A year before he was to retire, Naik Inayat decided to make some extra pay while soldiering. And so he volunteered for 5 NLI in June 1998, and benefit from the Northern Area Allowances given to soldiers serving in units deployed in the forward areas. These financial benefits amount to 25 per cent of basic pay. He was posted to 5 NLI, then located at Hamzigund under 62 Infantry Brigade. Nk Inayat Ali was, however, serving as a guard commander at Skardu until the battalion really tasted the ire of the Indian Army’s response to their intrusions.

He is the son of a 68-year-old farmer from Somdus, near Skardu, father of two daughters and two sons and the brother of six young men. He is uneducated. He is a Pakistan Army soldier. And he is grateful to have survived the battle. He is Naik Inayat Ali, a corporal, from the 5th Battalion, the Northern Light Infantry (NLI). Barely days before his retirement from military service, Nk. Inayat Ali was sent across the Line of Control (LoC) by the Pakistani military authorities, and soon enough was captured by advancing Indian Army troops. And this is his story, since he became a soldier, and how he came to become a ‘Mujahid’, only in the Pakistan Army’s parlance, of course.

After completing his basic military training in June 1979 at the NLI centre at Bunji, Nk. Inayat was posted to 9 NLI. In the last 20 years he has served with his original battalion at Dudhnial (32 Infantry Brigade Sector), Nekrun (32 Infantry Brigade Sector) Skardu (as reserve battalion for Force Commander Northern Areas), Siachin (323 Infantry Brigade Sector), Kel (32 Infantry Brigade Sector), Gultari (80 Infantry Brigade Sector), and Jura (12 Infantry Division Sector).

On June 26, 1999, Nk Inayat was ordered to report to Hamzigund, at the battalion headquarters, and on arrival was moved to his battalion’s area of intrusions in the Batalik sector. Although he informed the unit of his impending retirement, Nk Inayat was denied permission to go back, and on June 28 reached his company post. While the battalion was deployed in the area of Khalubar-Tharu-Kukarthang-Jubar, Lt. Col. Mohammed Tariq, the Commanding Officer remained at Hamzigund. Nk Inayat was in the Point 4812 area of Khalubar, or "Naeem Sector" as the Pakistan Army refers to it. The other company sectors were called "Shaheen", "Khyber" and "Javed". Each company had been provided with additional manpower to make up any deficiencies, and minimum of a platoon strength was deployed at each post. The defences in the posts were constructed of sanghars, basically local rocks put together to make a secure space. Communication between posts, company and battalion headquarters was conducted in local dialects so as to make it more secure.

Nk Inayat recalls, vividly, that the Pakistan Army lost five officers in the Indian Air Force attack on the Munthu Dhalo on June 10. This was an administrative base for the Batalik area of intrusions, and comprised at least 80 large and small tents on the day of the attack. The loads were carried to Munthu Dhalo from Gambat Ganoks across the LoC and then onwards to the posts by personnel of Bajaur and Chitral Scouts. Dressed in salwar-kameez, these paramilitaries preferred carrying the loads at night because of Indian artillery shelling, and they also built up numbers at certain posts facing difficulties.

The Pakistan Army authorities did not tell the soldiers that they were crossing the LoC, just simply that they were defending their own defences. The order to move in non-military clothing was, therefore, mystifying to the troops. And to top it all, the troops had not been given any leave for last one year, and Nk Inayat has himself not been home for the last 18 months. Those six soldiers from 5 NLI who had asked for discharge from service had been denied permission by Lt. Col. M. Tariq, the Commanding Officer. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the morale of the troops was low. And coupled with the launching of operations by the Indian Army to evict the intrusions, there was a deep sense of fear prevailing amongst the troops.

Nk Inayat confirmed the death of Brig. Nusrat Khan Sial, Commander 62 Infantry Brigade, in a helicopter crash. The Batalik area of intrusions was under Brig. Sial’s brigade responsibility. As far as the other battalions in the area are concerned, it is only the NLI battalions that have been moved forward. The other Pakistan Army units have remained in the depth areas, and they include 69 Baluch (Olthingthang), Wing Chitral Scouts, Wing Bajaur Scouts, 3 NLI (Chorbat La), 7 NLI (Piun), 51 Mountain Battery and 8 Field Postal Unit (Hamzigund). At the last Pakistan Day Parade (March 25, 1999), 7 NLI had participated and then was reinducted to FCNA.

By his statement the NLI has 15 battalions. Nk Inayat has confirmed that the Pakistan Army has used the NLI units as ‘cannon fodder’, since only the NLI was used in the area of intrusions. Out of the 15 battalions, evidence has appeared of personnel from 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11 and 12. NLIs being involved in crossing the LoC. Add to that the personnel of Bajaur and Chitral Scouts, and it becomes clear that only those from the Northern Area were used. And he has not seen any movement of any Kashmiri or Afghan militants or their camps in the Skardu area. So where did the ‘freedom fighters’ or ‘mujahideen’ that Pakistan claims were occupying the ridgelines come from? One of them is called No. 2837712 Naik Inayat Ali of Somdus village near Skardu, and presently serving with 5 Northern Light Infantry. You have just read his story as a ‘freedom fighter’ or ‘mujahid’.