This book is the first of the series by the same title (but different sub-titles) that aims to bring to fore certain anecdotes and experiences as narrated by those who were there and who witnessed such events unfolding in front of their own eyes during Indo-Pak War 1971. That is the closest one can get to the truth of a battlefield engagement. Have we been able to achieve 100% accuracy? We can’t say! But we are sanguine that all such accounts are as close to the truth as possible. The contributors, all in senior age brackets by now, are free from the limitations that get imposed both by the service regulations and impact of events that may have happened in the recent past. They are well beyond such inducements. This book is the first one in the series of four books on the stories from 1971 war.
This is not a book but just a collection of articles written over several years. It may also seem strange that a Pongo is writing about the Navy. Though we have started moving towards Theaterisation, these writings have nothing to do with it; it’s just the continuation of the pre-NDA dream of joining the Navy.
Legacy of a Legend: MIG-21 in the Indian Air Force (Hardcover Coffee Table Book; INR 3999) is a unique coffee table book that was released during the farewell ceremony of the legendary aircraft of the Indian Air Force. Pictures were shot by the celebrity lensman, Capt Suresh Sharma.
This book, as a part of a series of literary works that, together cover the whole expanse of the 1947-48 conflict, focuses primarily on the Kishanganga (also referred to as Kishenganga) Valley (and Northern Kashmir as a stepping stone to the said vale). As the readers would know and realise, the bow-shaped river basin of Kishanganga (KG) River provided depth and a huge geographical cushion to the Kashmir Valley during those fateful days. If we were, hypothetically, to take out Kishanganga Valley from the map for a while, the vulnerability of Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region would stand out, needing no further aggrandizement. The KG valley with steep gorges, fast-flowing streams and the KG River, was a tough terrain to evict the well-entrenched enemy from, i.e., after the presence of such elements had been discovered or reported many months after the commencement of the conflict. Post recapture, the extended frontages that the defenders then had to hold against a numerically superior, well-supplied enemy, turned out to be a tactician’s nightmare. When we factor in the realities like lack of an air strip, lack of motorable roads and highly erratic supply lines, the challenges that Indian forces faced in the KG Valley, become apparent. It was, definitely, not a mean task to first throw the invaders out of the river basin and then hold the long stretch of the formidable mountainous terrain with just a handful of troops. As a result, many stretches were re-occupied by the enemy even after Indian troops had evicted them from such areas during the course of the conflict. The KG Valley, incidentally, sat in the middle of two secret plans, Operation Gulmarg (Kashmir and Jammu region) and Operation Datta Khel (Gilgit area), being put into action by Pakistan at that time. And unlike elsewhere, regular troops faced Indian troops from the very beginning of operations in and around the Tithwal area.
One of the highest decorated of the Indian Army, Colonel Chhewang Rinchen is popularly referred to as Lion of Ladakh. This work, based on his life and gallant deeds is a joint effort by his daughter and a reputed military historian.
