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Gujarat plans Operation Sindoor memorial park near India-Pakistan border in Kutch: Report
The park, which will be called ‘Sindoor Van’, will be built as a mark of respect for the Indian defence forces and the unity displayed by the citizens.
The Gujarat government is reportedly planning to build a memorial park dedicated to Operation Sindoor near the India-Pakistan border in Kutch district.
Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed, was launched on May 7. The park, which to be called ‘Sindoor Van’, will be built as a mark of respect for the Indian defence forces and the unity displayed by the citizens during the operation.
The memorial, which will include a high-density forest, or a ‘van kavach’, is likely to be completed in a year's time, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed officials, who added that the initial work on the ground had already commenced.
The ‘van kavach’ is expected to be spread over eight hectares and will come up on the land belonging to Mirzapar's forest department, on the Bhuj-Mandvi road, the report added.
“In memory of the unity exhibited by society, Army, Air Force, BSF and other forces during Operation Sindoor, the Sindoor Van — a memorial park — is being planned by the forest department," the newspaper quoted Kutch collector Anand Patel as saying.
The ‘Sindoor Van’ will also include a part specially dedicated to the victims of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. Apart from the eight-hectare high-density plantation, murals will be built in the “theme-based memorial park” in different sections for the BSF, Army, Navy, and Air Force, the report quoted Sandeep Kumar, chief conservator of forests, Kutch Circle, as saying.
Memorial park to include land where PM Modi held public meeting on Operation Sindoor
The area demarcated for the ‘van kavach’ also notably includes the land where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public meeting during his first visit to Gujarat post Operation Sindoor.
During his address in his home state on May 26, which also marked 11 years since he took office as the PM, Modi had highlighted that the military response to Pahalgam was also an expression of Indian values and spirit
Speaking on the strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan, Modi said, “...our valiant soldiers achieved a feat unseen by the world in decades. We pinpointed and confirmed the locations of nine major terrorist camps across the border.” He said that the Indian strikes had resulted in the terror bases being reduced to rubble in just 22 minutes, adding that the military action had compelled Pakistan to retreat in humiliation.
The strikes under Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the Pahalgam attack, led to a series of attacks and counter-attacks between India and Pakistan, with hostilities between both countries ending on May 10 after a ceasefire understanding.
