Galwan heroes yet to find place at memorial

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 6

A long official procedure means the names of 20 soldiers, killed in the Galwan valley clash on June 15 last year, will not be reflected at the Delhi National War Memorial before Republic Day.

A panel of the three services has cleared the names of soldiers who died in various operations from October 2019 to September 2020 for inscription on the memorial wall. There are about 90 names, including 20 of Galwan martyrs. After clearance from the committee, each name and rank is etched on a granite tablet. Each tablet is arranged in a circular pattern on one of the 16 walls of the memorial. The pattern symbolises ancient Indian war formation “Chakravyuh”. A tendering process has started to get the granite tablets etched. The process will take a few weeks, which means the inscriptions won’t be added before Republic Day.

A functionary questioned annual update of names instead of a quarterly update. Having the names of Galwan heroes and others on the memorial wall would have been ideal when the President and the Prime Minister come to pay their respects.

Stuck in red tape

• A committee of the three armed forces has okayed the names of 90 soldiers, including 20 Galwan heroes, for inscription on the memorial wall
• A tendering process has started to get the granite tablets etched
• The process will take a few weeks, which means the inscriptions of the Galwan martyrs won’t be ready before Republic Day

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