16 yrs on, Kargil martyr’s father awaits justice

Our Correspondent

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Palampur, July 20

Dr NK Kalia, father of martyr Capt Saurabh Kalia who was the first to sacrifice his life in the 1999 Kargil war, said here today that he would continue his battle to seek justice for his son. Dr Kalia was speaking with mediapersons on the completion of 16 years of the Kargil war here.

Dr Kalia regretted that he moved from pillar to post in the past 16 years and approached the Government of India and several national and international organisations to pressurise Pakistan to identify, book and punish those who indulged in most heinous inhuman crime and kept his son in captivity for three weeks and subjected him to unprecedented brutal torture.

Dr Kalia said he was disappointed over the behaviour of successive governments in the past 16 years as none was serious on this important matter and even did not initiate efforts to take up the issue with Pakistan during bilateral talks held several times.

Dr Kalia said though the 16 years had passed, his wounds were yet to be healed. He said not only parents, but the Indian Army and the nation as a whole had lost a dedicated and honest solider.

He said the Pakistan army had indulged in the most dastardly acts of burning bodies with cigarettes, piercing ears with hot iron rods, removing eyes before puncturing them, breaking most of the bones and teeth, chopping off various limbs and private organs of these soldiers.

Dr Kalia said he was proud of his son and his team who fought the battle for 22 days undergoing the worst ordeal. The enemy gave in but these valiant sons did not break while undergoing unlimited savagery.

“The Pakistan army has to shoot them ultimately. The postmortem conducted by the Indian Army reflects all this. The postmortem report also confirmed that injuries were inflicted ante mortem (before death), Dr Kalia added.