All the officers started to congratulate me: "You have done very well, Bana, Congratulations". All this through wireless.

Three months later there was a major Pakistani attack on the Bilafond Pass; they had apparently been very upset to lose the 'Quaid' post. Did you participate in the defence of the Bilafond Pass?

Yes, it was in September 1987. I did not participate because I was not posted in this area. But about 1,000 Pakistani men must have died. General Musharraf was then the brigade commander of the Special Security Group. He planned the operation.

In one way, he is a loser. He lost the 'Quaid' Post, in September 1987 the Bilafond Pass, then in 1999 Kargil. Do you think there is a link between these three events?

No, but Musharraf was very upset when I captured the post.

There are rumours that an agreement will be signed between India and Pakistan on Siachen and that the glacier and the Saltoro range will be demilitarised.

I feel it is not good, but I do not want to comment further because in the past my words have been distorted.

The point is that so many people died for this glacier, it would not be good to give it to Pakistan.

I have told this so many times to the media. Politicians do not know the value of the lives of the jawans. If they knew what has happened to the glacier, if they knew everything...

If tomorrow India withdraws from the Siachen glacier, the Pakistanis make take the post again.

Everyone knows that in Kargil it was the decision of Musharraf and the military to start the conflict, but he says it was Nawaz Sharif and the politicians who gave the order. Everyone knows it is a lie.

Tomorrow, if India withdraws, the Pakistanis will take Siachen, Pakistan will take it over, because they will always tell lies to the Indian government.

Sometimes I receive threats from the Pakistani side. Since I am retired, I attend some functions, but I still need permission from army HQ. Unless I get permission, I cannot attend official functions. I have two personal security officers protecting me.

But you are stronger than your PSOs.

Yes, and I am not worried about my life (laughs).

I understand you had a good offer from the Punjab government?

The Punjab government has a deep respect for the Indian Army. They have offered me Rs 25 lakhs, a monthly allowance of Rs 15,000 and a 25 acre plot if I move to Punjab. But I refused.

Why?

Because I consider myself a subject of Jammu and Kashmir. My own state gives me Rs 160 a month as allowance for having won the Param Vir Chakra, the highest bravery award. It is the way we are treated in Jammu and Kashmir.

Image: An Indian soldier keeps vigil at the Indo-Pakistan border in Siachen
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Also see: The soldier who won India's first Param Vir Chakra

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