Wronged Kargil hero gets his due

New Delhi: Raising serious questions about the military leadership in the 1999 Kargil war, the Armed Forces Tribunal has indicted a former Lieutenant General for showing bias against a Brigadier, playing down his achievements and falsifying accounts of battles.

Retired Brigadier Devinder Singh is a relieved man. The Kargil war veteran has won a 10-year old battle that has restored his military reputation and individual honour.

In a landmark judgment, the Armed Forces Tribunal has ordered the Army to delete a distorted report on his performance report during the 1999 Kargil war, correcting a decade-old injustice against a professional soldier.

The matter came to light after Singh who led 70 Infantry Brigade in the Batalik Sector in the Kargil war, filed a petition in the Delhi High Court complaining of wrong depiction of his battle performance. Several complaints similar to Singh are pending before the tribunal.

The report of Lieutenant General Kishan Pal, then General Officer Commanding (GOC) 15 Corps, who oversaw operations in that sector not only cost him a war medal but also deprived the Brigadier of promotion as Major-General.

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Due to the 'fudged' battle accounts, Brig Singh was awarded only a Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) and not a Mahavir Chakra, which he was cited for.

"I could not sleep well all these years on this account only that this was a fictitious writing," said Retired Brigadier Singh. (Watch: Vindication for my brigade: Kargil hero tells NDTV)

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"The tribunal in its order very clearly said that portions of the war record need to be rewritten and they have left it to the Army to write in whatever form, but in the present form they are incorrect," he added. (Read: Why was he targeted?)

Brigadier Devinder was heading the 70 Brigade in the Turtuk-Batalik sector during the 1999 conflict with Pakistan. Despite his admirable battle performance, Brigadier Devinder's Corps commander Lt Gen Kishan Pal underplayed his and the brigade's achievements.

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The Tribunal order suggests personal malice as the main reason for brigadier Singh being targeted. According to Devinder Singh, General Pal's bias stemmed from the following reasons:

•    In April 1999, Brigadier Singh warned of intrusions along the Kargil front, from Batalik to Drass.

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•    But his superiors dismissed his assessment

•    In the middle of the war, Brigadier Singh had reported that 600 Pakistan army regulars were positioned in Batalik.

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•    But Lt General Pal said just 45 Pakistani irregulars were on the spot.

Lt General Kishen Pal on the other hand says he was never called by the tribunal to give his side of the story.

"I don't know what the procedures are of the tribunal. I can only say that they did not call me or ask me anything," he said.

Another Kargil whistleblower, Brig Surinder Singh, who was commander of the Kargil-based 121 brigade in 1999, now feels that that even he will get his due following a favourable judgment given to Brigadier Devinder Singh by the tribunal. Blamed for the intrusions, Singh was removed from command. (Watch: Just the tip of the iceberg, says Army whistleblower)

He was also accused of vacating a forward post in Kaksar sub-sector without authorisation and leaking classified documents to media.

But General VP Malik, who was Army chief during the Kargil war warns of overreaction.

"Brig Devinder had a personal grievance against his Corps Commander for which he has got full redressal but please don't demand the change in the entire history of Kargil war in which so many people sacrificed their lives," said General Malik.

General Malik may be right, but after the judgement, questions about shortcomings and failures in Kargil are bound to come up once again.

With PTI inputs