Kargil: Another 'true' story

TRUTH is invariably the first casualty in contentious situations and the Kargil chapter of Indian history is no different. Much has already been written about the first media war on the sub- continent. And now that the rush of deadlines is over, the ringside view enjoyed by mediapersons has spawned a number of books on Kargil; each claiming to be the most authentic account of what happened in the treacherous heights.

Given the intelligence failure and the early mismanagement of the situation - a point made time and again by Harinder Baweja in A Soldier's Diary: Kargil - The Inside Story - the truth probably lies somewhere in between the growing corpus of Kargil literature.

Claiming to be the true story of Kargil, Baweja's book - which also announces the entry of the India Today group into book publishing under the imprint Books Today - is a description of Operation Vijay from Day One as "seen through the eyes of one of the front-line commanders". To give a degree of credibility to her account, Baweja chooses the diary format to present her version of Operation Vijay. The diary reveals how the political leadership and the top brass in the Army had been caught napping and had very little clue about the situation days after they sent inadequately armed troops up the barren peaks to push back "the few rats that have come in".

A Soldier's Diary: Kargil - The Inside Story, Harinder Baweja, Books Today, Rs. 250.

ANITA JOSHUA

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