This refers to the news item ‘ Colonel Narendra ‘ Bull Kumar’ , who helped India secure Siachen glacier , passes away’.( The Hitavada dated 1st January) Contribution of late Colonel ‘Bull Kumar’ who passed away on 31st December, in securing our Himalayan border overlooking both China and Pakistan is immense . Country will always be indebted to the vision, foresight, fortitude and courage displayed by Colonel Narendra Kumar. It would be in fitness of things to recollect his contributions when he is no longer with us. It is only due to such sons of soil that this nation is secured from sinister designs of our two hostile neighbours.
The 1978 issue of American Alpine journal duly recorded the expeditions in Karakoram region and highlighted the fact that the Siachen region was a part of Pakistan. Colonel Narinder Kumar , one of India’s foremost mountaineers , obtained map published by the U S Air Force that clearly supported the Pakistani claim , showing an inaccurate line of control beyond point NJ 9842. Colonel Kumar immediately brought this to the notice of then DGMO in New Delhi . The Indian Army, on seeing the report and the map ,at once obtained permission for Colonel Kumar to mount reconnaissance expedition into Siachen .
On the Indian side ,there were The Indian Army and ITBP expeditions, notable among them being one led by Colonel Narinder Kumar in 1978 and again in 1981. By the beginning of 1984 ,it was fairly obvious that both India and Pakistan would try to occupy the glacier. The 1949 Karachi agreement and the 1972 Shimla pact had presumed that it was not feasible for human habitation to survive beyond NJ 9842. By the watershed principle the glacier curls into Ladakh and joins Shyok river. However, in defiance of this principle and in clear violation of Shimla pact , the Pakistanis claimed the entire glacier and the adjoining mountain ranges up to the Karakoram pass as theirs .
Ever since Colonel Kumar’s expedition in 1981 , the Pakistanis felt that the Indian were planning to capture key ridges and passes on the glacier and accordingly , decided to launch their own troops onto the glacier . However, in the build up to the planned Siachen offensive , Islamabad committed an intelligence blunder by ordering Arctic- weather gear from the same London suppliers from whom Indians were getting their outfits. Once Indian intelligence agencies had this information, the timing of the military operation became critical. In the final analysis, the Indians beat Pakistanis by a mere four days.( Reference – The long road to Siachen – The question why – Written by Kunal Verma and Rajiv Williams – Page no 102 and 112)
Salute to the valour of late Colonel Narinder Kumar
Blogger Satish B Marathe