Kargil Vijay Diwas, also known as Kargil Victory Day, commemorates India’s historic victory over Pakistan on July 26, 1999. The Indian Army successfully drove Pakistani forces off a hilltop on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kargil, Ladakh. Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated annually on July 26 in India to commemorate this victory and remember those who gave their lives for this country.
The following are ten facts about the Kargil Vijay Diwas and the Kargil War
• Under ‘Operation Badr,’ Pakistan secretly sent troops and paramilitary forces to the Indian side of the LoC. They occupied an area of 130 to 200 square kilometres in Kargil.
• Pakistan had planned to cut off Ladakh from Kashmir and starve the people of Siachen valley in order to force India to accept Pakistan’s terms in the then-ongoing Kashmir dispute.
• To secure Kargil, an estimated 30,000 troops and special forces were deployed in the Kargil-Dras area. 527 of these soldiers were killed.
• Pakistan’s illegally occupied posts were successfully bombed out by the Indian Air Force.
• Retired Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Commodore Kaiser Tufail revealed Pakistan’s post-war plans against India to Vayu Aerospace and Defence Review, an Indian aviation and defence magazine.
• The illegal Pakistani occupation of Kargil was allegedly planned by Pakistan’s then-Army General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan X Corps Commander Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmad, Pakistan Army Major General Javed Hasan, and Major General Ashraf Rashid.
• Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s then-prime minister, was not only aware of the operation.
• On July 26, 1999, Pakistani troops were forced to leave occupied Indian territory, effectively ending the war in India’s favour.
• Every year, on July 26, the Prime Minister pays his respects to the soldiers who were martyred in the war.
• Soldiers such as Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey, Captain Vikram Batra, and Captain Keishing Clifford Nongrum, who sacrificed their lives to secure Kargil hill, were posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra
and Mahavir Chakra.
