Army homes welcome Diwali gift but it will be a bit late in coming

In Pune, the seat of the Southern Command, they are calling it the best Diwali gift they could have had. Soni Ranade is hoping hoping husban...

In Pune, the seat of the Southern Command, they are calling it the best Diwali gift they could have had. Soni Ranade is hoping hoping husband Lt Ranjit Ranade shows up for their son’s birthday this Sunday. In adjoining Dehu Road, there is disbelief. ‘‘I will know this is true only when I see him get off the train,” says a young officer’s wife.

But homecoming for most could take some weeks, maybe almost two months. Because ‘‘redployment’’ or the withdrawal from the border will be a huge exercise, one which will involve the movement of thousands of men and tonnes of weaponry and war-machines back to peace-time locations. Or even attachment with units in J&K.

This will involve special trains, airlifts, road convoys to ferry the men back. And because the pullback has to be in a calibrated manner, the return home will take a while.

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Consider this: moving back a strike corps like the 2 Corps from the Rajasthan sector to its home base in Ambala will mean shifting out three divisions, including an armoured, an artillery division and an independent armoured brigade.

J&K will continue to be heavily fortified.

The 16 Corps at Nagrota with a troop strength of 1.5 lakh probably has no equivalent in terms of numbers. It has four divisions plus three independent armoured brigades and additional infantry brigades.

The 15 Corps in Srinagar, which was the country’s first corps, and the 14 Corps in Leh, raised as recently as 1999, each have two divisions and additional brigades.