Army plans memorial dedicated to 1971 war
The army chief said a raft of programmes would be organised across the country to commemorate the victory in the war.
Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Thursday said that a small memorial dedicated to the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war would be constructed at the National War Memorial with soil brought from the native places of soldiers who were awarded gallantry medals for their role in the war.
Soil would also be brought for the new memorial from places where these heroes won some of the battles, he added.
Speaking at an armed forces Veterans’ Day event in Delhi, Naravane said that 2021 was being celebrated as the Golden Victory Year to mark the country’s victory in the 1971 war, while allaying concerns in some veteran circles that not enough importance was being given to the event which has entered its 50th year.
The army chief said a raft of programmes would be organised across the country to commemorate the victory in the war.
Besides this, Naravane said that 2020 was a challenging year for the armed forces because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also attributed the challenges tot he situation along the northern borders where India and China have been locked in a border row for more than eight months.