Kargil (Ladakh), July 25 -- On a windy ridge in Kargil, where the tricolour swirled defiantly against the sky and the bugle's plaintive blasts resonated over the mountains, Bina Mahat stood silently - her eyes welling with tears. For the first time in 26 years, she returned to the very soil where her sole son, Rifleman Sunil Jung, was killed during the 1999 Kargil War. He was only 19.
"He always wanted to wear the olive green," she stated, her voice shaking. "He said to us when he was ten, 'I will be a soldier like my father and grandfather.' He never looked back from that dream."
Rifleman Sunil Jung of the 1st Battalion of the 11 Gorkha Rifles (1/11 GR) was sent to the risky Batalik sector on May 9, 1999. The terrain - all jagged ridgelines and rough rocks - provided no flat terrain for base camps, and the advancing forces had taken up positions along the prominent heights of the Jubar and Kukarthang ridge lines.
With the situation deteriorating, the Indian Army initiated a counterattack to stop further infiltration and restore control over strategic locations. 1/11 GR was assigned the task of capturing Point 4821 on the Kukarthang ridge - a vital and risky target.
It was on 10 May that a platoon of 'D' Company, in which Sunil served, was deployed to reach and support a surrounded patrol of 3 Punjab, outnumbered and pinned down on a spur of Kukarthang Top. Sunil had commenced the climb from Yaldor the night before - crawling up almost-vertical ground, exposed to the danger of enemy fire.
Defying the odds, they reached the stranded troops at dawn.
Sunil, the radio operator of the platoon, was under Lt. R.S. Rawat and managed communication while also getting ready for battle. From May 10 to 13, the platoon clashed inch by inch, clearing more than a kilometre of enemy territory. But with supply lines being severed by incessant artillery shelling, they were running low on rations, ammunition, and batteries.
Reinforcements came on the 13th of May - a new platoon from 'B' Company under Lt. Samiran Roy. On May 15, another assault was made. In the midst of a hail of gunfire and bombs, the troops advanced under cover of natural rocks.
During the heat of the battle, Rifleman Sunil Jung balanced his rifle in one hand and his radio in the other. While the fire of the enemy rained upon him, he was present at the frontline - relayed vital messages and returned fire. That was when he was hit. Severely injured, Sunil died on the frozen heights of Kukarthang. He was 20 years old.
"This was his first posting," Bina said, "and his last."
Sunil came from a family steeped in military service. His grandfather fought in the 1965 war, and his father served in the 1971 conflict. As a child, Sunil once acted in a school play at an Army function in Lucknow, portraying a soldier who dies in battle. "We stitched a uniform for him," Bina recalled, her voice distant. "Who knew that play would become our reality."
Weeks prior to his passing, he had sent a parcel home - but not a call. "I was apprehensive. And then the officers came knocking on the door," she explained. "That is how I learned about it."
Standing here now on the very ground upon which her son died, Bina reports having found peace - or at least something approximating it. "I sobbed all night before I came. I did not think I could do this. But now that I've seen it, I have no further fear. I can die with peace."
As India celebrates 26 years of the Kargil war, Sunil Jung's tale is one of loss, but also of legacy. It is a reminder of the cost of peace - and the soldiers who paid for it.
"Kargil was a turning point," said a veteran. "It taught us never to take our national security for granted - in war or in peace."
For Bina Mahat, her son's memory remains - inscribed in the rocks of Kargil, and in the quiet he left behind. "He was my only son," she spoke softly, placing flowers on the memorial. In that moment, she was not a mother alone - she was the face of sacrifice, standing among the mountains her son gave his life for.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.