Sanjay Dutt played Colonel YK Joshi in LOC Kargil. Here's entering the Drass circle with a real-life superhero who won his unit 39 war honours, and his country, freedom and pride
Sanjay Dutt played Colonel YK Joshi in LOC Kargil. Here's entering the Drass circle with a real-life superhero who won his unit 39 war honours, and his country, freedom and pride
Blood. Bullets. Blow-ups. And a few good men battling it out with boldness they never knew they possessed. For Colonel Yogesh Kumar Joshi, one of the many unsung heroes of a war wiped-out from our memories, it still seems like a dream.u00a0u00a0
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UNSUNG HERO: Colonel YK Joshi fought ferociously at Kargil and won back some of the country's most precious peaksu00a0u00a0 pic/mid day |
Col Joshi commanded 13 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles (JAKRIF) during Operation Vijay. In his two-month tenure, he fought ferociously and won back some of the country's most precious peaks. "I never got to visit Kargil. I joined my unit straight from Shahjahanpur and we jumped into the battle zone. I only know of the peaks where I fought," said the Vir Chakra recipient, who's spent most of his years of service in J&K.
It all began on Tololing top. "I was the first to reach it with my radio operator. At that time, I did not realise the importance of setting foot there, but that became a morale booster for my men."u00a0 Later, the battle of Drass, Tololing and adjoining areas like Hump Complex, Point 5140 and Point 4875 would be known as the bloodiest fields of the aggression. Yet, there were only 16 casualties and most of the 85 injured soldiers have now recovered.
Tiger Hill
The battle to reclaim Tiger Hill was ardous. "We had to walk through landmines and our slightest movement was a threat to the whole mission," he said. On June 13, they reached their destination. "The victory was very important for all us, the men who had turned martyrs over the last two days had to be honoured with their due." A pleasant surprise awaited him up there; he was given full-fledged charge of the troop there too.
But, cut back to 1999 and the bombing of the unit's administration base. Major Ajay Singh Jasrotia was the first casualty. "One moment, I learn he is injured, and the other, he is no more."
In the next one-and-a-half months, Col Joshi brought down enemy bunkers with rocket launchers and missiles.
And then Joshi found that direct firing by Bofors guns, instead of the then rampant trajectory path, could reduce attack time drastically, thus giving a never before edge. "Artillery guns were being used to hit enemy posts beyond the line of sight. But when used for direct, short distance rounds, they'd reduced the range immensely," he reasoned.
Superb planningHis actions and superb planning won him accolades from senior officers too. The then General Officer Commanding of the area, Major General Mohinder Puri, recalls Col Joshi as one of the bravest officers under his command. "Joshi proved his mettle with superb bravery and precise military planning. I knew Joshi since long and trusted him. I knew he will never come back empty-handed," he said.u00a0 Joshi's unit won 39 war honours, including two Param Vir Chakras (PVC) and eight Vir Chakras (VrC), the highest in one single operation. But the warrior's far from resting on his laurels.
He's waiting to wear the rank of a Brigadier, and beaming boldly in anticipation of repeating history sometime again.
Jo sir is a lion of a man! I was very excited when JP Dutta told me I was to play the role of Lt Colonel YKu00a0 Joshi. He was the main person to head the 13th J&K Rifles the commanding officer.
The last battle is fought by the 13th J&K attacking the bunker complex where we emerge victorious though Abhishek Bachchan (Lt Vikram Batra) loses his life.
To me Jo sir (that's Dutt's name for Lt Col YK Joshi) is the stuff real heroes are made of.
In films we act in war scenes which may be tough to do but actually are never real wars. It's people like Jo sir who go out in the thick of battle, risking their lives to save our country and its people that are the real heroes.
However much we try to act their characters on screen we can never do one-tenth of what the real soldiers do when they go to fight wars.
When JP told me about LOC I spoke to Jo sir a few times and got the gist of the character from him. After that I met a couple of people who knew him and learnt about his personality and mannerisms.
Jo sir is a lion of a man! I am proud to have played someone of his character. Then I met him again at an exhibition of photos on the Kargil war at a Mumbai hotel.
He was very happy with LOC and the way I had portrayed him. We sat and chatted together for some time while he narrated to us some of the stories of the Kargil war.
Sanjay Dutt spoke to MiD DAY
