Kargil war 25th Anniversary: Battle of Tololing was considered a turning point as four MVCs were awarded posthumously

Tololing is one name that rings a bell whenever and wherever the Kargil War of 1999 is mentioned. It was a hill feature dominating the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road which had been captured by Pakistanis by treachery. Getting it back was vital for the safety of all Indian traffic plying to Leh but its capture led to one of the bloodiest battles during those times 25 years ago. It was on June 13 night that the Indian commanders took back this feature. The main frontal assault on Tololing was carried out by troops of 2 Rajputana Rifles and Grenadiers.

The Indian commanders called it a turning point in the Kargil war that broke the morale of the Pakistani troops. However, it cost a lot in terms of fatal battle casualties as also wounded numbered dozens. Perhaps readers can imagine a bit how bloody the battle for this feature was from the fact that four Mahavir Chakras and two Vir Chakras were awarded. Incidentally, all four Mahavir Chakras were awarded posthumously. The winners of this second-highest gallantry award were Major Rajesh Adhikari, Major Vivek Gupta, Major Padampani Acharya and Havildar Digendra Kumar. Two officers, Colonel Ravindranath and Captain Vijayant Thapar were awarded the Vir Chakra.

The Battle of Tololing was considered a pivotal battle between the Indian troops and a battalion of Northern Light Infantry (NLI) who were entrenched on a high ground. Important peaks in Tololing include Point 5140 and Point 4875 while Tiger Hill (Point 5060), including Point 5100, is to the west of Tololing. The repeated assaults by the Indian troops culminated into India taking control of the peak and that changed the course of the Kargil war in a major way.

The fierce battles that the Indian troops had to wage for taking back Tololing from Pakistanis can be understood from the fact that half the fatal casualties were suffered here. The battles for taking back Tololing feature lasted almost a month, from May 22 to June 16, 1999. The Pakistanis were so well entrenched on Tololing that some Indian soldiers barely managed to move an inch ahead for 16 straight days!

The Indian soldiers had difficult, stark choices to make when they assaulted Tololing feature. Most of them chose to jettison their dry rations for additional bullets and other ammunition. When the feature was finally captured, at least 50 Pakistani bodies were lying strewn all over in a large arc. The Pakistanis had stocked up ghee, tinned pineapple, butter and honey in their bunkers. When some starving soldiers found all those rations, they used butter dipped in honey for breakfast! The ghee was mostly used for keeping warms in freezing temperatures of more than minus 10, or even lower.

In the assault by 2 Rajputana Rifles, even the unit cook and carpenter participated as also contributed. Carpenter Uttam Singh, it is said, was unable to see anything at night but carried ammunition up the hill slope by holding on to the man ahead of him. It was also a battle in which young Captain Kenguruse did extraordinarily well in climbing a cliff face barefoot and he was lugging an LMG (Light Machine Gun) on his back.

There was a lot more that happened in areas far away from the battlefield, hundreds of kilometres away in fact. It so happened that the news of heavy casualties suffered by 2 Rajputana Rifles percolated to training centres in the hinterland. At least 300 recruits of Rajputana Rifles made formal requests to their training formations that they be sent to Kargil to fight the enemy.