Summer of 1999 , when the whole Indian subcontinent was witnessing a conflict which could potentially turn into a nuclear war, one brave woman Journalist rose to prominence. She became a household name, known for her courage whilst reporting standing right from the battle theatre.
Kargil war, which happened between 15th May 1999 to 26th July 1999, was the first televised war in the Indian subcontinent. Cable television and live reportage brought the battlefield right into our living rooms. A person who would’ve seen Kargil war go live on his/her television, could recollect how the mighty 155mm Bofors howitzers pounded enemy positions, situated high upon the hills. One could also remember the young 27 year old female reporter, who became the star of prime-time war reporting. Yes, it’s Barkha Dutt. She had also achieved one unique feat by interviewing late Capt. Vikram Batra. Even after all these feats, does her reportage actually deserve the title “exemplary”, or is it just a “blunder”, which she used to her favour?
Barkha Dutt came into limelight for covering the famous operation for the Tiger Hill. For those who don’t know, Tiger Hill is one of the strategic points taken over by the Pakistan Army’s Northern Light Infantry during the early days of 1999. It holds a strategic importance, as it overlooks the National Highway 1A, which connects Srinagar to Leh, and even Zoji La pass which leads to Siachen Glacier. Not only did it give the enemies advantage of overlooking Indian convoy movements down below, but also coordinate artillery strikes from across the border, to achieve pin point hits on our assaulting forces during the war. It didn’t took no less than 3 attempts by the Indian army to recapture the feature (Point 5062). It was only on the third attempt, from July 3rdto July 8th 1999, that the Indian Army was finally able to recapture the point from Pakistani occupants.
Barkha Dutt’s entry into the limelight:
On the evening of 3rd July 1999, when the final assault was being conducted, Barkha Dutt was on the scene, reporting from the 192nd Mountain Brigade HQ. As soon as the briefing got over, Barkha Dutt and her cameraman rushed outside to witness the Indian Army jawans mount an assault on the peak, when suddenly her cameraman’s flashlight got “accidentally” switched on. Even if it was for a brief moment, the reporter continues her job there for almost 10 minutes and leaves the sight, following which there is a heavy Pakistani artillery bombardment on the position she reported from, killing 3 of our jawans. Shouldn’t Barkha Dutt come up with a clarification on the same, or even ask for an apology, even if the flash “accidentally” turned on? Even after 20 years since this incident has taken place, the latter hasn’t clarified on the same.
The next morning, again a briefing was called at the Brigade HQ, when Colonel David briefed his men regarding the action plan for the day ahead. At an instance, Barkha Dutt went live from the headquarters, regarding the action plan for the day ahead. It also happened that Colonel David and two of his subordinates had to take Barkha Dutt into an underground bunker and console her to stop telecasting live.
Disclosing the Indian Army Bofors gun positions:
As the coordinated strike on Tiger Hill began exactly at 1715 hours on June the 3rd 1999, Barkha Dutt rolled live to report the situation. In the clip attached below, from timestamp 1:39 to 1:45, you can find the cameraman zooming from their position into that of Tiger Hill.
Wouldn’t this expose the position of the Indian artillery battery , to the enemies entrenched on the hill? It is to be kept in mind that NDTV is also telecasted across the border in Pakistan. If at all this information would have been viewed by enemy commanding officer, it could have made a valuable input, as to the number and types of artillery used in the assault(at least make a probability guess), and even make a referent of the video clip to plot Indian artillery position in relevance to Tiger Hill, severely compromising the important positions of the security forces.
Carrying a satellite phone into battlefield:
Allowing a reporter into the battlefield itself is a risky task. Ensuring complete security of the reporter and cameraman and keeping them off any sorts of hazards, would put more burden on the local commander. It also means that a significant amount of human resources should also be allocated to take care of the journalists, and as the saying goes “every man counts in the battlefield”. But Barkha Dutt didn’t just stop with reporting live from Indian Artillery positions, but also carry a satellite phone into battle theatre. Unlike a normal telephone we use, a satellite phone uses orbiting satellites to transmit messages, unlike cellphones which use mobile towers. This also means that these telephonic signals can be intercepted using another satellite phone , allowing easy eavesdropping when connected on the same frequency. This has been one of the reasons when several times our messages had been eavesdropped by enemies during primitive stages of the war. Why whould Barkha Dutt carry a satellite phone into battle theatre, even after the latter is banned to be carried into battle zone?
These are some of the ways in which Barkha Dutt had compromised Indian offensive during Kargil war, but did it end there?
To be continued in our next article.
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