They died to let us live
Let us honour the soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice. This will inspire the new generation. Security of the nation will not be jeopardised.
THE IMPERIAL Japanese Forces had reached the tennis court of the Deputy Commissioner of Kohima in Nagaland and the Indian National Army under Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was poised to conquer Imphal in Manipur when the tide of war turned against them. Pitched battles were fought and hundreds became martyrs for the cause of Freedom, either fighting to regain it or waging a war to defend it. FOR THEIR TOMORROW WE GAVE OUR TODAY. These parting words of the gallant war dead inspire the present generation of soldiers and encourage them to lay down their lives, if need be, for the cause of the country. There cannot be a better Memorial for the gallant martyrs, who died defending the country and countrymen than a touching Remembrance on occasions important to the men and women for whom the Brave men sacrificed their lives. A War Memorial is worth its weight in gold. It is a source of inspiration to the new generation and maintains a link between the generation of martyrs and that of budding young men and women, who are preparing themselves for the great day when they would kill the enemy and sacrifice themselves for the cause of the country, if need be. WAR MEMORIALS At the outset let us make it clear that a nation does not build a war memorial to encourage war mongering among its people. A war memorial strengthens the emotional bonds between the Living and the Dead. Those, who are no more, they are remembered by those loved ones defending whom the martyrs had made the supreme sacrifice. The nation holds ceremonies from time to time at the location of war memorials to pay homage to the martyrs. It is a solemn ceremony with a military touch like a Guard of Honour, sounding of the Last Post, a short silence with shok shastra followed by sounding of a Rouse to denote that tomorrow will be another day – bright, cheerful and heralding a glorious future for the nation. A good professional soldier honours the brave dead; both ours and theirs, because both died doing their duty. The brave Ddad belong to the fraternity of soldiers, who have risen above national frontiers and legal bondage. The sublimation of a ceremony that honours the Dear Departed to the philosophical height, where All belong to All, is indeed the birth of the United Nations. In this comity of nations, all soldiers strive for peace – Eternal Peace – where there is no room for wars. Is it a dream? May be, it is. It will be dream come true. So let us raise more memorials to the war dead where we honour them to bring wars to an end. Indeed the process should commence from the grassroots level so that the urban and the rural peoples are equally involved. Presently we shall visit a war memorial raised to commemorate the war dead of a new township, semi-rural and semi-urban but adjacent to the national capital. NOIDA SHAHEED SMARAK Many retired generals, colonels, admirals and air marshals moved to Noida from New Delhi on retirement and lodged themselves in their own newly built houses in the Arun Vihar and Jalvayu Vihar. Old habits die hard and they did not allow themselves the luxury of sitting idle. Besides rendering social service of assorted kinds, they hit on the idea of raising a memorial to the martyrs of Noida, who had died in harness, both in war and peace. The idea was applauded by one and all but not much cash came their way to foot the bills of construction of a memorial. Nevertheless, the war veterans pushed forward with determination and approached the military formations as well as civil administration. It was a novel idea for citizens to make a memorial for the dead and the departed of the uniformed services employed in the defence of the motherland. The war memorials built so far in Bharat were at the instance of the government of India and the one hundred per cent funding was done by the government agencies. Perhaps the Cenotaph at Pune was the only exception as it was built by veterans and citizens on their own. The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority played the role of a good philanthropist and allotted a small strip of land in Sector 29, notwithstanding a mild resistance from some local residents. The flimsy grounds of opposition to the coming up of a war memorial in the midst of residential houses were over ruled. Many army formations came forward with monetary help to contribute to the building of a war memorial to the sons of the brave of Noida. It is, however, a matter of pleasant surprise that individual officers, both retired and serving, made a voluntary cash contribution that went a long way in seeing a structure come up. The retired engineer officers of the army, engineer-in-chief downward made their professional services available free of charge. So did others for running about and doing correspondence or fighting telephone battles. They used their personal cars and scooters and did not even submit fuel bills despite petrol prices going up every now and then.This spirit of sacrifice was indeed a great booster of morale of the team that comprised volunteers. Some of the important factors that helped the rag-tag army of volunteers function like professionals were Love of the martyrs, lack of back-biting and a tendency to run down colleagues despite their hard work. The cementing factor was the AIM – erection of a war memorial and indeed maintenance of Aim. Consequently, the Noida Shaheed Smarak saw the light of the day in a record number of days. The project was a success with a shoe string budget. Payments were made to civilian contractors on time and there was no bickering. The Smarak was mentioned in despatches and reputed scribes wrote about it in their papers and the TV crew worked overtime to produce and telecast features. LOOKS OF THE SMARAK As one drives along the road dividing sectors 29 and 37, right in front of the Army Public School, there appears an Obelisk of shining stone that attracts attention of pedestrians, cyclists, lorry drivers, motorists and flag cars alike. An old fighter aircraft in the take off pose parked on a pedestal announces from afar that one is approaching some kind of Services park. The lush green lawns around, ever-green leaves of trees, multi-coloured flowers display a riot of colours give an impression that the Smarak is well maintained. After all it is a war memorial built in honour of uniformed officers and soldiers who were ever ready to defend the motherland and made the supreme sacrifice. Time flies if all is well. A decade has gone by when the three Service Chiefs considered it their sacred duty to drive down to Noida to dedicate the Noida Shaheed Smarak to the Nation. It was an impressive ceremony with all Service procedures followed to the minute details. After the three service chiefs and next of kin of the martyrs had placed wreathes at the obelisk, it was turn of school boys and girls to pay homage to the gallant dead. After laying a wreath, a young school boy said “How I wish I too made the supreme sacrifice for Bharat Mata so that the high and mighty placed a wreath in homage to my brave deed!.” The flame of inspiration was visible on the young face.
AUM.
Just on the point of information, I may mention that General VK Singh, the present Chief of the Army Staff will come to Noida and lay a wreath at the Smarak on Saturday, 26 February 2011 at 10 AM.
Those who wish to come and pay homage may do so after obtaining an invitation card from the Smarak office located above the CSD outlet.in sector 37, Noida.
AUM.
Just on the point of information, I may mention that General VK Singh, the present Chief of the Army Staff will come to Noida and lay a wreath at the Smarak on Saturday, 26 February 2011 at 10 AM.
Those who wish to come and pay homage may do so after obtaining an invitation card from the Smarak office located above the CSD outlet.in sector 37, Noida.
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