CHANDIGARH : The department of defence and national security studies, Panjab University (PU), organised a panel discussion on ‘Kargil War: Lessons Learnt’ on Wednesday.
RAVI KUMAR/HT■ (L to R) Former general officer commanding-in-chief of Western Command KJ Singh (retired); Panjab University vice-chancellor Raj Kumar, Haryana finance minister Captain Abhimanyu Singh; chief of staff, Western Command, Lieutenant General PM Bali; and Kargil martyr Captain Vikram Batra’s twin brother Vishal Batra during a function organised to commemorate Kargil Vijay Diwas at Panjab University on Wednesday.
Kargil martyr Captain Vikram Batra’s brother Vishal Batra and Lieutenant General (retired) KJ Singh were among the panellists.
Minister of finance, government of Haryana, Captain Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, was the chief guest. Chief of staff, Western Command, Chandi Mandir, Lieutenant General PM Bali, was the guest of honour and vice-chancellor Raj Kumar was also present.
The V-C said the university will develop and name one of its gardens as the ‘Kargil Smriti Udhyan’ in memory of the Kargil martyrs.
527 SAPLINGS TO BE PLANTED
The department chairperson, Jaskaran Singh Waraich, said the university will hold a tree-plantation drive on July 25 in which one sapling each dedicated to the 527 Kargil war heroes will be planted.
Singh said the Kargil War proved to be a blunder by General Pervez Musharraf who failed to consider the implications of the operation.
Batra said watching the then popular television series ‘Param Vir Chakra’ motivated him and his late brother to join the armed forces.
“Though the Kargil War is termed as a limited war as it was fought in a limited area by a limited number of forces, but it had
an unlimited impact,” said Bali.
Talking about the Kargil war, Sindhu said Pakistan betrayed India by breaking the convention of respecting the Line of Control (LoC) and not taking advantage of the posts vacated during winters.