Guns and Khukris at the Kargil War Memorial

Image attribution: By Ulfberth at German Wikipedia - Own work, Public Domain

At the Kargil war memorial in Drass, we were greeted by a sentry in full battle gear, which included an assault rifle and a 'khukri' (a short sword with a distinct recurve in its blade). I presume he was from the Naga or Gurkha regiment, soldiers who proudly carry a khukri into battle. I have heard talk about the Government of India's plans to abolish regiments based on ethnicity from the Indian Army, replacing them with regiments with soldiers from mixed backgrounds, named 1, 2, 3 or something as inane as that. I wonder if Naga or Gurkha soldiers will still be allowed to carry their khukris as part of their battle gear when that happens.

Meanwhile, I was also excited to see a puny little howitzer at the memorial that could be disassembled, the parts loaded onto the backs of mules and carried up mountains across trails, and re-assembled there to rain fire on the enemy ensconced up there. I had heard about the role of the larger Bofors guns during the Kargil war, but not so much about this one, and I was pleased to see it in person.

I also saw a heavy machine gun up close for the first time and remembered Sylvester Stallone firing it in one of the Rambo series movies based in Burma (Myanmar).

Another thing I noticed was that the army had either hired very creative writers or some of its officers themselves had been able to come up with very creative captions for the war photographs on display at the memorial.

I bought an insulated water bottle as a memento from the souvenir shop for the princely sum of Rs. 1425. I hope the government will use the premium they charged me for a good cause, perhaps related to the Indian Army and its soldiers.