Kargil War victory day celebrated across J&K, Ladakh

Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh pays homage to heroes at Kargil War memorial

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 26

Heels clicked and passion-filled salutes of soldiers and their officers at Kargil War memorial in Drass in Ladakh on Sunday marked the “Vijay Diwas”- recalling the saga of victory scripted by sweat and blood by our soldiers 21 years ago.

Lt-Gen Harinder Singh , Corps Commander of 14 Corps, named as : Fire and Fury, laid a wreath on behalf of the nation at the War Memorial. Drass overlooked by Tiger Hills and other heights where maximum signatures of the Himalayan war are visible with the tricolour flying high. In Srinagar, Chinar Corps joined the nation in remembering the sacrifices of the war heroes.

Lt-Gen BS Raju, GOC, Chinar Corps, on behalf of all ranks of the Corps paid homage to the Kargil War heroes in a solemn ceremony held at the War Memorial in Badami Bagh Cantonment, Srinagar. The proceedings included brief narration of the Kargil War highlighting the saga of courage and valour of the martyrs, prayers by religious teachers and laying of the wreath in remembrance of the valiant heroes who participated in the operations.

In Jammu, Lt-Governor Girish Chandra Murmu today paid homage to the soldiers who fought in the Kargil war. “I salute the unparalleled valour and sacrifice of our soldiers who valiantly fought at the high altitude of Kargil to liberate the Indian territory from the infiltrators”, he said. The Lt-Governor observed that the supreme sacrifices made by our brave soldiers for safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country would continue to inspire the generations to come.

Ladakh Lt-Governor RK Mathur paid homage to Kargil war heroes at Stupa Leh. While recalling their sacrifices , Mathur said: the selfless service of the people of Ladakh during the war will not be forgotten.” He was joined by scores of people of Leh in paying tributes to the Kargil heroes.

The Kargil War that started in May 1999 after Pakistan intrusions were detected in the Himalayan heights overlooking the Srinagar- Leh highway , the lifeline of the Indian troops to Siachen glacier, highest battlefield in the world , and LAC that borders with China in Ladakh, concluded with the victory of India on July 26.

Pakistan army was forced to retreat to their side of LoC by the Indian forces who evicted them from the Himalayan heights at Drass, Mushkoh, Kaksar and Batalik .

This year’s victory day celebrations have two messages – one to Pakistan that the victory written for this day is irreversible and if there is any attempt at future misadventure, India may not restrain itself to its own side of the borderline , Second, it broadcast a message to the Chinese troops at the LAC that the Indian Army has the capability of turning impossible to possible. Kargil demonstrated that when all odds were against India, still the victory was achieved with a stunning success from all the heights from Tiger Hill to other heights.