THE NATIONAL military memorial park nestled in Bangalore will be a genuine tribute to all the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the service of the country. It is neither a memorial nor a museum. But, it is a royal tribute to our brave hearts sacrificed their lives.  Sleep peacefully in your homes, the Indian Armed Forces are guarding and securing your national frontiers. Freedom is not free - Napoleon Bonaparte, a French military and political leader, once said ‘A solider will fight long and hard for a bit coloured ribbon.’

Mission Honour came into effect at a time when the memories of martyrs who laid down their lives for their motherland in various wars and terrorist attacks began to fade in the minds of Government of India and citizens. Nevertheless, surpassing several hurdles, a team under the leadership of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, is working hard to honour the martyrs in a deserving manner.
 
The work of this project is progressing rapidly with the active involvement of Government of Karnataka (in funding and execution), local Armed Forces establishments and many ex-servicemen. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is also the chairman of the Steering Committee for the Military Memorial Park, says, “It will be a genuine tribute to all the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the service of the Nation. Martyrs sacrifice shall be remembered by generations to come, while the National Military Memorial Park will stand as a witness to all their sacrifices, present and future.”

Air Commodore MK Chandrasekhar (Retd), Chairman of Executive sub-committee, NMMP, said, “We are now in the process of collecting of War trophies/military artefacts etc from all the three services (Indian Army, Indian Air Force & Indian Navy) and modern weapon systems and models from Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for kitting up the Motivational Hall and peripheral areas to generate inspiration, develop motivation and patriotic fervour among the younger generation. Collecting such exhibits will be an on-going programme even after the inauguration. We expect the NMMP to be ready by November 2011, though it is a race against time. All efforts are on to complete it as early as possible.”

Major attractions of the memorial

 
The NMMP has two separate segments, the first one, emotional and commemorative segment for post-independence defence services martyrs. The second is intended to boost participation of youth in defence and security activities of the nation. Chandrasekhar highlighted that a 70 to 75 tall granite monolith boulder exemplifying strength and courage of soldiers (Veeragallu or Martyr stone) forms the central memorial piece at the NMMP. A 72 x 48 National Flag - the tallest flag in the country, will shelter the piece. Campaign panels, pictures of gallant soldiers / martyrs and other artefacts on history of the armed forces with video clips and inter-active scaled weapon systems, etc., will be showcased.

Chandrasekhar added that a swing-wing MiG-23 fighter Aircraft, a Vijayanta Battle Tank, an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), a working ARJUN main Battle Tank, scaled models of large sized Naval ship and Submarines (under acquisition) and various modern missiles constituting state-of-the-art weapons and weapon systems, will also be displayed at the park.

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