Kargil Vijay Diwas: Northern army commander honours families of 1999 war martyrs

The nation on Friday paid homage to the 545 bravehearts who laid down their lives while pushing back Pakistani intruders during Kargil War in 1999 as army felicitated the next of kin of the martyrs at the War Memorial here.

Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma felicitated relatives of several officers and soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in the war with Pakistan 26 years ago.

The two-day commemoration events kicked off early in the morning with hoisting of 70-feet tall national tricolour at Lamochen view point, overlooking the Drass valley and the key peaks recovered from the Pakistani intruders in 1999.

Next of kin of several martyrs were felicitated at Lamochen by General Officer Commanding of 14 Corps Lieutenant General Hitesh Bhalla.

Another function was held at Sando Rear ground where army out on a spectacular display of drones and other technologies inducted into the armed forces for carrying out operations in tough terrain in a better manner Union Minister for Youth Services and Sports Mansukh Mandavia was the chief guest at the event and felicitated the next of kin of the martyrs there.

The Army has planned a series of events on Saturday also on the 26th Kargil Vijay Diwas to commemorate the bravery and valour of officers and soldiers who took part in the two-month long battle with the Pakistanis.

The Army will on Saturday launch three key projects, including a portal where citizens can pay 'e-shradhanjali' to martyrs, as part of the 26th Kargil Vijay Diwas to make people aware of soldiers' bravery and sacrifices.

The other two projects are a QR code-based audio application on which people can listen to the stories of the battles fought during the 1999 Kargil war and the Indus Viewpoint, which will offer people a chance to go up to the Line of Control (LoC) in the Batalik sector.

From a small compound which hosted the first anniversary for the martyrs in 2000, the Kargil War Memorial has come up as one the best maintained memorials.

The busts of eight national heroes -- Major Rajesh Adhikari, Major P Acharya, Major Vivek Gupta, Captain Vikram Batra, Captain Anuj Nayyar, Captain Keishing Clifford Nongrum, Captain Neikezhoue Kenguruse and Lieutenant Manoj Pandey -- line up the sides of 'Vijaypath' which leads to the memorial where the national tricolour flies high.

Captain Batra and Lieutenant Pandey were awarded Param Vir Chakra while the other six martyrs were posthumously awarded Mahavir Chakra.

The other "heroes" of the 1999 war with Pakistan -- the Bofors guns and QF 25-Pounder guns -- are also prominently displayed at the memorial, in recognition of the stellar role these played in targetting the enemy positions.

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