You've had an extensive line of duty in the armed forces. But there is something that you've written in your book that one of the last operations you were ever a part of was surgical strikes. That led to this happening in the first place. Pakistan has said something else. But you were there and you were heading this mission essentially. So if you would be so kind to maybe help us understand what were the events leading up to this? Allow me to put it in two parts.
I've been working in Jumbo Kashmir. I've been doing operations. I've been working in L.O.C. in different parts of the country. I've been working in Kashmir. I've been working in Kashmir. I've been working in Kashmir. That's why Pakistan is a terrorist infiltrate, which creates violence and our law and order situation. We go defensive. We are always defensive. We are always reactionary and defensive. The second step is what you asked.
What were the events leading up to it? What was happening in those days? If you take your mind in 2016, what was the beginning of the year? It was a terror attack. But a few days ago, our Prime Minister Modi reached a great Christmas day to meet him. And in January, there was a very high profile terror attack. Then in February, there was another high profile terror attack. Pampor is on the outskirts of Srinagar. Four suicide terrorists came in and they had an Entrepreneur Development Institute.
All Kashmiri men and women. It was about three days and we got out of all 66 civilians safely. But we had three brave hearts, two officers and one of them. Special forces. That's what I have written in this book. So, this is a high profile attack. So, this is a high profile attack. Then, this is a high profile attack. I think... My first background is where I am as a major, as a colonel in operations, personally in encounters.
It was a frustration that we were only defensive. That day, I got a feeling that it was the first time that the defense minister came here. Manohar Parikarji was attacked on the other day in September 18th September. I called the Defense Secretary and told them that they should not come today.
I don't want VIPs on my hands. I had to do a lot of things. I had to do a lot of operations. I had to do dead bodies. You were under a lot of pressure. I won't call it pressure but there were a lot of things to be done. Thank you very much. Thank you. in the village in the last mile, in the helicopter, in the truck. But they insisted and they came. Thank you. We should also make them hurt equally. And
This is why we will go into the terror camps, which is the location we know. We will hit the terror camps. Civilian casualty is not in Pakistan. We will go to the terrorist camps, the locations are known so that we can get them to his credit. To his credit, we will give them away. I think there was such a mood in the nation. The whole country was...
angry against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The leadership in Delhi was agitated. My soldiers wanted revenge. We turned this pain into an opportunity, I think. approvals to do what we did and it led to surgical strikes exactly 10 days later and you can have your tea also by the way thank you so in your book Thank you. Thank you. So from there, going to direct surgical strikes. That was the time when our positions were defensive? Or how much coordination was there at that time?
Both countries' political governments had not agreed on the border. The border issue was unresolved. But in the border, there was no firing on our daily days. Because there was no reason. You are guarding the guard. the border and they guard themselves. That's why I had a conversation with the incident that I had said that you will eat. We will eat. And I remember that I had to ask them because they had a good taste for them. So, the relationships were pretty good.
But when they saw the problem in Punjab, they started the problem. They shared the moral, ideological, financial support. When they saw the problem in Punjab, 80s. Then they started JNK. Because what happened was essentially 1971 when we had two parts of the country. And they had realized that they won't win in conventional terms.
This is a new thing. In the time of Ziya Hulu-Hak, they put a new knife to bleed India by a thousand cuts. It's a very open secret. It's a known policy that they were following. foreign foreign So then we came into a confrontation. So I was answering. How bad happened in the two armies? That's why I had to show this. In the 80s, there was no tension in the early 80s. This surgical strike, if you go to Wikipedia, there are three types of things. Indian version, Pakistani version, media version.
or were they trying to like undermine the effect that this strike had on the country? More than that, I think, if they believe that something happened, L.O.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C.C. And you released something in the media? Yes, it was released in the media. What was the attack of drones? If Pakistan was admitted, then they were duty bound to do something.
Pakistan has a very high status. Then the country demands their army to demand what they are doing when they have a surgical strike. Or they have a terror camp attack. they would have been duty-bound to do something. And I don't think they were in a position to carry out that kind of attack because that would mean they are not going to strike at terror camps in our side.
So they would have had to strike at our army, which would have spiraled into a full-blown conflict. And that is what they were not prepared to do. So as a result, they denied it to save face. That is the only thing. Yes, that is the only reason I can see. Why did they deny it and underplay it?
Seven years after the surgical strike. First of all, let me take it back. In your book, what is the surgical strike? When it came in the news, a lot of us were caught unaware about what a surgical strike is. We usually would assume that... You have a better vocabulary about that. But how does this term surgical strike come about and what is its definition exactly? If you have a heart surgery or a liver surgery, a good surgeon will cut like this.
that there will be some blood on the top and then it doesn't hurt any other organ. We also have striped. So we had to strike the terrorists on the side. We had to strike the terrorists. We had to strike the terrorists. We had to strike the terrorists. We had to strike the terrorists. We had to strike the terrorists. terrorist base. So we went straight into the surgery. It's the surgical strike.
of course we were fortunate I think Fortune favors the brave that there is no casualty in this whole operation. And that has still been the same as far as our ethos is concerned? Thank you very much. in the camps. We did that in Doklam. There was no surgical strike. We are talking about proactive. China is a tri-junction. Our army was standing up. We will not be able to do this. And it's very nice to see my Doklam. I visited myself. It was a battalion of my regiment.
After that, when there was a high-profile terror attack, which was 40,000 people, then it was just like the 216 of the strike. It was a different way. precision air strikes and deep inside Pakistan but we don't attack them necessarily. Yes, absolutely. The main terror camps are the main 10-12 terror camps. We know the locations. That's why we were able to attack them. Because we know their locations. But now the activities are less than usual and the intelligence is still happening.
Even if they will have a misdemeanor, then we will have the same military options. Now let's go back to the day when you are executing. At that time, you told me that you are sitting in the room and you will meet the Defense Minister. After that, you go out and send your best troops to this operation. Obviously, you can't share the operation details. But in terms of morale, because you are sending them to essentially do a very covert op and hit the target and come back.
This time, are you going over the strategy? Despite having so much experience, even your heart must be racing, right? It's critical. I was a corps commander. I was a corps commander. My corps commander was a task. Planning, planning. His execution, selection of the right man for the right job and his training, that was decentralized. It was decentralized to the right person. For example, selection of... men nobody can select the men better than the commanding officer.
He selects how many people are going to this operation. And these special forces of the people of NCOs and officers, they always practice these contingencies. So it was a good idea. What can a senior commander do? He can give him a backing, correct decision, whatever he needs, support systems. I won't know. One should not disclose these things. to give them a free hand so that they can carry out the operations absolutely the way they want to do.
And this was so covert that you didn't give this code name. You deliberately kept it. We didn't make a PowerPoint presentation. I didn't have a discussion in my office. You always called me in my office. Thank you very much. foreign foreign So we did not want anyone to talk about it. And in all your years in JNK, in the book, you told me that when you were telling the first one,
all the soldiers that died, that is why you did the surgical stack in the first place. You said that the suicide bombers were angry, they were the sort of people, nothing matters. So naturally, damage will be more. And the first thought that came to my head is that... You know, for someone who has nothing to lose, it's very different to kill, right? Yeah. As opposed to someone who has a family to suicide bomber. So you must have seen dozens and you must have like a proper idea.
when it comes to danger, the worst kind you can encounter is someone who's like a suicide killer. Right? So, as far as their psychology is concerned, could you talk a little bit more about that? First, let me talk about the... you know, a suicide terrorist. Did you have two rocket launchers or rockets and you were going to blast a wall immediately? No, no, no. I must explain this.
This was a encounter with terrorists, which started in the village. We normally have a coordinate search, so the coordinates are placed in the direction. foreign foreign foreign foreign foreign I went to the brigade quarter and went to the production party. And then, where the road is finished, you have to go to the jungle. so we have a unit from the other side of the vehicle ammunition ammunition
to replenish us. If the firing started, the ammunition was our soldiers and young people. Now, those who were my protection party, I had a machine gun, a rifle, ammunition and grenades. I didn't care for ammunition. And I always said that if I didn't wear bulletproof jacket and carry a weapon, if I can carry a weapon, then my temptation would be that I would like to take a gun. Thank you. Thank you. So you were just thinking. So I must think ahead. That is my job.
rocket launcher کے rockets کی ضرورت تھی جس سے کہ وہ جس گھر میں چھپے ہوئے ہیں اس کی دیوار کو توڑ سکیں لیکن rocket نیچے پڑے تھے اب ان کو اوپر لے جائے کون کیونکہ وہ سارے جتنے جوان تھے وہ سب تو اوپر They were drawn into the attack, into the encounter. My hands were empty. I didn't have a job. So I took two pods. There were two rockets. I took four rockets. So I was going to go up one hour. And when it happened, a terrorist hit me.
so when people haven't read this book, you can't read this book. It was like that when I was going through this book, Captain Vinod, who was in charge of that encounter, told me that our cordon is not going to start firing. So this is a very bad situation. So he said, which way you are coming, there is a LMG group.
machine gun group here to leave so that there is no way to go there so that there is no way to go there so my production party had 5 people left so I had to leave you there you are not three left. So I was a major 5th officer. He was a very experienced officer. He was a very experienced officer. So we were going to the top three. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. foreign foreign foreign foreign
I was standing outside my head. I was standing outside my head. I had a balance. I had rockets in my hands and I was passing the food. This is the jungle. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It happened that there was a terrorist that was running away from there. We left the machine gun there. He left his face and left his rifle behind me. fire me, but my tongue was extended, and actually, Amashu, my tongue was behind me. This is what I'm going to tell you. I don't know what happened.
It's good that it's good that it's good for me. which is very preferable than getting hit by a bullet. So this is a close save. I think I have to thank God and Himanshu Sawant for that. That is insane that he had that. Yes. Presence of mind to see that he is doing it from there. Because he also played it. He also played it. He also played it. So what gun did he have? One rifle. That must be a bunch of bullets, not just one. They whizzed right in front of you. I thought I could smell something.
So other close encounters that you can recall, very very close. a terrorist a terrorist a terrorist a terrorist a terrorist That's how it works. No, it works. It works. It works. It works. It works. It works. It works. in the mountains, there were steps in the mountains, so we were in the next steps in the mountains, so we were on the top of the mountains. Now, the ammunition was finished.
So, we had to put it on the ground. The cotton was effective. We were not able to shoot. We were firing. We were firing. We were firing. We were firing. We were firing. We were firing. We were firing. We were firing. We were 4-5 people. My name was Commando. My name was Pritham. I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, I was like, foreign foreign But Preetam's face was behind me and he grabbed his tongue. And he literally then kicked him. And we got him that.
The cordon. I mean, he put his shirt on his shirt. Maybe it seems like an elementary question, but the first time you saw blood, versus the tenth time you saw blood, some battle hardness must have come. So, I wrote this in the book and you also said that I did MBBS first year. First semester. First semester. First semester. First semester. First semester. First semester. First semester. First semester. First semester. First semester.
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