Batalik Terrain, Tasking Needed Divisional, Not Brigade Op, Recalls Brig Devinder Singh |

A quarter century of the Kargil war is an occasion to remember how tough the task was to evict intruders from Batalik, Dras and Kargil in 1999. Editor in Chief Nitin A. Gokhale revisits the area with half a dozen veterans to recall the battles, the tragedies and triumphs. In Episode I of the series, he is in conversation with Brig Devinder Singh, commander of 70 Brigade which won back the Batalik sector against all odds.
Part I of our series on # Kargil #india #indianarmy #pakistan
The India-Pakistan conflict of 1999, popularly known as the Kargil war, was actually fought in many sectors such as Batalik, Dras, Mushkoh, and sub-sector Hanif, but many of the fierce battles in sectors other than Dras (Tololing, Tiger Hill battles were fought in this sector for instance), did not get the same salience or coverage from the media. The reason: All these areas with varying but tough terrains were not near the highway.
Most of the peaks, upwards of 15000 feet in the Batalik Sector, had to be reached by walking up the streams and nallahs. The jagged mountain peaks made the going tough for soldiers. Helicopters could not fly because of the narrow valleys and steep mountains. Of all the sectors, Batalik had the least attention even from higher headquarters in Northern Command. Brig Devinder Singh, commander of the 70 brigade was given charge of the sector within days of the first signs of trouble. The resources he was provided with were meagre and hastily put together. There was no artillery support in the initial stages of the war and there was no clarity or consensus on what was the strength of the enemy sitting atop the formidable peaks.
The sector, split by nallahs and steep ridgelines can be roughly divided into four sub-sectors. Brig Devinder Singh remembers how difficult it was to control operations in all the four sub-sectors simultaneously since radio communication was non-existent in the initial days and subsequently affected due to screening and jamming. Result, the commander had to divide the brigade headquarters into three and he himself had to be on the move most of the time. Travelling to one sub-sector meant spending three days in remote areas, often cut off from the headquarters and not knowing what was happening elsewhere.
And yet, thanks to the intrepid and brave soldiers and officers of units like 1/11 Gorkha Rifles, 12 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and innovative staff officers under him, Brig Devinder Singh ensured that the 70 Brigade, understaffed, devoid of adequate resources or support, evicted nearly 800 Pakistani troops and recaptured all areas by the time the war ended on 26 July. His calm and collected leadership ensured first success for India before good news started coming from Dras. The Brigade also took the first prisoner of war-Naik Inayat Ali of 5 Northern Light Infantry-proving for the first time the involvement of the Pakistani Army in the operation.
Military historians such as Lt Gen YM Bammi have observed: “Though the Brigade earned one Prama Vir Chakra, two Maha Vir Chakras, four Yudh Seva Medals, 24 four Vir Chakras…the analysis of operations indicates that cases were either left out, or not suitably rewarded.”
A quarter century later, Brig Devinder Singh, is no longer affected by the ‘injustice’ meted out to him and his team for whatever reasons but has certainly not lost the ability to speak his mind.
Travelling with our Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale to the areas which had no roads in the months when he led the 70 brigade in 1999, but are now well connected right upto the Line of Control (LoC), Brig Devinder recalled minutest detail of every battle. Listen to their conversations recorded on location at Batalik and under the shadow of the towering Khalubar range.
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[@rbjagdhane]

This kind of documentaries to be made in abundance.. our generations and kids needs it much more than online education, instagram, fb and other non sense

[@dheerankurupasak]

11.50 Loved the way he corrected from China border to Tibet border.

[@uncletuts]

That's the way to go 😅

[@shivamgovil3476]

The way he explained the map, the geographies and was still able recall everything without even looking with so much efficiency, shows how well versed he was with the area.....and how meticulous they were trained. Good Documentary we need more like these...!

[@manishdalal2040]

Thanks for sharing such a memorable narration of Bravery

[@sandeep91ful]

Great Work Nitin! Salute to all the Indian Army Heroes.

[@chandraravish]

Excellent interview. First time I have come to see these places where Late Captain Manoj Pandey fought. Most important of all were graphics prepared by your team. One more suggestion, pls include more graphics in next interviews to be broadcasted, since these make things easy to understand. Brigadier saheb still remembered the area like the back of his hand.

[@abhinavmathur5648]

This is quite a good one, the memories are quite vivid as I was a 10 year old boy who's father was then the DQ of 70th Brigade along with Brig Devinder Singh which he recalls at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1106">18:26</a>

[@acharyavijay8210]

I did two LRPs in this area. Listening to familiar names made me nostalgic. Tough terrain.

[@doncorleone3901]

Army officers only really open up if they respect you and believe you understand what they say. Hatsoff to Nitin for being such a fantastic interviewer and actually knowing the military terminology and strategies

[@doncorleone3901]

The Brigadier looks terrifying but speaks so softly. Scholar warrior ❤

[@apachetamizha]

The battle of batalik was won by the team of bihar regiment led First kargil war martyr Late Major Saravanan Marriappan Vir Chakra. He is the Son of Lieutenant Colonel Marriappan A doctor in Army Medical corp. He was part operation held in srilanka.

[@karthikraja8214]

Fantastic ji I am karthikraja I was watching from southern most states Tamil Nadu

[@amolproit3985]

What a brilliant insight into ground level logistics and strategy that go into planning and taking back territory. Thank you for this session with Brig Devinder Singh!

[@TangoCharlie0_0]

Men in uniform never disappoint: Pakistan ❌️ P.O.K ✅️, China Border ❌️ Tibet Border ✅️. Salute to each and every person serving in the Indian Defence Forces. Thanks a lot Nitin sir for bringing up this kind of interesting & relevant content. Jai Hind ! 🇮🇳

[@terabaap-ee1lp]

Our Legend,Our Hero ..awesome video ❤❤❤

[@hkpandey1]

Excellent work by Nitin and StratNews team for recounting those fateful yet decisive days for the victory at Batalik sector👏👏

[@sunilkotak7529]

As usual, very good work. Way different from other youtube channels in a good way. Thanks.

[@rajmallya3632]

Loved it enjoyed it cherished it, please make more of this kind, also show the maps a bit more longer so as to understand the situation. I like to also suggest the name to simply Nitin to something more related to military. Thanks for great show.

[@HG-os3dy]

Great interview but there are some improvements in production and editing coul be done. First, the Brigadier was hard to understand due to wind nosie and partly his accent; you could provide captioning at the bottom. The other thing is when you show maps you keep them on the screen for a very short time so one can't relate to the discussion. You should keep the maps on the upper left side in a reduced size during the discussion. Also show other areas around to provide context.

[@sadanandshivagunde6164]

Amazing Indian Army. A big salute 🫡. Thank you. Jai Bharat 🙏

[@vikramsingh-rl4qo]

Simply love watching your channel, your content is to the point and incisive, keep up the good work Sir

[@sachinkohli8527]

Great work Nitin . Salute to the Great Warriors 🙌

[@pranshu0810]

Thanks for launching this series! Much appreciated!!

[@RahulReW]

Loved the episode looking forward to this series. 3 suggestions for future episodes I hope you will do 1) Keep the maps on the screen for longer listing out the places being mentioned, maybe you can add simple animation like arrows or something so people can understand the events being narrated more clearly. 2) When the interviewee points to things in the video may be add an animated arrow or highlight so one can understand what they are pointing to. 3) Try to cut the noise (wind or ruffling of mic) in editing to avoid distractions. Keep up the good work, you keep producing such good content. Cheers

[@RajeevSharma-yr1dn]

Been there...done that Was AirDefence Battery Commander

[@cr8701]

THE PEOPLE OF OUR GREAT NATION, BHARATH, ARE EVER SO GRATEFUL AND THNKFUL FOR THE PROFESSIONAL VALOR OF OUR GREAT ARMED FORCES, WITHOUT WHO, WE COULD NOT HAVE THE SECURE LIFE THAT WE ENJOY. BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, THE VESTED POLITICAL INTERESTS, EVEN COLLUDING WITH OUR EXTERNAL ENEMIES CREATE GREAT CHALLENGES AND OBSTRUCTIONS TO OUR ARMED FORCES. I AM 80 YEARS, AND OFTEN PRAY IF WE HAD A PATRITIC MILITARY DICATORSHIP, EVEN FOR A FEW YEARS, IT WOULD STABILIZE OUR BELOVED NATION. THE WEST, HAS ALWAYS, COLLUDED WITH OUR HOMEGROWN ANTINATIONALS, TO TRY EVERY WHICH WAY THEY CAN TO DESTABILIZE AND WEAKEN OUR COUNTRY AND BLUNT OUR PROGRESS, EVEN AS THEY PRETEND TO BE OUR FRIENDS. HOPE THE PEOPLE RALIZE THIS AND AC T IN THE BEST INTERES OF OUR GREAT COUNTRY. JAI BHARATH.

[@vibhourkumar5805]

Uncle ji kuch seekh lo duniya se. There are no benign mil dictatorships. Read and do aatamchintan

[@TLDR_DesiReactions]

Intriguing story! Love it! ✌✌

[@vrwebsites101]

back ground is amazing

[@MegaRoz1234]

What a brilliant endeavor! Kudos

[@jatingupta7154]

I really like these on gound episode having insight by men in action.

[@whaddoiknow6519]

Jai Javaan! Jai Hind!

[@rajanpatel57]

salute ! 🫡

[@tanveerdosanjh5039]

Good content

[@sachinanand7683]

Hindi transcript will be helpful to reach mass public.❤❤

[@himanshurawat4596]

Please inka KZbin mein search kro ...Hindi me interview available h....brigader shab ka

[@BESTTUBEGLOBAL]

🙏 Thank you Brigadier Sir .....

[@shivamgovil3476]

Please try to add more geographies in your videos, so that we as viewers have more understanding....! Thank you

[@rajatmahi4801]

#Jai Hind ❤❤❤

[@bp220481]

Waiting for part 2 or batalik

[@ruchikshah3826]

Pls make this video in hindi so that normal indian can understand 🙏

[@twisted_fire_starter]

Please fix audio either during recording or post production

[@ajitsawant50]

Hamye Aap pye garv hai!

[@sayeeshpillai5842]

Poor audio quality. Maybe because of the wind

[@kanaksharma4666]

we never shall

[@deadly_gaming.3245]

🫡🫡

[@balkaransidhu5334]

Is Col Sharma tried to distort the history of kargil war ?? He deleted the role of Punjab regiment. Please elaborate

[@pratikpaul6213]

Bekar positioning of microphone. Almost nothing could be heard

[@Aditya0227]

Would had been better in Hindi

[@gardentipsandideas]

Hindi boliye sir ji

[@hamzaafridi7628]

Kargil was a great operation which was not handled well at our well. Let me give you some fact check about the area in question. 1) we are still sitting at the highest point overlooking Thang and Taksi to the East. 2) Still dominate Bilargu and Tangal heights along glacier 3) Chorbat La heights 4) Silmo heights overlooking Lalung 5) Heights over looking Phuro Dear Sir, all of those and others are well beyong LOC Please note that we are still occupying since 1999 to date. PAKISTAN ZINDABAD.

[@jahanzebkhan8307]

Point 5353 and some top peak still pakistani control India try to caputued but failed and soo many casualties of indian army.

[@hamzaafridi7628]

@@jahanzebkhan8307 Agreed !

[@pkmkb007]

Please share proof of your claims about capturing these areas like photographs, maps etc.

[@drbd8661]

@@hamzaafridi7628lol keep dreaming porki

[@hamzaafridi7628]

@@pkmkb007 please share your email address, I shall send you proof.

[@SS.2026]

Too much of a romantic view of war. For those interested forget these youtube videos and go Read the official army's order of battle of each war and you will see there is nothing romantic about what has happened in the last 75 years in those mountains. Both sides have made many mistakes, terrible mistakes, squandered many lives and their countries limited resources, and have been Used by larger powers in games that have nothing to do with Kashmir. After all that there is still no solution. Solutions will never come if people on both sides think in romantic terms about war.

[@ricarica2194]

🎉🎉🎉🎉 super

[@JP-dp2yn]

Thank you for your service sir!!! Jai hind

[@sudhirverma1041]

He was primary person who goofed up and now have the cheeks to explain

[@twisted_fire_starter]

Interesting

[@divyanshuprakash1427]

I'd disagree, from what I've read from several different sources, brig devinder singh and brig surinder singh were made scapegoats by the incompetent corps commander lt gen pal who underestimated and ignored the scenario of such an intrusion happening over the harsh winter. Brig Devinder wasn't even up in this area when the intrusions were happening, he was brought up from the kashmir valley to clean up the mess, and he did an exceptional job in the swift recapture of Batalik sector. He was also cleared of any wrongdoing by the armed forces tribunal.

[@Israelii]

Is mein tera koi chela shamil nahi chal nikal

[@RajeevSharma-yr1dn]

Been there...done that Was AirDefence Battery Commander