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BOOKS
Men In Arms
A blow-by-blow account of war in the icy heights
By Maroof Raza
The Kargil conflict
will be remembered for at least three things in the years to come. First,
for being India's first televised war that brought into our living rooms
the guts and glory that makes soldiering more than just a job. Second,
it finally exposed the sheer incompetence of India's intelligence agencies
that failed to warn the nation of Pakistani intrusions for over six months.
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A RIDGE TOO FAR: WAR IN THE KARGIL HEIGHTS
1999
By Amarinder Singh
Bharat Rakshak
Price: Rs 995
Pages: 256
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Finally, for the fighting spirit, patriotism
and the dogged zeal of the Indian Army that evicted Pakistani intruders
from the jagged peaks and icy heights near Kargil. This book is the story
of those who fought and died in the finest tradition of our army.
Amarinder Singh, one time soldier, sometimes
a politician and also maharaja of Patiala, has written, once again, like
his earlier work Lest We Forget, a remarkable book on the 1999 Kargil
conflict. And it is yet another benchmark for military history publications.
The author clearly has a passion for military matters and has thus put
together a volume that has a historical background of the Kashmir dispute
in which the Kargil conflict had its roots, and a grandstand view of the
Indian response to this Pakistani initiative with maps that explain so
much to the uninitiated. But most importantly, the book carries a detailed
account of the 10 infantry battalions that fought at Kargil.
 India
has, since Independence, fought several wars and insurgencies. And while
the Indian Army has perhaps the highest ratio of officers to men killed
in battle (1:24) anywhere in the world, at Kargil this average dropped
to one officer killed for every 16 soldiers. And at numerous landmarks,
this figure dropped further to an incredible 1:7 and then eventually even
lower. What more can a country ask from its soldiers, but to die unquestioningly,
sometimes even to shield blundering politicians. Ironically, the author
is a soldier-turned-politician. But it is clear where his loyalty lies-with
India and its army. The book is a salute to the quiet resolve of the Indian
soldier and must be read by those who are proud to be Indians. Appendices
are in abundance and so are the minute details that will make this book
a collector's item for libraries, military offices and India's growing
generation of military buffs.
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