Mohammad Iqbal Khan was just two years old when his father Naik Dost Mohommad Khan of 12 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) was killed while fighting gallantly with the enemy in Kargil.
Pride filled every heart when soldiers sounded the last post to pay tributes to 527 brave hearts who laid down their lives for the motherland on the icy heights of Kargil and Drass 16 years ago.
It was on this day in 1999 when Operation Vijay officially came to an end after Indian army drove-out all Pakistani army soldiers disguising as intruders and recaptured the mountain peaks and heights in the Kargil and Drass sub sectors of Ladakh division.
Around 527 soldiers were killed and 1360 others were injured in the war that was fought on one of the difficult and inhospitable terrains in the cold desert. It was a solemn occasion for the families of the martyrs in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. Pride, pain and patriotism galore as families remembered the heroes who laid down their lives fighting gallantly intruders.
Mohammad Iqbal Khan was just two years old when his father Naik Dost Mohommad Khan of 12 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) was killed while fighting gallantly with the enemy in Kargil.
In fact Dost Mohommad Khan was among the few Kashmiri soldiers who gave supreme sacrifice for the motherland while fighting Pakistani intruders on the icy heights of Kargil.
Sixteen years on, his son Iqbal wants to join the army as a commissioned officer to complete the mission of his father. "I feel proud of my father who laid down his life for the country. I have heard his stories of bravery. I too want to join the army but as an officer. After my class XII, I will try to get into the army but as an officer," Iqbal told dna.
On Sunday the martyrs' families, gallantry award winners and other ranks led the nation in paying tributes to the soldiers who laid down their lives for the motherland.
The main function was held at the War Memorial at Drass, which was the epicenter of the 1999 war against Pakistani troops. Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda interacted with the 'next of kin' of the martyrs, Veer Naris (war widows) and the gallantry award winners.
"The serious mood at the ceremony brought home memories of the losses borne so proudly by the martyrs' families in the bloody summer of 1999. Many in the audience were moved to tears when the buglers played the poignant tune of `The Last Post' after the wreath laying", said Colonel NN Joshi, defence spokesman at Srinagar.
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 "Kargil Day")
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