Kitne Ghazi aaye Kitne Ghazi gaye; My life story by Lt Gen K J S ‘Tiny’ Dhillon (Retd)
E-book
Non fictional auto biography of a celebrated army Lt General who was in charge of the security and peace keeping force in Kashmir during the crucial time of the abrogation of article 370 and 35A.
My interest in this book started when I saw an interview of this braveheart in which he states how two times he had been told or falsely informed to be dead by the news desk and he was in fact alive! Both the times though his wife took over her role as the wife of an army officer and how!
I immediatly got the book and it was a page turner!
Rating-4/5 for the content 5/5 for the emotion!
The best thing about the book is how a normal person who is just average can one day become an army general and do feats of super human capability!
How a great tragedy of losing his mother (How she was killed is an amazing story of bravery and it is her blood which runs in his body for sure!); he still overcame that and the loss of another close to him to slowly take control of his life and how!
His journey to the NDA and the struggles faced as a cadet would bring every army personnel sweet nostalgic memories! The trials and training they undergo and also the sweet wait for the one day thay can roam around the city or the vacation is pure nostalgia of anyone who has lived in a hostel but it is of course more difficult in the NDA!
The discipline and the camaraderie is shown with so many examples that it is a veritable guidebook for the army cadet!
The book would also serve as an inspiration for the youngsters who are keen to join the defense and serve the nation. Every single aspect of defense life including from a junior cadet to one of the senior most officer has been described with lots of tales and stories and with the typical ‘Humour in Uniform’
One serious notes he talks about his sojourn in Kashmir which is close to his heart and it shows! He gives a vivid description on the culture and temples and cuisines of Kashmir.
He talks about Rajputhana Rifles which is one of the chief units which protects our country from many insurgents and terrorist attack.
With sorrow and shock he talks about the Phulwama attack which is padded by pride when he talks about the come back of CRPF in spite of the tragedy and how it is actually not an intelligence failure but an accident. He tells about how intelligence is an amalgamation of complex information and it has helped thwart so many attacks but those ‘saves’ cannot be made public due to security reasons! Its is like you do not remember the hundreds of goals saved but you jump on one goal which is missed!
He gives us detailed analysis of situation in Kashmir with special emphasis on burhan Wahni, Zakir Musa and many other terrorists.
Being a doctor, I felt pride when he spoke about those doctors and nursing staff of the 92 base hospital who are providing yeomen services in spite of the stress and danger to the injured. So much so that they have been given a slogan that if you reach the 92 base hospital, rest assured you will be saved!
The amazing surgical strikes which we did and the incident of Aravindam and his return; Chief of army staff General Bajwa legs were shaking news brings immense pride to the average Indian like me!
If you pick up a gun you are dead was the slogan for anyone who decides to fight against the Indian army and become a terrorist in the Kashmir area!
He tells us the aftermath of Section 370; august 5 2019 the GOI abrogated articles 370 and 35A; The national security advisor Mr Ajith Doval arrived in Srinagar and stayed with the forces for two weeks. The author states that it was one of the best decisions to be taken and it will lead to the development of Kashmir in the long run.
The hue and cry over the internet being stopped was to prevent any propaganda like spreading the video of somewhere and causing trouble. Very soon 2g was restored and normalcy attained as soon as possible. And this and many such measures which were taken to ensure peace during those trying times have been described in detail.
Kashmiri Pundit exodus and its affect; he talks in passing of one of the greatest tragedies of Kashmir. He also mentions how this exodus made the intellectual Pundits leave Kashmir creating a void which cannot be filled. He also states how academia and education suffered after the exodus and Kashmir has still not recovered from this massive loss.
How as home minister Amit Shah with a personal meeting with Dhillon was in absolute control and fully conversant with the meeting agenda. He had done extensive research and homework before organizing the meeting and also had his ear to the ground.
Finally he commented that, “Bees yuvraj bhi mil kar iss bande ka muqabla nahin kar sakte!” meaning even twenty crown princes would not be able to match up to this person!
He mentions about the visit by Territorial Lieutenant Colonel M S Dhoni! and how a civilian is consoled by Tiny! All at the same time!
Operation Ma deserves special mention and is reproduced here verbatim; ‘our analysis of the situation over the last one and a half years highlighted the short shelf life of a local terrorist 7 per cent of the local youngsters who picked up a weapon were getting killed in the first ten days of their joining the terrorists’ tanzeems, and 9 per cent inclusive of this 7 per cent were getting killed in the first thirty days, 17 per cent in the first three months, 36 per cent in the first six months, and about 64 per cent were getting killed in the first one year. This implied that if three boys had joined the terrorists’ organizations, two of them or two-thirds of them were likely to get eliminated in the first one year alone. Further, 83 per cent of the boys who had joined terrorists’ organizations had a history of having indulged in stone-pelting!’
Taking the above factor in mind they instituted the Operation Ma which was very successful!
In the end he gives special dedications to many stalwarts and he does that in between too. The best and most honest dedication was for General Rawat and it was from the heart! Another dedication was to Tulla of zojila OR Anayatullah a differently abled Bulldozer driver!
The novel is full of stories of army, of NDA, and of Kashmir! All supplemented with amazing photos as it happened! Including photos of Bullt! (Bullet!); a sardarji’s passion and love!
He tells about the great sacrifices of the army wives and mothers and how army is one big family and how they take care of one another.
For anyone who is Indian this is a reminder that no matter what we do for the defense folks, it is just not enough! The reason why we can safely sit in our homes and comment and talk or even criticize about them is because of the security given by them by their bravery and supreme sacrifice! It has to be the love of the country which can make a person give up his family and his life and not for any money or facility.
For defense personnel and families of defense people, this is a sweet journey of nostalgia!
Go for it!
Jai Hind…
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