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Kargil War Remembered, Heroes Forgotten

NEW DELHI :

26 July was observed as the 16th anniversary of the so-called Kargil War or the Operation Vijay which occurred in 1999.

In this three month long war which began on 3 May, the Indian army operation was declared accomplished on 26 July and hence the date is marked as the Kargil Day or ‘Vijay Diwas’ to be particular and has an immense significance in Indian history.

PM Modi said on the eve of the anniversary, “I salute all the brave soldiers who lost their lives in the Kargil war, for their sacrifice and valor, on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas. Kargil war though fought on borders had significant contribution from every village, every town of the country.”

Like him his cabinet colleague and the Minister of Finance Arun Jetly twitted yesterday, “Today, we remember & salute our brave soldiers who gave supreme sacrifice to protect the motherland in the Kargil war.” However, he was reminded by the followers that he was not correctly remembering the day; it was the next one, 26 July. One follower retorted on his tweet, “Sir Kargil Divas is tomorrow, not today dnt be exited to tweet but think twice b4 try to grab voter attention.”

These instances may be found illustrious enough how the national leaders take “supreme sacrifices” of war heroes in a disingenuous way. They are even not publically sure about the date of the sacrifice, then what much should be expected of them. May their act was inadvertent but it gives a message of oblivion.

The American poet Richard Watson Gilder hoped in his composition, “The ballads of martyrs be sung/at each anniversary of martyrdom/so that generations to follow value/the sacrifice of our Heroes./….Lest we forget.”

One Indian poet has paid his homage to the martyrs in these words, “Shaheedon ke chitaon par lagenge her baras mele. Watan pe marne walon ka yehi baqi nishan hoga (On the pyres of martyrs, celebrations shall take place every year, memorial of those shall be kept intact this way for surrendering their lives on the nation).”

However, not only the national leaders but even the public belies such romantic expectations.

CaptHaneefuddinMPOs30sept2016

Let  us understand this reality from the instance of one hero of the Kargil War, Captain Haneef Uddin, Veer Chakra (P).

He was an officer of the 11th Battalion, The Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army laid down his life defending the country at an altitude of over 18000 ft in 1999. When he died on 6 June as one of the first causalities of the War but with much strategic gains, he was less than 25 years of age.

Times of India reported on 23 July when his corpse reached Delhi, “Thousands of Delhiites lined the streets of the capital to salute their brave hero, Captain Hanifuddin, who laid down his life fighting intruders in the Kargil region. When the body was brought to the Sajjadanashin Dargah in Nizamuddin, Hindus and Muslims stood side by side to pay their respects to the martyr. Since people had lined up on both sides of the road, it took almost an hour for the cortege to traverse the short distance between the Dargah and the cemetery. People seemed overwhelmed with the reported heroics of the soldier. “The country is blessed with such brave sons who sacrifice their lives like this,” said a mourner. The captain from the Rajputana Rifles was buried with full army honors as befitting a war hero.”

“16 years on” laments his memorials Facebook account, “Do we still remember? The road leading to Captain Haneef Uddin’s house was named after him. His name engraved on a stone to tell the world, ‘Here lived the Hero’. Then one day, the stone was replaced with a shabby metallic board, at a height convenient for people to stick posters. Alongside, a big blue board was also put up later, but even then no one thought of giving the Martyr the respect due to him. Same is the condition of the school named after Captain Haneef Uddin. No one knows! We honor our Martyrs so that future generations take inspiration but this is how we remember our Martyrs.”

Captain Haneef was a science graduate, multifaceted talent and trained computer expert of Delhi University from its Shivaji College where he himself was crowned as ‘Mr Shivaji’ during his studies before joining the Indian Military Academy in 1996. He was commissioned into the army on June 7, 1997. Exactly two years later he died.

There is no doubt that he could have pursued some other lucrative career or would have become an all-imposing politician and deliver sermons on nationalism seeing his popularity in the college, but he chose to devote himself for the defense of his country and ultimately offered it his supreme sacrifice. His name denotes, “someone single-minded in his religion”. He was truly single-minded in his religion, patriotism.

During parliamentary elections, Narendra Modi created a controversy by using the name of another Kargil hero Vikram Batra for electioneering, quoting his famous rhetoric “Ye dil mange more.” Disgusted with his non-serious and populist stance Batra’s mother joined AAP in annoyance. Sadly, neither Modi nor the AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal could take a little pain to go to Haneef’s house which is not far from their official residences and pay homage to the young man, who left his mother in utter pain and lasting sorrow for defending the motherland. They could have even sent someone to register their concern. But, there is a noticeable silence from both of them and also from their followers. No RSS, no Bajrangdal, no Shiva Sena or any other patriotism vigilantes and no Congress secularists are around. Even, Muslim organizations are as distant on the occasion as others.

At the time of Kargil War I was in my home town in Rajasthan. One day I was waiting for any public transport to reach home from some other place. Hopelessly, after waiting much for it, I signaled to a rider nearing me to give me lift on his bike. He cooperated. He happened to be an RSS Pracharak of our district.

Finding me to be a Muslim he said, “Sir, it is the right time that Muslims should show their patriotism by donating blood to the Kargil combatants.”

I retorted, “Mister, the blood already donated for the purpose is being sold in Delhi from where I am here. Don’t worry, we will make bigger sacrifice for the nation than you, if the time so arise.”

This episode makes me thoughtful and I wonder whether the nation which forgets the highest sacrifice of its citizens like Captain Haneefuddin deserves even a small drop of blood from its people.

Haneef’s father died when he was only seven years old. His widow and Haneef’s mother, Hema Aziz, valiantly responded seeing his dead body, “As a soldier Haneef served his country with pride and dedication. There cannot be a greater statement on his valor than his death which came fighting the enemy.”

Like Captain Haneefuddin, many other Muslim soldiers surrendered their lives on the anvil of Kargil War along with many other fellow countrymen from the cross sections of society. A few names may be noted from the available list: Lance Naik Ahmed Ali, Lance Naik Gulam Mohammed Khan, Havaldar Abdul Karim, Rifleman Mohamad Farid, Rifleman Mohamad Aslam, etc.

It is a common speculation that none of them would have been remembered on the day, including over 500 others.

It has been marked by different commentators that Muslim martyrs’ number should be any figure between 10-25% of the overall casualties, officially endorsed as 527. Since it was explicitly disproportionate to the presumed number of Muslim soldiers in the Indian army, less than 1%, it unbelievably surprised many and also raised election time controversies: who led to the Kargil victory, Muslims or Hindus? The Kargil War is also known for ‘coffin scandal” wherein allegedly people in the establishment at that time took undue advantage in their procurement. Consequently, the erstwhile defense minister had to resign.

The Kargil Day comes and reminds us of many things. It makes us fresh with the great sacrifices of the war heroes and inspires us to make similar sacrifice for a noble cause. It saddens us seeing hypocritical rhetoric from podiums. It makes us ashamed on knowing, how many people use war and war heroes for political and communal goals.

The poet apprehended “Lest we forget” and we really forgot them.

Sorry martyrs! We didn’t deserve your grace!!

Contributor is a social activist, analyst and author of many books including his recent one, Islam in 21st Century: The Dynamics of Change and Future-making

source: http://www.countercurrents.org / CounterCurrents.org / Home / by Abdul Rashid Agwan / July 27th, 2015

Nayeem Bhat: A star snuffed out

Nayeem Bhat didn’t hesitate to travel 60 kilometres to Srinagar to rub shoulders with the who’s who of Kashmir cricket. © Nayeem Bhat’s Facebook page
Nayeem Bhat didn’t hesitate to travel 60 kilometres to Srinagar to rub shoulders with the who’s who of Kashmir cricket. © Nayeem Bhat’s Facebook page

“If I die and go to heaven, I’ll put the name of Star Eleven on golden star, So that angels can see, How much Star Eleven means to me,” read a Facebook post from Nayeem Bhat.

He wrote it in 2014. Now, that ‘if’ is a reality. Nayeem is dead. He won’t represent Star Eleven – a cricket club in north Kashmir’s Handwara town – any more. His all-round brilliance is history. A bullet has silenced the face of cricket in Handwara forever.

Nayeem, a 21-year-old allrounder, had a dream. A cricketing one. Make it big in the sport. Play with the best. Play for Jammu & Kashmir. Maybe, someday, play for India. Like many youngsters in this part of the world, his room was dotted with the posters of cricket stars. Virat Kohli and Parveez Rasool, now team-mates at Royal Challengers Bangalore, featured prominently.

Nayeem played the sport with passion, doing everything to improve his game. He didn’t hesitate to travel 60 kilometres to Srinagar, the state’s cricket capital, to rub shoulders with the who’s who of Kashmir cricket. The men that matter acknowledged his talent. Kashmir Gymkhana, one of the premier clubs affiliated with the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association, recruited him to play for them. One small step towards realising his ambition. But his journey had a terrible end. A dream to be weaved with bat and ball was shattered by a bullet – another instance of cricket and conflict being intertwined in Kashmir.

Nayeem’s death has left the cricketing community in Kashmir in a state of mourning, for his team-mates and coaches believed he had all the ingredients to be a ‘perfect allrounder’. Nayeem, his coaches said, had a repeatable action and his height gave him lift off the deck at pace decent enough to trouble the batsmen. He was also good enough as a batsman to play in the middle order for the teams he represented during his short career.

Nayeem’s cricketing journey coincided with that of Akeel Ahmad, his childhood friend and an Under-19 player for J&K. For Akeel, Nayeem was a rival on the cricket field, but best buddy off it. The duo was on a mission: to make otherwise neglected Handwara part of the cricketing landscape.

Nayeem and Akeel were together just half an hour before they were separated forever. Before the fateful moment, they were busy doing what they often did when not playing cricket: photography. Done with their session, Akeel said, they went to the market. Suddenly, an assembly of protesters caught their attention.

Nayeem was called by his brother, a journalist, asking for a camera. “I left the spot and after sometime got to know Nayeem was hit by a bullet,” said Akeel. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Bhat’s room was dotted with the posters of cricket stars – Virat Kohli and Parveez Rasool featured prominently. © Nayeem Bhat’s Facebook page
Bhat’s room was dotted with the posters of cricket stars – Virat Kohli and Parveez Rasool featured prominently. © Nayeem Bhat’s Facebook page

Akeel told Wisden India that he was in awe of Nayeem’s work ethic and passion. “Nayeem would play for Star Eleven, and I played for Handwara Cricket Club. We used to play against each other very often. Nayeem was someone I have known closely. He was my fiercest rival on the field, but we were buddies off it,” he said.

“We would discuss cricket more often than not. He wanted to improve all the time. He had his eyes on top-flight cricket. He was very keen on his fitness, and would train hard. I am shattered by his death. I don’t know how to cope with his loss. This is a huge loss to cricket, and Handwara town in particular. He was trying his best to give our town a cricketing name.”

Nayeem’s coaches remember him as someone who didn’t hesitate to ask questions about his game. Manzoor Ahmad Dar, coach of Kashmir Gymkhana Club, was impressed with what he saw of his young charge. “Nayeem was a very humble and down-to-earth cricketer and he took his game seriously,” Dar told a daily. “Nayeem was a dedicated cricketer and would come all the way to Srinagar from Handwara to practice and train. He had skill and the temperament to improve all the time. We are in complete shock over his death.”

Nayeem’s death has social networking sites abuzz, with Kashmiris expressing their sorrow and sadness.

The young allrounder had a brush with franchise-based Twenty20 cricket, playing two seasons for Srinagar’s Pride Riders in the Downtown Champions League. Mubashir Hassan, a coach licensed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, is a mentor of the team. Hassan is understandably devastated by the death of his talented ward, who called him often for tips. Nayeem wouldn’t mind calling him on his phone for tips, remembered Hassan.

“Nayeem had a bright future and promising career ahead,” he told Wisden India. “He was a keen learner and I had high hopes of him. He had that hunger and passion that impressed one and all. This will have a huge impact on the players who have played with and against Nayeem. They will be mentally scarred, and it will take them some time to come out of it.”

His parents used to call him Gavaskar, while some of his friends compared him to Martin Guptill, the New Zealand opener. On Tuesday (April 12), a bullet claimed Star Eleven’s brightest star. Hopefully, the angels will realise what his local side and the game of cricket meant to Nayeem.

Waheed Mirza is a journalist in Srinagar. He tweets @mirzawaheedz.

source: http://www.wisdenindia.com / Wisden India / Home / by Waheed Mirza / April 15th, 2016