Major Zaka-ul-Haq.
Are you sure it's the same person? Because on his facebook wall I don't see any comments from friends/relatives etc, which seems a little strange, when something like this happens.
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Major Zaka-ul-Haq.
Sadly, not a practical one.
Actually there's been a lot of talk about this in some circles, and I've been listening in. It all hinged on what practical good we can do. It's been pointed out that for our choppers to be deployed, they would have to fly all the way to the top, to our positions, and then across and down again. In avalanche conditions, it is very dangerous to have heavy choppers chuntering around, and people get testy and irritable if that happens. Secondly, ferrying across second echelon troops might not be a brilliant idea if they do not happen to be the acclimatised set.
It turned out that perhaps the only sensible help we could give would be help that is unfortunately not realistically possible - it would be to re-deploy our front-line troops for search and rescue operations down the slope. Today, with the government weak, and facing charges of mishandling the Army and the Army Chief in particular, nobody in Delhi is going to take THAT decision. Pity.
Frustrating discussion, really...
I read that the incident zone is more accessible from the Pakistani side.
However if India has acclimatized men deployed nearby who have been living in the same condition, its worth trying to utilize them.
i think Dhruv's have done operations in siachin before.
so we can send there if asked..
and they can carry heavy load too
They will have to ascend a mountain and descend into the Pakistani side. That alone should take over a day at fastest. Then there is the case of the unneccesary risk attached with the move. It won't be an attractive offer for those high-up in the IA.
If both the sides work it out maybe they could be airdropped inside Pakistani controlled Siachin near the incident zone. That would take less effort even though there is a risk. There are better chances of doing this if survivors can be confirmed, so it's worth the risk.
For once our leaders have a ready made situation to show each other the "humanity" side in all this. Our leaders are sitting side by side and this could be a massive bridging of gaps between the 2 nations to seek the build a relationship on having a joint operation - maybe im in dream land but is it too much to ask for that our 2 nations military between them must have access to some of the best utensils to use on this operation? As each minute and hour goes bye i sense we have seen the last breaths of the jawaans.
We can sit and put up permutations on here - those in charge that can make a difference may be missing out a major oppertunity in a life saving exercise and a "building of bridges" between the 2 nations....
When my father was posted to Siachin and when he was in the HQ for acclimatisation, he met a search party which had come from South (he said may be Lahore). The search party came EVERY YEAR to Siachin to find the dead bodies of a few of their men (same unit) which were buried in the snow due to an avalanche and this was the third time (which means third year) they went back without any trace of dead bodies.
Good sentiment, but unlikely to happen, frankly speaking.
You are probably right VC - but any sane person can see that it perhaps is a small gesture that can sometimes break down the walls and barriers. Maybe dreams one day will come true....