Kargil war should not be judged by one incident, says ex-Army chief

NEW DELHI/ SHILLONG/ BHOPAL - Former Army Chief General V P Malik has said the military tribunal ruling against an army commander for being biased against an officer in the 1999 Kargil war should not taint the whole war and the army.

General Malik’s comments came after the Armed Forces Tribunal indicted former 15 Corps Commander Lt Gen Kishan Pal for showing bias against Brigadier Devinder Singh’s performance in the Kargil war between India and Pakistan.

General Malik said that one incident should not taint the whole war and the sacrifices of the soldiers cannot be overlooked.

“The Kargil war and the war history in which the Army, Navy, Air force fought and there were so many sacrifice, that should not be judged on the basis of this particular judgment that has been given,” said Malik.

“It would be grossly unjust really to paint the whole episode, Kargil war, all the work that has been done by the Indian Army with a black brush because of this,” he added.

General Malik further said the Kargil war was the most ‘transparent war’.

“We are talking of the 70 brigade, the performance and the work done by the 70 brigade and by Brigadier Devinder Singh and the corps headquarters. That has to be corrected, that should be corrected,” said General Malik.

“But please don’t judge the entire war history because of that. In every war, there will be, there has been some incidents like this which take place and this was the most transparent war that we had,” he added.

Army Chief General Vijay Kumar Singh, however, refused to comment on the issue.

“The tribunal has given a judgment. I can’t speak about the internal matters with you because I haven’t read the report yet. Whatever it is, I will speak about it later, it is not appropriate that I talk n this now,” said General Singh.

According to the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), the then 15 Corps Commander Lt General Kishan Pal tampered with reports relating to the performance in the Kargil war, of the then 70 Infantry Brigade Commander, Brigader Devinder Singh.

Brigadier Devinder Singh was awarded a Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) and not a gallantry award.

He was also deprived of a promotion. (ANI)