Brigadier M P S Bajwa was the Commander of the 192 Mountain Brigade, and these momentous events took place under his direct supervision. The brigade went on to re-capture Tiger Hill and etched its name in the annals of military history.

Sepoy Mohammad Arshad of 19 FF had been caught lying injured among dead bodies of Pak soldiers by troops of 3/3 Gorkha Rifles after an attack by the Indian troops in the Zulu Top sector.

Brig Bajwa had recounted to The Indian Express that the Pakistani soldier was lying injured and blindfolded when he first saw him and appeared quite scared and under trauma.

The Gorkha soldiers who had captured him were speaking in gorkhali and he did not understand what was being said. Addressing the Pakistani soldier in Punjabi, Brig Bajwa said , “Mohd Arshad kee haal hai, kaka tagro ho” (How are you Mohd Arshad. Come on boy show some grit).

The Pakistani soldier broke down on hearing these words and told Brig Bajwa that now that he had spoken in Punjabi to him he was feeling relieved. “You seem to be like a Commander. I have never met a commander in my service,” he said to Brig Bajwa. Thanking the Indian troops for having helped him, the injured Pak PoW said he was told in his unit that the Indian ‘kafirs’ would kill soldiers if they were captured.

Brig Bajwa told him that the Indian Army would send him back to Pakistan once he had recovered from his wounds. He said he did not want to go back as he would be killed. The Pakistani jawan gave the name of his CO and battalion officers and some vital information of tactical importance.

The photographs of the captured Pakistani soldier appeared in news reports around the world and put to rest the Pakistan Army’s lies that no regular soldier was involved in the intrusions and that these were ‘mujahideen’ fighting against the Indian Army.

In a related incident pertaining to 19 FF, the Commanding Officer of the Pakistan Army infantry battalion, which had infiltrated into Indian territory in the Zulu Top area of Kargil, referred to the ‘Izzat’ (honour) of his battalion while requesting for the bodies of his troops killed in battle. He even invoked the name of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who had served in the regiment before partition.

Lt Col Mustafa, CO of 19 FF, spoke to Brig Bajwa on wireless communication and requested his troops’ bodies. The handing over of Pakistani soldiers’ bodies with all military honours was filmed and helped further prove the Indian case about Pakistan Army regulars having intruded across the Line of Control (LoC).

On July 27 or 28, 1999, the Pakistan Army battalion commander near Zulu Top spoke to the CO of 3/3 Gorkha Rifles (GR), a battalion of 192 Brigade deployed in the area. The CO, in turn, told the Brigade Commander that someone from the Pakistan side wanted to talk to him on the radio set.

Brig Bajwa recalled that the Pakistani officer said ‘Hello Sir this is Lt Col Mustafa from Frontier Force (FF) Regiment’. “He mentioned that Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was part of FF before partition,” Brig Bajwa had told The Indian Express in an interview a few years ago.

The Pakistani officer identified himself as the CO of the FF battalion deployed in the area. “Your boys have fought very well. My boys have been killed. And you know that this is a case of ‘izzat’ of the battalion. My request is that I be handed over the dead bodies as I would like to bury them myself. This is for the ‘izzat’ of paltan,” Brig Bajwa recalled.

The Brigadier said he asked the Pak CO what he would do in exchange for the bodies of his troops. “I asked, Mustafa, even if I hand over the bodies to you, what will you do for me. He said he would go back to the Pak side of LoC (meaning his battalion would retreat). Next fight will not happen, he said,” Brig Bajwa said.

The former Brigade Commanders said he was still unsatisfied and asked Lt Col Mustafa how he could be taken for his word. “He said I am a Pathan. I told him that I am a Sardar’ (Sikh) and I will hand over the bodies as promised. This decision was made by me on the spur of the moment on the spot,” he said.

The Pakistani CO was specifically told that the handing over of the bodies would take place on the condition that the event takes place as per military customs and that the Pakistanis should not attempt to take the bodies back in gunny bags, etc.

Brig Bajwa told Lt Col Mustafa that he should send his troops with white flag and stretchers and take the bodies with full respect. He followed these instructions and made a video clip of the bodies’ handing over. This video went a long way to establish that Pakistan Army regulars were fighting in the war.