Also published by defence.pk
So, you already have been
introduced to Saf Shikan Post; that it is a post above 18000 feet AMSL
which is dominated by an Indian post just a few meters away from where the
Indians liked to conduct shooting practice, and zeroed their weapons on us
casually. Whenever the Pakistani side would thrash Indians even in another
sector, they would retaliate by rocketing Saf Shikan day in and day out. Whether
some Kashmiri freedom fighters hundreds of kilometers away would hunt down some
of their occupiers, Saf Shikan would get the beating without any reason. Even
if the Indians would like to test a new High Altitude (HA) weapon, Saf Shikan
was there to serve as a soft target. But then this routine was getting old and
we had developed some means of our own to tire the Indians of their favorite
pastime. When I was up there, and had been on the receiving end for quite some
time (atleast twice a week), I along with a few other Officers chalked out a
plan which gave Indians a taste of their own medicine, and then they never
again targeted Saf Shikan for times to come. Atleast for the many years after I
had left Siachen till
a cease fire was announced between both the countries in 2003 which is still holding.
Though I am not sure how the Indians would treat Saf Shikan once this ceasefire
is over as decades have passed since we first provided the Indians with the
ante-dote.
Now
you must be wondering why we have to be on the receiving end, always. Well, in
mountainous areas like Kashmir and Siachen this is the part of the game. At
places you dominate the enemy and elsewhere he would. That’s how operating in
mountains is – a spur here with them and a ridge there with you.
Coming
back to Saf Shikan. The 25 x 10 feet area that made up Saf Shikan was cramped
by soldiers and some infrastructure that sloped along the length of the post. Movement
within the post had to be done while tying oneself to an HA rope or else you
risked slipping off into the base of the mountain a couple of hundred feet
below. Saf Shikan was a difficult post, not only because it was under direct
observation and fire of the enemy or because it was located on a slope, but for
a few other reasons that I shall explain shortly.
Snow,
time, kerosene (K-2) oil, ammunition and food are the five things that are
abundant at Siachen. Unfortunately at Saf Shikan, this cliché didn’t apply as
it mostly remained a bit short on food. During summers (dumping season) the
remaining posts were stacked with food, ammunition and K-II oil for the entire year.
However, as approach to Saf Shikan was being watched by Indians, dumping by
mules was not possible. Consequently, all the items were delivered to the post
on man-packed and opportunity basis i.e. whenever we could sneak a few men down
to the base.
Food at Siachen is plentiful.
Items like honey, butter, dried eggs, tinned meat, fruit and veggies, and
certain medicines like Cod liver oil capsules are readily available in
abundance. Flavored glucose is also a basic requirement as snow water tastes
bitter. However, due to reduced appetite, the fact that we Pakistanis are not
used to tinned items and how much honey can one actually eat on daily basis, you
normally find people complaining about the food ay Siachen. But then you tend
to respect food when you are at Saf Shikan. Unlike other posts, carriage of
items to Saf Shikan is limited to what a man can carry at one time. This is
further compounded as movement to and from Saf Shikan is also very restricted due
to our very vigilant Indians friends on the other side. So, we have prioritized
the items that can come to Saf Shikan as; Ammunition, K-II oil, medicines and
then rations. Rations too mean the basic items like dhall (pulses), flour and
vegetables as luxuries like honey and butter are not desired. Meat too is not
cooked at Saf Shikan because at such altitudes, cooking meat means more consumption
of K-II oil thus increasing its requirement.
During my tenure there,
ammunition was not an issue as we had enough of it to melt half of Siachen. So,
whenever the weather and the Indians gave us the opportunity to move a party,
we would get as much K-2 oil as the men could carry. Then was the rations. But
the maximum we could ask the men, in addition to the K-2, dhall and flour, was
to stack some sachets of flavored glucose in their pockets as asking anything
more while they were carrying a 22 kilogram jerry-can at a low oxygen area was
too much from them. Once when the men were fed up of eating the same dhall
every day, I acted generous and allowed them to replace glucose sachets with
some fresh potatoes. I was amused to see how they looked with all those potatoes
‘oozing’ out of their pockets. The good thing was that they were happy.
So at Saf Shikan the rule
was that everyone would get one roti, irrespective of his rank, along with
whatever was cooked thrice a day. Tea was only given during breakfast. No exceptions
whatsoever. Now this seemed a bit harsh when compared to the other posts which
had so much rations that men would write their names on snow with colored
glucose for fun and complained about the ‘taste’ of food most of the time. But
then Saf Shikan had its limitations. I remember when once we were short of K-2,
we had to eat uncooked dhall for two days. By the way, another trick I learned there
was if you are short on cigarettes, rolling used tea in a piece of paper and
smoking it would give you the requisite psychological satisfaction of smoking a
real cigarette!
This blog is the part three of a sequel (Part-1 and Part-2).
This blog is the part three of a sequel (Part-1 and Part-2).
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