Vijay Diwas: Blood on the rocks, steel in the veins

Vijay Diwas, celebrated every year on 26 July, is more than a commemoration; it is a call to national memory.

- MAJ GEN DEEPAK MEHRA (RETD)

"When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today." Epitaph at Kohima War Cemetery coined by John Maxwell Edmonds

On 26 July in 1999, India's Armed Forces achieved a remarkable and costly victory in the face of betrayal, deception, and extreme adversity. Vijay Diwas, celebrated every year on 26th July, is more than a commemoration—it is a call to national memory. It reminds us of the summer when the rocks of Kargil bore witness to grit unmatched and blood unforgotten. The war demanded extraordinary sacrifices, exposed hostile duplicity, and revealed critical lessons in operational readiness and national security. This was the time when the enemy sought to steal our land under the cover of snow, but found instead the steel of Indian resolve.

KARGIL 1999: THE BETRAYAL AND THE BATTLE

The Kargil War was a conflict foisted upon India, not on a battlefield, but through deceit. While the world believed peace was on the horizon following Prime Minister Vajpayee's historic Lahore bus journey in February 1999, Pakistan was preparing to stab India in the back. Soldiers of the Pakistan Army, masquerading as mujahideen, had illegally infiltrated and occupied key heights on the Indian side of the Line of Control (LoC). The aim was to sever the Srinagar-Leh highway, internationalise the Kashmir issue, and force Indian withdrawal from Siachen and Ladakh.

What followed was not just a counter-operation, but a national mobilisation of spirit and sacrifice. India launched Operation Vijay, and the Indian Air Force began Operation Safed Sagar to flush out the intruders. The task was herculean—Indian soldiers had to climb vertical ice-covered cliffs under enemy fire, in rarefied air and sub-zero temperatures, against a well-entrenched enemy in dominant positions. Yet, as history would record, India did not just repel the infiltration—it reclaimed every inch.

REMEMBERING THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE