Re: Out of Kargil
Yes he did. But India may have lost upto 3500 soldiers at Kargil, as that is the amount of body bags and coffins they ordered? No wonder there was such anger at the large number of body bags returning home to places like Rajasthan.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/2049292.stm
Rajasthan’s anger over Kashmir body bags
Despite reduced tensions between India and Pakistan emotions are running high in the Indian border state of Rajasthan as the coffins of soldiers killed on the Kashmir frontline are brought back home. Funeral processions of the dead soldiers have become common in Rajasthan, which has been producing soldiers and warriors for centuries. Every week, the bodies of two soldiers are brought back to the state, a significant increase since the Kargil conflict three summers ago. Last week, the state capital Jaipur witnessed a massive turn out of local citizens for the funeral procession of army officer Lieutenant Abhay Pareek, killed near the Line of Control in Kashmir. Thousands participated in the funeral procession despite intense heat in the city and filled the air with anti-Pakistan slogans.
Anger
Jaipur’s ancient quarter was completely shut down as people queued-up in the market to pay their respects. As the procession passed through the city streets in a military parade, local residents showered flowers on the coffin. All this took place even as India decided to recall its warships from near the Pakistan coast, in an attempt lower tensions. Inflamed passions marked the procession and even members of the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not hesitate to criticise their own leader, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, for “his soft stand on Kashmir”. “I am so upset with the performance of our leaders in federal government,” said Yogesh Mathur, a young BJP member. “How will we face the public?” he asked, referring to the party’s climbdown from it’s tough Kashmir policy.
Military tradition
Most of the dead soldiers came from rural Rajasthan.
The Shekhawati and Western Rajasthan regions produce many of the soldiers serving in the Indian army. During World war I, nearly 14,000 soldiers served from the then princely state of Jaipur. There are 400,000 retired defence personnel in Rajasthan and more than 100,000 war widows. As a result, any shifts in the relationship between India and Pakistan has a fallout in Rajasthan which has a 1,040 Km long border with Pakistan. According to Bhagwan Singh, chief of the state’s Soldier’s Welfare Board, Rajasthan has 235 men serving in the armed forces since the Kargil conflict. “Despite this the [killing] does not stop, every week two soldiers lose their lives while fighting for the nation,” he said.
Looking for a solution
Relatives of those killed say the hostility should come to a logical end. Parvati Kanwar, 24, lost her husband Sharvan Singh Shekhawat. She says both countries should sit together and put an end to the killing. Bhagirath Singh, a retired soldier who had lost his son during the Kargil conflict, also expressed his anger over the government’s handling of the situation.
