Operation Meghdoot: Victory amid heavy odds

Despite being ill-prepared, ill-equipped and ill-trained, we faced the enormous challenge of occupying, fighting and staying on at world’s highest battlefield — Siachen Glacier

Lt Gen Shokin Chauhan (retd)

In June next year, it will be 40 years since I was part of a small group of handpicked team that ascended and fought on Bilafond La (a 17,800-ft high massif in the Karokaram mountains) on the world’s highest battlefield — the Siachen Glacier.

Being an absolutely top-secret operation, none of the officers or skiers like me were trained or prepared for the enormous challenges ahead. The lack of winter clothing, suitable weapons and staying conditions added to the difficulty.

Despite being ill-prepared, ill-equipped and ill-trained, we faced the enormous challenge of occupying, fighting and staying on at this very difficult battlefield. “Every man a hero” says the parachute regiment of its special forces. I would borrow the same term for the men and officers who fought shoulder to shoulder on the glacier in the early summer of 1984.

Selection for the mission

It was early May 1984, I was enjoying a drink one late evening at the officers mess in Uri, J&K, when I was asked to report to the 15 Corps in Srinagar the next day.

The Colonel “Training” at Srinagar interviewed me in detail, asking questions about my suitability, fitness and military training without divulging that I was being considered for deployment as a “skiing trooper” on the Siachen Glacier. Another colleague was standing outside waiting to be interviewed. In a short while, we were both called to the office of the Brigadier General Staff of 15 Corps and informed of our selection and that we were to leave the next day for the Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur and report to the Brigadier General Staff, Training.

The Brigadier got down to deep selection and questioned each of us in great details, including our marital status. Soon, we were meeting the Army Commander, who shot the first question: “How many of you are married?” Four of the selected said they were married. They were asked to step aside and the remaining 19 were told of the task to Leh and beyond for what a “high-risk mission”.

The journey to the glacier

Being the junior most, I was tasked to travel by road in the Army convoy to Leh. The other 18 officers of this “high-risk mission” were flown to Leh. The Zoji La — en route to Leh — had just opened for the summer. Accompanying me were especially trained “ski troopers”, who were either instructors in the High-Altitude Warfare School, Gulmarg, or some of the outstanding students who had just completed the winter warfare course there. A 15-day ski training course in March that year had helped me understand the art.

At Leh, the acclimatisation process began, but were not told about the objective. Everyone spoke in hushed whispers about Operation Meghdoot, but divulged nothing. Lt Col Chewang Rinchen, the hero of the 1948 and 1965 wars, was the transit Camp Commander at Leh, and was helpful with his tips to combat problems in high altitude. Since he was responsible for our six days of acclimatisation, he would often whisper about how to deal with a living glacier. Since I had no knowledge of the likely terrain, and being young, paid little heed to Col Rinchen’s advice till I actually faced those problems.

From Leh, we were loaded onto Shaktiman trucks and off we trundled, bound for crossing the Khardung La — the 18,380 ft high pass north of Leh — to reach Partapur, the headquarters of the Sector 26.

At Partapur we were checked medically and then signed an already typed copy of a will and were allotted extreme cold weather clothing. I was allotted a 9mm carbine with some 100 bullets and told to leave my personal clothing behind and instructed to report to the Op Meghdoot Base Camp ahead of Sassoma. The base camp was a rudimentary group of 10 snow tents.

At day break, we were given 20 kg of ration each and told to stock camp I and II and return by the evening. This tiresome walk up to 16,000 ft and return continued for four days, after which some 15 ski troopers were allotted to Bilafond La.

The Glacier

We climbed up the glacier gradually, from camp I to II to camp III and so on and finally to Bilafond La which took three days. At the site, we linked up with Capt Sanjay Kulkarni (later Lt Gen). We replaced the first batch of Kumaon Regiment soldiers who had been inducted at the launch of Operation Meghdoot on April 13, 1984. The special imported snow clothing by the departing troops was handed over to us.

The Pakistan Army was taken on by us on June 23, 1984. Bilafond La had been occupied by the Kumaon Regiment in April. The Pakistani side which was surprised by the Indian move in April had been firing away. In the skirmish at Bilafond La, many soldiers suffered, some died. Our group remained unscathed and was lucky to be led by a natural leader like Sanjay Kulkarni who dealt with every crisis smilingly.

At the glacier, no kerosene meant no heating. The only protection from wind and snow was the tent under a parachute. Food was tinned parwal (pointed gourd) for weeks. Changing clothes was out of question.

For three months, none of us changed our underwear. Most of us got chilblains on our feet since the socks would remain wet. Lt Col Pushkar Chand — the task force commander — was trusted and stood by youngsters.

Each act of kindness is sharp in memory. My instructor at the IMA, realising I had no money left on me, gave me a thousand rupees and said, “Son keep this, you will need it”. Then there were helicopter pilots of the IAF. My course mate late Flt Lt Anshu Kumar Matta (later wing commander) was a daredevil. He would come whenever required and the weather be damned.

In October 1984, after four months of deployment at Bilafond La we were de-inducted. On return to my unit, my senior colleagues asked me, “Kahan gaya tha?” “Siachen” I said. “What is bloody Siachen? You must have had a ball,” they said, though that hurt as it was the riskiest of missions and no one knew about its strategic importance. In those early days, there was not even a provision for a high-altitude allowance.

The writer is a former Director General, Assam Rifles