The eternal flame at the country’s tallest war memorial, Balidan Stambh (monument of sacrifice) built to pay tributes to jawans, who laid their lives fighting militancy and the war with Pakistan, was finally lit by Major General Dushyant Singh, General Officer Commanding of Tiger Division here on Saturday after a four-year long wait.
India’s first war memorial — symbolising a rifle bayonet also underwent repairs and renovation ahead of the formal ceremony. The Balidan Stambh, built at a cost of Rs 11 crore over four years, was handed over to the State Government headed by Omar Abdullah on November 24, 2009 by former Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor. At that time a formal understanding was reached between the Army and the State Government to promote it as a tourist destination. But the final discussions over who will bear the recurring expenditure of maintaining the memorial and for how long remained inconclusive. Since then the War Memorial was facing neglect at the highest level.
Instead of adopting a flexible approach J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also adopted a tough stand over the emotive issue. In November 2012 Omar Abdullah had made it clear by claiming that the War Memorial should be looked after by the Army. “There is some thinking within the Government given that this was a War Memorial constructed by the Indian army and it should be looked after by the Army. There is the constraint of resources that we have. But we are doing whatever is necessary both to maintain it as well as to promote it”, Omar had said.
On October 4, 2012, The Pioneer had published a special report highlighting the neglect faced by the Balidan Stambh at the hands of different agencies. Even the eternal flame could not be lit due to paucity of funds. On Saturday, Sudeb Gupta, Executive Director of Indian Oil Corporation, Punjab State Office who was present during the ceremony pledged free supply of lPG for the Eternal Flame as a mark of respect for the martyrs of the Indian Army. Honorary Captain
Bana Singh, Param Vir Chakra laid the wreath on behalf of all the Veterans during the simple ceremony. In 2009, the State Government came in for sharp criticism from certain quarters in the Kashmir Valley over its decision to maintain a war memorial for jawans killed by militants. It was only during Independence and Republic Day celebrations or planned functions of the Indian Army that the pipelines were connected with ‘outsourced’ gas cylinders to light the eternal flame to pay homage to the martyrs whose names are etched in stone.