An IL-76 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force was pressed into service to ferry the stranded passengers mostly hailing from Leh and Kargil districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
Brisk polling was reported in Leh and Kargil districts of Jammu and Kashmir, where the first phase of assembly elections covering a total of 10 constituencies, commenced on Monday morning.As many as 77 votes were polled at the polling station set up in Indoor stadium, Kargil, while 65 votes were cast at higher secondary school, Kargil within minutes.In Leh, polling was going on at a slow pace. Although the polling started at 8 am, voters came out of their homes late.
Politicos across the country have condemned former Pakistan president general Pervez Musharraf's statement on the Kargil War, accusing him of fabricating history.
No loss of life has, however, been reported so far.
Twenty years ago, over 50 days in the summer of 1999, the Indian Army fought some of the toughest battles in the annals of military history to evict the Pakistan army from Kargil. The battle to recapture Tiger Hill was a major turning point in the Operation Vijay campaign, points out Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Given the present force levels, India cannot fight and win.' 'India can't hope to terminate the conflict on India's terms and impose the nation's will upon the adversaries,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'By beheading an Indian soldier, the Pakistan army has demonstrated its proclivity for barbaric medievalism.' 'The strategies adopted and the punishment inflicted by India must be made progressively more stringent with every new act of terrorism till the cost becomes prohibitive for Pakistan,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Kargil was Pakistan's strategic blunder. India must remain on guard against such sinister operations being launched in future by Pakistan's vengeful and devious military leadership that continues to have a hate-India mindset and the mentality of primitive warlords,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).