Dr. Avnish Jolly, Chandigarh, 26th July, 2008:Large number of ex-servicemen, their families and people from all walks of life paid tributes to their comrades-in-arms, who had laid down their lives in the Kargil conflict in 1999, at the war memorial here today.
No official function is now held by the government or the Army except in Jammu and Kashmir, where the battle was fought, ex-servicemen said it was their sacred duty to pay homage to those killed so that the supreme sacrifices made by them for the cause of the nation were not forgotten.
More than 500 Indian soldiers, many of them hailing from the region, had laid down their lives while evicting Pakistan troops who had intruded onto Indian territory across the Line of Control in desolate heights of Kargil sector in northern Jammu and Kashmir. It was on this day nine years ago that the last Pakistani intruder was evicted and the battle was officially declared over. Initially, the day was observed as Kargil Vijay Diwas all over the country.