While the Indian Army was busy organising several events to pay pay solemn tributes to the Kargil War bravehearts on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, the towering Balidan Sthambh (monument of sacrifice) in Jammu had a different story to tell.
While the monument wore a deserted look throughout the day, no formal ceremony was planned by the Army /civil authorities to mark the historic victory of Indian armed forces over its arch rival Pakistan.
Even the eternal flame, a timeless commemoration of the supreme sacrifices made by our brave soldiers, remained off. Enveloped by mesh of bamboo sticks it presented a picture of neglect.
No floral decoration was done nor any special light and sound show was planned to celebrate the 16th anniversary of Kargil victory. Till late afternoon only two entries were made on the visitors book. On an average less than 20 people pay a visit to the sprawling memorial to pay homage.
The wild growth of grass and wild bushes surrounding the majestic granite wall on which the history of each of the wars fought in J&K since Independence is engraved recounting the saga of blood and courage, indicated neglect the memorial is facing even several years after it was thrown open for public.
When this correspondent visited the memorial late on Sunday afternoon, one of the sweepers was trying to clean the floor of waterlogging while two Army jawans, posted for maintaining round-the-clock security, were assisting him with a set of wipers.
During an informal chat, the jawans present at the memorial were at a loss of words to explain their sentiments. “We really do not know why no tribute ceremony was planned at the venue, located in the heart of Jammu city”. One of the soldiers said very often we have to shoo away love birds who flock the memorial to spend some time in solitude. We tell them on their face to go away. We can’t let this memorial become a park where people come to spend time without understanding the background of the memorial.
“For us it is a ‘temple’ dedicated to the brave soldiers and we do not want the ignorant people to come here and spend leisure time,” he added.
Pointing towards mesh of bamboo sticks one of the jawans informed the higher authorities have started some repair work few days ago and due to this we have to stop the eternal flame as well as it also require some repair work.
Another care taker, representing the state govt told The Pioneer, “ for a long time the war memorial — symbolising a rifle bayonet had not undergone any repair work and the authorities have woken up from their deep slumber on the eve of Vijay Diwas to start the work”.
The Balidan Sthambh, built at a cost of over Rs 11 crore was handed over to the state govt headed by Omar Abdullah on November 24, 2009 by the former Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor but since then it has failed to become hot tourist destination due to lack of maintenance and basic amenities.