Drass, Ladakh: The eve of the tenth anniversary of Kargil War was a bittersweet time for many who gathered at Drass, under the very peaks our heroes recaptured during the war. It was a time of mixed emotions for family members who have lost their loved ones in the battle.
"My son said when you go to Kargil, see my father, he should come back for Christmas," said wife of Sepoy Kushil of first Battalion Naga regiment, L Adharpo.
L Adharpo knows her son's wish to see his father on Christmas will never be fulfilled. Her husband, Sepoy Kushil, was one of the many soldiers who lost their lives on the hills of Kargil.
Santosh Kumari's husband Subedar Mangesh Singh too died in the war.
As Kargil remembered its dead, the families of martyrs united in their grief and pride.
"They've been awarded the Vir and Paramvir Chakra, I wish they would have returned alive," said Santosh Kumari.
Ten years after the war ended, 13 units of the Army, which saw action, have returned to Kargil. Among them was the eighth battalion Sikh regiment which lost 35 men in the battle for Tiger Hill. War heroes, retired officers and families of martyrs all gathered to reminisce.
"I am proud that my son fought for the country. I had just one son, I lost him in the war," said Father of Gurdeep Singh of eighth Sikh battalion, Mohan Singh.
It's a day of mixed emotions for the families who are revisiting Kargil. They are united in their pain and their pride, their loss and their victory.
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