Vijay Diwas? There’s nothing official about it

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 26

The Army saluted martyrs of the Kargil war today and various programmes were held to commemorate the Vijay Diwas, but the Jammu and Kashmir Government seemed to have forgotten the martyrs who saved the state from Pakistan in 1999 as they gave the day a miss.

Not a single message was received from the Chief Minister or Deputy Chief Minister to remember the bravehearts who had pushed back enemy forces and infiltrators from Kargil heights against all odds.

More than 500 soldiers had laid down their lives for protecting the sovereignty of the country and won back the territory occupied by enemy forces. This war was the most serious engagement between Indian and Pakistani forces after the 1971 war.

Many officers and soldiers from Jammu and Kashmir had fought the war and some made the supreme sacrifice for the country. But when the day came to remember their sacrifices, the Jammu and Kashmir Government forgot them.

“It is the duty of the government and the public to remember these bravehearts on Vijay Diwas, observed by the Army on July 26 every year. They sacrificed their lives for our secure future and in return they demand nothing but a remembrance,” said Bodh Raj, a resident of border area in RS Pura.

It had been a regular practice for the government to issue press notes on behalf of the Chief Minister and ministers to greet the people on important occasions, but not a single official handout was released by the PDP-BJP government to remember Kargil martyrs.

The Army observed Vijay Diwas at Drass, Northern Command headquarters and other Army installations and held events to remember the martyrs, but not a single official programme was organised by the state government to remember the 1999 victory.