Drass: The recapture of Tiger Hill was a turning point during the Kargil conflict and the Indian Army did not look back after that victory.
And on Sunday the Army is looking back with pride ten years after the military operation and recapture of the formidable 5,062 metre-high mountain top from Pakistani Army regulars in Operation Vijay.
"Today is the tenth anniversary of our winning back the Tiger Hill from the Pakistani Army regulars, who were sitting on the top. Tiger Hill and Tololing range victories can be said to be the turning points of the war as from there on, there was nothing stopping the Indian Army till the time the war ended on July 26," a senior officer from the 56 Brigade in Drass said.
The celebrations, the officer said, are being held at the respective present locations of the units who won the battle.
"We would be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the battle at Drass on July 26, the day when the battle ended in favour of India and we wrested all our positions from the Pakistanis," he said.
Kargil-based 8 Mountain Division of the Indian Army is planning to honour the units and next of kin of the martyrs and the gallantry award winners during the celebrations.
"We have invited over 450 people including the representatives of the units, which took part in the action, the families of the martyrs along with the senior commanders of the region at that time," 8 Mountain Division Commander Major General Suresh Khajuria said.
The Army Chief and all the senior Commanders are going to be here for the event, he said.
Units from three regiments -- 18 Greandiers, 2 Naga and 8 Sikh -- were involved in the operations to recapture the feature dominating the National Highway A1 (NHA1) and from where the Pakistani troops were shelling Indian convoys moving towards Kargil and Leh in a bid to cut off Indian supply lines towards Siachen and the whole of Ladakh region.
Their attack was launched on the feature in the corresponding night of July 4-5, 1999 by two batallions and by next morning, they evicted the Pakistani troops belonging to 12 Northern Light Infantry, Special Forces, Engineers and Artillery from the feature.
After the operations, Havaldar Yogendra Yadav from 18 Greandiers was awarded the Param Vir Chakra for his exceptional display of gallantry in the intense battle for the peak.
Tiger Hill has sharp conical features, which stands among the mountain tops a few kilometres north of Drass. During the Kargil war, the picture of Indian troops after having captured the Tiger Hill became the symbol of the Indian victory in the war.