Siachen – Battle of Roses – two reviews

SIACHEN GLACIER: THE BATTLE OF ROSES. By Harish Kapadia. Pp. 229, 30 colour and 7 b/w photos, 6 sketch-maps, 2010. (Rupa & Co, New Delhi, Rs.495).

Harish Kapadia needs no introduction in this journal, nor does his subject. To him the Siachen is the Taj Mahal of mountain areas. His latest book distils three decades of enthusiasm and experience climbing and trekking on the glacier which has also exacted from him the highest price, the loss of his Gorkha son in battle. Through his own expedition experiences he interweaves both the history of the region’s exploration in the days of the Great Game and the phases of continuing geopolitical turmoil still arising from its position on a crucial border zone, controlling land access between Pakistan and China. He recounts how the main axis of the Karakoram was established by explorers such as Younghusband and Longstaff, Visser and the Workmans, but goes on to show how the fatal imprecision of the Shimla Agreement’s wording regarding the Line of Control has led to two and a half decades of conflict between India and Pakistan in an unremitting cycle of attack and counter-attack. In this the comings and goings of foreign climbing expeditions and even such a small event as a dropped rucksack have become markers in the propaganda war.

Unconcerned by all this, western and Japanese climbers have been happy to grab a chance of visiting such an austere collection of virgin 7000 m peaks and historic cols, but even travel with Harish Kapadia himself has not always guaranteed smooth conduct through the war zone, as he ruefully describes. A great deal of this book is taken up with the ongoing warfare, with accounts of early heroes like Chewang Rinchin and his Nubra Guards, of OP Baba, the deified observer officer, the pivotal battle of Bilafond la and the bravery of Indian Air Force helicopter pilots, but the author also gives the reader a rare glimpse of the daily life of Indian soldiers on this inhospitable border, as they prop up an uneven stove leg with a couple of biscuits and share partisan jokes and songs at base camp. To the futility of this tit-for-tat warfare is added the depressing inevitability of pollution as garbage not left to decay is dumped down crevasses and split kerosene pipes desecrate the glacier.

And yet against all odds, Harish Kapadia remains positive and forward thinking. The Saltoro ridge will one day be recognised as the true boundary and the Siachen Peace Park for which he has been working for so long will one day become a reality. But until that happens eager climbers who consult the author’s invaluable geographical appendix which breaks down the region by sectors will be advised to acquire sound accreditation and good local support before venturing into this desperate but beautiful wilderness.

MAGGIE BODY

I have read most books of Harish Kapadia, SIACHEN GLACIER – The Battle of Roses is perhaps the best book he has written. Only Harish Kapadia could have done so much research on the Siachen glacier. I am amazed at from the facts he has given about the Siachen glacier which were not in the common knowledge of average readers of the mountaineering books. After I finished the book I reflected for a while and then thought that he is the Keneth Mason of Siachen glacier. Some information he has given about the expeditions is not found even in Kenneth Meson’s book Himalaya – Abode of Snows. Perhaps Kenneth Mason had a larger canvas to cover.

The details Harish has given about the battles of Siachen are news even to most of the Army Officers. It just shows how deep he has gone into the subject of Siachen glacier. The description of the life of jawans (soldiers) and their living conditions are very interesting and impressive. No Army Officer could have done more justice to it because through long familiarity they have become blasé to many events. He has done a great service to the Army by pointing out the extreme living conditions of the jawans at high altitudes where it is difficult even to breathe due to lack of oxygen in the rarefied air in sub zero temperatures. He very rightly points out that apart from these living conditions our soldiers have to face objective hazards of the mountains like snow storms , avalanches, white outs, crevasses and all this under the watchful eyes of the snipers of Pakistan Army. He has given many interesting legends connected with Siachen. One of them is about ‘Teram Sher’ (Oasis city), a temporary village, put up by Yarkandis on the banks of the beautiful lake from where they used to raid Balti villages for loot and pretty Balti ladies. It is situated at the confluence of Siachen (east) with Teram Shehr glacier (south). This village was destroyed after Baltis put a Tawiz (amulet) given to them by Mullah Hazrat on Bilafond la.

I visited this lake in 1978 (almost half a century after G. Dainelli expedition in 1930). We found hundreds of heads of (old) ibexes who perhaps had come and breathed their last here after drinking the lake’s water and feeding on the green grass meadow. After the curse of the great Mullah this route from Shaksgam valley to Balti villages via Bilafond la was totally destroyed due to avalanches. The Yarkandis started coming to Yarma gompa situated on the right bank of the Nubra river, crossing from the Saser la on the Yarkand-Leh silk route. When we visited this gompa in 1978 the elderly Lama told us that the last time a non Buddhist had visited them was before the Second World War. Going through the history of Siachen explorations I knew it was Flight Lieutenant (equivalent to Army Captain) Peter Young in 1939. I didn’t think he reached Gyong la, but had a good Shikar trip anyway.

The author is right when he says that the Generals of the Indian army are divided as far as the strategic value of Siachen is concerned. I think we the mountaineers should leave it to them to come to their own conclusions. High altitude plays tricks with the memory of the mountaineers. One instance of that lapse of memory is in Para 1 of p.87. It conveys the impression that at the time of Indus Boat Expedition and reconnaissance of Siachen, I had retired from the army. This is not true. A book reviewer must find some faults at least to earn his upkeep. After great scrutiny I found that in appendix ‘B’ page 209 the author writes ‘the high peaks on the eastern wall of Siachen are Singhi Kangri (7751 m), and three peaks of Teram Kangri (7428 m)’. Actually on ground we found Singhi Kangri much lower than Teram Kangri peaks. However the author is not to be blamed as Survey of India maps at that time showed the same height. Even Survey of India cannot be blamed as they have admitted on their maps that ‘ALIGNMENT APPROXIMATE’ on the Siachen glacier blue contours (yet to be mapped properly). These two words alignment approximate acted as showing ‘red rag to the Bull’. The pun not intended. (Col. Kumar’s nickname is Bull-ed).

Though I am full of admiration for the explorations of Bullock Workman couple, I would like to state that technically speaking, as definition of a ‘col’- goes, it is the lowest point in the ridge. The couple never reached Indira col. We followed their route totally and landed at a flat place on the ridge which is in between Indira col in the west and Turkistan la on the east. However we did stand over the great divide between Central Asia and the Indian Sub-continent. This spot is approximately 150 m higher than the actual Indira col and at least a kilometre away towards the east of real col. The Americans (Workmans) had explored the northern and western part of upper Siachen. The Britishers, (Longstaff), came from the south and went up to halfway of Siachen glacier. The Italians (Dainelli) also came from the south till the junction of Teram Shehr glacier and then went east to the Shyok valley. The Indian team (Col. Kumar) walked the entire glacier from south to north, that is from snout to the source. This team also climbed Sia Kangri, the main feeder of the source of the source of Siachen. I think it does deserve the specific mention, in the book solely written on Siachen glacier, that the Indians were the first to do snout to source crossing of entire glacier.

For future mountaineers this book is a bible of Siachen glacier as many peaks on the glacier are unnamed and unattempted. This is the future playground of the Himalaya. I fully agree with the ‘Peace Park’ concept of the author and I am going to support it to the best of my ability. But I feel that the Baltoro glacier which is the second longest glacier of the Himalaya next only to the Siachen is as polluted (see the pictures in the article of Outside Magazine of USA by Kevin Fedarko ‘The Coldest War’, p. 218) and also it is as disputed as Siachen, lying in Pakistan occupied area of J & K. Imagine these two longest Himalayan glaciers in the peace park which will have five peaks above 8000 m including world’s second highest peak and you have the greatest playground for trekkers and mountaineers of the world. At the end I would like to congratulate both the author and the publisher for bringing out such a great book, which is very well researched, highly readable and reasonably priced.

COL. N. KUMAR