Introduction :
The book titled as Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye is written by Lt Gen. K.J.S. 'Tiny' Dhillon ; a soldier par excellence of Indian army we are proud of. This book, primarily written as an autobiography, does not restrict itself to his life story only but takes you to many aspects of Indian army in fine details and his anecdotes and experiences, bitter-sweet both, during his service including his valuable suggestions to counter terrorism not only in Kashmir valley but anywhere in the world. Written in a very simple and lucid way with a flair of nationalism, this book compels the reader not to skip once started, is published by Penguin Veer, Gurugram, India.
The General:
After the gruesome Pulwama Attack on 14 Feb 2019, when we lost not less than 44 of brave CRPF soldiers, and when the whole country had plunged into utter sadness and anguish, and when, quite subdued, I was watching the TV for news updates about it, suddenly, there appeared a tough looking army man on the TV holding a news conference on 19 Feb 2019. His face was tense, eyes filled with the same anguish, and his raised index finger, a bit crooked, expressive of his firm resolve to eliminate the enemies of the nation – come what may! My eyes got fixed on to the TV screen to listen what he said in his stern tone warning the terrorists conveying them in no uncertain words in few crisp sentences:
- “You pick up the gun, you are dead unless you surrender.”
- “Kitne Ghazi Aaye, Kitne Ghazi Gaye…Parwah nahin, we are there, don’t worry.”
- “…anyone who enters the Kashmir Valley will not go back alive.”
And as you know the mastermind of the attack Ghazi was killed within 72 hours after the Pulwama attack by his team. He kept his words given to his ADC Sandip Singh – “We will get the bastards.”
Hearing him speaking straight addressing directly to the terrorists I felt a bit relaxed and got reassured that India is safe when guarded by such brave officers. He was none other than Lt. Gen. K.J.S. Tiny Dhillon. My sincere salute to him.
The Review:
Right from the beginning the book captures the mind of the reader when at the tender age of 3 years only the writer tells the incident of losing his dear mother fighting a lion, not before she assured the lion is dead strangled by her using her dupatta. Incredible! Then, he takes you to the streets of his childhood how he was nurtured by his naani and how he got selected in NDA. Then comes the chapters describing his strenuous training and the history of his iconic crooked index finger (as shown warning the terrorists on the cover page of the book) in a very interesting and funny way wherein I found the part of two successive surgical operations and the role of doctors and finally the nurse advising him to run away most hilarious. Fortunately or otherwise, he got a chance to serve in northeast quite vulnerable due to insurgency and narrates his operations in fine details like how his team got survived when lost in the mountains. Then he takes you to the most difficult and troubled part of India ; Kashmir Valley under relentless attack by the different terrorist groups. Reading that part gives the reader a thrill, fear and goosebumps and compels the reader to know more. However, the General, knowing fully well the gravity of such narrations and the serious effects of those life threatening and sheer precarious situations on the reader, keeps the reader entertaining with his various funny anecdotes making them comfortable. To serve in army is not an easy task, not even for the family members and one can imagine the gravity of the situation when the wife gets the news of death of her husband in operation just by taking the initials of someone else martyred – though feeling at peace knowing the fact and at the same time turning sad for the family who lost its brave heart in real.
Reading of this book is a must for the boys aspiring to join army to give them first-hand information about the challenges they can face during their training, deployment, mutual cooperation and the culture of army to help each other’s family whenever required as it allays all the fears and apprehensions they may have about army. The General has a fine knack of observing the pains and difficulties of the society and convincing the mothers of would-be terrorists to give their sons a call to come back launching Operation Maa successfully. The other areas of interest are the description of various holy places like Amarnath in Kashmir Valley and his advise to control the terrorism through the policy of Saam, Daam, Dand, and Bhed.
After going through the book, a roller coaster of army life, I fully agree to Col Manish Sanga defining Lt Gen KJS Tiny Dhillon as a brutally honest and financially frugal CO.
My sincere regards and best wishes to you sir!
Dr Rajeev Pundir
16/03/2023
