during day time, they were eating fresh rations & had started playing outdoor games like Volley Ball & Foot Ball in the afternoons. Going from the Valley to the REAR AREA  & coming back had become easier, due to melting of the snow & , therefore, requests for leave had increased ( during snowfall, not many Jawans wanted to go over or come back over TUTMARI GALI). Basically, every body in the PALTAN looked happier & healthier than before. This kind of good physical & mental state generally prevails in almost all the high altitude areas during the summer season ( from April to October).

On the other hand, because of good weather & the movement of troops becoming easier as compared to winter months; the possibilities of the Pakistanis creating some mischief had also increased. Thus, while the requests for leave by Jawans had increased, as stated earlier too; the need to have larger / greater strength’s presence in the PALTAN had also increased.

Y.R-

    As I have already told you, it was a normal thing to have 40 to 50 ponies & 25 to 30 porters spending the nights in the Headquarter area during the months of May to October. They used to do their own cooking & used to stay in the 2-3 Huts which had been given to them. Most of the porters used to visit the MAZAR of PEER BABA every day, either in the morning or in the evening. Apart from our own Jawans, these porters too used to offer CHAADARS &/or cash donations to PEER BABA, occasionally. One day, the person( one of our own  Jawans) who used to look after the MAZAAR, was shocked to find  some cash missing from the Donation Box ( a small wooden box) one morning, a thing that had not happened ever before. After making a thorough search of the MAZAAR area & not having found the missing cash, he reported this SERIOUS happening to the Subedar Major, who suspected that it had to be the handiwork of one of the porters  & not our Jawans. However, by now all the porters had, along with their ponies, had left for their respective destinations for the day & only about half of them would return in the evening. Of course, it was not difficult to find out out as to who all had spent the last night in the Headquarter’s location & the search for each one of them began. Telephonic & verbal messages were sent to our own POSTS as well as to TUTMARI GALI’s  dump yard, to ensure that all those porters ( their names had been given to the POST / Yard commanders) were sent back to the Headquarter by that evening.

In the evening, after all the porters had assembled near PEER BABA’s MAZAAR, the Subedar Major spoke to them in a stern tone, told them why they had been called there, warned them that, as per his assessment, the suspected thief was bound to be one of them & they themselves would have to find the culprit ; & if they did not do so then all of them shall be BLACK LISTED ( which meant that they would not be able get any job anywhere ). 

Y.R-

    After that, all the porters went into a huddle, discussed the matter & requested the Subedar Major to leave them alone for about half an hour & assured him that they would either find the culprit or would collectively reimburse the lost amount to PEER BABA’s MAZAAR. The Subedar Major told them that the second option ( of collectively returning the lost amount to the MAZAAR ) was not acceptable to him; & that they MUST find the culprit & then he shall deal with him legally. The Subedar Major then left them there, instructing the senior most porter to let him know their findings in the next one hour.

Y.R-

    After about 45 minutes, the senior most/ oldest porter came to the Subedar Major & informed him that they had been able to not only find the thief/ culprit but had been able to even recover the entire money from him. He then gave the money to the Subedar Major. Incidentally, though they had been told that some money had been stolen but had not been told the exact amount. Of course, the Subedar Major knew the exact amount which had been stolen. When he counted the money, he found the amount tallied with the lost amount. Thus, it was established that they had actually found the culprit & had not collectively contributed money to make up the loss. Then, the actual thief was produced before the Subedar Major. On seeing him, not only the Subedar Major but even the Jawan who used to take care of NAZAAR, were surprised because the thief was the one who used to share the caretaker’s duty with the Jawan & everyone used to trust him. When questioned as to why did he betray the trust that everybody had in him; his plain & straight answer was that he needed the money urgently for some important requirement at his home. When asked that, instead of stealing the money, he could have borrowed it for a few days,  his answer was that he thought he would never be caught, because of the fact that he enjoyed everyone’s trust.

Y.R-

    Considering his poor domestic condition, we never reported the matter to the Police but just dismissed him from our employment. He was warned that he should never ever try to indulge in such acts in future & never even think of coming back to Lipa Valley.