Captain Saurabh Kalia; The First Hero of Kargil War who didn’t break even under inhuman torture
| 15-May-2023 |
Capt Saurabh Kalia, born on 29 June 1976 in Himachal Pradesh’s Palampur, was only 22 years old when he was captured by the Pakistani Army in May 1999 that marked the start of the Kargil War. He became the first martyr of the Kargil war.
Captain Kalia was commissioned into the army in December 1998 and posted with the 4 Jat regiment in Kargil in the middle of January 1999. In the first fortnight of May 1999, he went out for patrol duty three times in Kaksar area of Kargil and gave information about the large scale intrusion of the Pakistani army in the area.
Kalia volunteered himself to go to `Bajrang Post’ at the height of 13000-14000 ft along with five soldiers of the 4 JAT Regiment in the Kaksar area to check for infiltration.
Capt Kalia along with five jawans were one of the first ones to take on the Pakistani Army intruders. After continuous crossfire with Pakistani armed forces from across the LoC, Capt Kalia and his team ran out of ammunition. They reported this matter to the base camp and called for reinforcements. However, before the troops could arrive, they were encircled by a platoon of Pakistani rangers and captured alive in Kargil’s Kaksar area.
Indian troops found no trace of the patrol party and launched a massive search operation to locate them.
The first news of disappearance of Saurabh Kalia and his team was broadcast on Askardu radio in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The bodies of Saurabh Kalia and team were handed over to India on June 9. On 10 June, the very next day, the story about Pakistan’s barbarism broke out.
After 22 days in captivity, the bodies of the young army officer and five sepoys -- Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh -- were returned to the Indian side and that started the ordeal of their families.
The Pakistani army indulged in the most heinous act of burning their bodies with cigarettes, their eardrums were pierced with hot iron rods, lips and noses cut off, eyes gouged and genitals cut off among other things. Their bodies were returned with signs of extreme brutality. The six men were finally shot at the end of their captivity.
This kind of barbarism had never been witnessed before in the history of armed conflicts between India and Pakistan. India expressed it’s outrage over the mutilation and disfigurement of six of it’s army men and termed it a "violation of International conventions”.
What was evident from their mutilated bodies that none of the soldiers of Saurabh Kalia’s team broke down during the interrogation despite being subjected to inhuman brutal torture which reflects their patriotism, grit and valour for which the whole nation is proud.