Respected Veterans,

Jai Hind.

1.       The programme for the Commemoration Ceremony on Kargil Diwas at the National Military Memorial (NMM), Bengaluru, on Tuesday, 26 July 2016, being organized under the aegis of National Military Memorial Management Trust (NMMMT), of which Air Cmde MK Chandrasekhar is one of the Managing Trustees, is as follows:

Programme

 8.30 AM to 9.20 AM: Homage to Martyrs by Veterans and other dignitaries.

9.25 AM: Homage to Martyrs by the Hon’ble Home Minister

9.30 AM: Homage to Martyrs by the Hon’ble Chief Minister

 Regards,

Col Rajan

Convenor, Military Veterans KARNATAKA

Bangalore, 9449043770

Remembrance Day

Remembering India’s War Dead

Soldiers die every day in the line of duty – in the jungles of the North East, in the icy wastes of Ladakh and Siachen, fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and in a myriad other death defying scenarios. Sometimes when the death is dramatic, it makes news – most often they die in quiet oblivion. Either way, they are soon forgotten, except by the families in whose homes the lights went out when they lost a father, son or brother.

What is important however is to realise that the ultimate sacrifice made by soldiers yesterday, today and tomorrow needs to be remembered

Next year will make seventy years since the 1947-48 Indo-Pak war, and we as yet, do not have a proper war memorial for all who have died in all the wars and counter-terrorist and counter-insurgency operations that we have fought since independence. Families of dead soldiers have been waiting patiently for the war memorial so that they can pray at the site for their loved ones who made the supreme sacrifice. In the meantime many of these families have themselves passed away having waited all these years in vain. The Indian soldier has been told that the memorial is in the pipeline and that this project will be completed in five years time. When did the countdown of five years start and when will it finish? A promise is a promise only if it has a deadline!

In the meanwhile, veterans of the armed forces feel that something ought to be done till then. They have voiced the need for a Remembrance Day and a symbol to remember India’s ‘Unknown Soldier’. The West has the poppy as its symbol of remembrance. Indian veterans feel that no flower could be more meaningful as a symbol of remembrance for the war dead of India than the marigold. They suggest that a day could be nominated as ‘Remembrance Day’ and the marigold as the symbol of remembrance. The poem below encapsulates their sentiments.

                                                                                                           Ian Cardozo, 28 March 2016

 

 

The Marigold

In Remembrance

Our Marigold, this simple flower

In many ways it meets the hour

of valiant soldiers who in combat die

And to their Maker skywards fly.

 

From ancient times, this favourite bloom

Has commemorated ‘womb to tomb’

Of life and death in equal measure

And other moments we all treasure

 

But in time of war, this flower has shed

Her fragrant petals to mourn her dead

For those who fought for you and me

And sacrificed their destiny.

 

So pause a moment all that care

And offer up in silent prayer

This sacred flower for a soldier’s death

To remember, lest we soon forget

 Ian Cardozo, 28 March, 2016

 

 

———- 

 Love Never Fails