Lt. Saurabh Kalia of 4 JAT Regiment of the Indian Army laid down his life at the young age of 22 for the nation while guarding the frontiers at Kargil. His parents, indeed the Indian Army and nation itself, lost a dedicated, honest and brave son. He was the first officer to detect and inform about Pakistani intrusion. Pakistan captured him and his patrol party of 5 brave men alive on May 15, 1999 from the Indian side of LOC. They were kept in captivity for three weeks and subjected to unprecedented brutal torture, evident from their bodies handed over by Pakistan Army on June 9, 1999. The Pakistanis indulged in dastardly acts of inflicting burns on the Indians with cigarettes, piercing their ears with hot rods, removing their eyes before puncturing them and breaking most of the bones and teeth. They even chopped off various limbs and private organs of the Indian soldiers besides inflicting unimaginable physical and mental torture.
After 22 days of torture, the brave soldiers were ultimately shot dead. A detailed post- mortem report is with the Indian Army. Pakistan dared to humiliate India this way flouting all international norms. They proved the extent to which they can degrade humanity. However, the Indian soldiers did not break while undergoing all this unimaginable barbarism, which speaks volumes of their patriotism, grit, determination, tenacity and valour - something all of India should be proud of. Sacrificing oneself for the nation is an honour every soldier would be proud of, but no parent, army or nation can accept what happened to these brave sons of India.
I am afraid every parent may think twice to send their child in the armed forces if we all fall short of our duty in safeguarding the prisoners of war and let them meet the fate of Lt. Saurabh Kalia. It may also send a demoralising signal to the army personnel fighting for the Nation that our POWs in Pak cannot be taken care of. It is a matter of shame and disgust that most of Indian Human Rights Organisations by and large, showed apathy in this matter.
Through this humble submission, may I appeal to all the civilized people irrespective of colour, caste, region, religion and political lineage to stir their conscience and rise to take this as a national issue?
International Human Rights Organisations must be approached to expose and pressure Pakistan to identify, book and punish all those who perpetrated this heinous crime to our men in uniform. If Pakistan is allowed to go unpunished in this case, we can imagine the consequences.
Below is the list of 5 other soldiers who preferred to die for the country rather than open their mouths in front of enemy.
1. Sep. Arjun Ram s/o Sh. Chokka Ram; Village & PO Gudi. Teh. & Dist.Nagaur (Rajasthan)
2. Sep. Bhanwar Lal Bagaria h/o Smt. Santosh Devi;Village Sivelara; Teh. & Dist. Sikar (Rajasthan)
3. Sep. Bhikaram h/o Smt. Bhawri Devi; Village Patasar;Teh. Pachpatva; Distt. Barmer (Rajasthan)
4. Sep. Moola Ram h/o Smt. Rameshwari Devi; Village Katori; Teh. Jayal; Dist. Nagaur (Rajasthan)
5. Sep. Naresh Singh h/o Smt. Kalpana Devi; Village Chhoti Tallam; Teh.Iglab; Dist.Aligarh (UP)
Yours truly,
Dr. N.K. Kalia (Lt. Saurabh Kalia's father).
Saurabh Nagar,
Palampur-176061
Himachal Pradesh
Tel: +91 (01894) 32065
My two paise:
1) The soldiers were tortured because they chose to fight - and die - for their country. Why the hell were the Pakis allowed to get away with this? Was it not the government’s duty to avenge them? Why were our politicians working so hard to avoid a full-scale war?
2) Whether the soldiers broke under torture or not is something we will never know, but it really does not matter. The mere fact that they were subjected to this kind of treatment justified a tougher line against Pakistan.
3) What the hell was Arundhati Roy doing when this happened? I did not hear a peep out of this great “Champion of Human Rights” who “as a world citizen, implored the Vajpayee government to give up nuclear weapons”. Where were all the other human rights organisations that suddenly became very vocal during the Babri Masjid incident and the Gujarat riots? (I am not condoning these incidents in any way. What happened then was wrong, no doubt). Where were Teesta Setalvad and her slimy chums? Were they just too flush with funds obtained from questionable sources to speak out? Fuckin’ pseudos - the lot. Deserve to be lined up and shot.
4) Should we bring international human rights organisations into this? In my opinion, they are a bunch of self serving bastards as bad as the home-grown variety. When they are not being used as political tools by their own governments, that is…
5) Why do we continue to vote such weak-kneed governments into power? For them, such an incident is just another opportunity to let us down (Tashkent, Simla, IC-814, Pyridhwah, the list just goes on and on).
6) Why am I so angry with this when I know that there is nothing I (Or anyone else, for that matter) can do about it? Such incidents will keep on happening and we will just “turn the other cheek”.
I wanna know what you people think. Please reply...
