The Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), M. Jagadesh Kumar, on Monday urged the Union government to install a battle tank on the campus.
“An Army tank can be put up on display on the campus so that students can be reminded of the sacrifices and valour of the soldiers,” he said on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, marking India’s victory in the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan.
Mr. Kumar praised the valour of Indian soldiers in the Kargil war and expressed his profound gratitude to the Army and expressed his satisfaction that JNU was able to pay homage to martyrs.
A “tiranga rally” was held on the campus to mark the occasion. Students, academicians and members of Veterans India ( a body of ex-servicemen) walked from Ganga Dhaba to the Convention Centre with a 2,200-fee-long Tricolour.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for External Affairs and former Army Chief General V.K. Singh, Mentor of Veterans India Maj. Gen. GD Bakshi and cricketer Gautam Gambhir took part in the rally. Besides Veterans India members, 23 families of martyrs also joined the event.
R P Singh, Rector III of JNU, said it was a proud moment for the university to have had the privilege of paying its heartfelt tributes to the Army and its martyrs of Kargil.
Mr. Pradhan said, "JNU has set an example in the country for its respect for the Indian army." It had created history by organising a tiranga march.
Gen. Singh shared his experiences in the wonderful tradition of the Army and underlined the importance of the Kargil victory for India and its armed forces. “Outside” forces became successful only when an insider helped them out and that the Indian veterans had been trying to instil the spirit of unity in every Indian’s heart.
The rally, a first of its kind on the JNU campus, comes over a year after the February, 9, 2016 event in which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised and students of the university, including its then students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar, were arrested on charges of sedition.
