Mangaloreans paid tributes to the martyrs of the Kargil war and remembered their sacrifices for the country on Thursday. An event was organised in the city by the Dakshina Kannada Ex-Servicemen Association and the District Lions Club on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Divas.
Several ex-servicemen and others, mostly their families, lit candles and offered flowers at the memorial in Kadri Hills. Col. Nitteguthu Sharath Bhandary (retired) said that 518 Indians were killed and 1,211 wounded in the Kargil war. Four Param Vir Chakras were awarded after the war. He said: “It (the meeting to remember the martyrs) shouldn't become a ritual.”
There are 1,000 members in the ex-servicemen’s association and 80 to 85 attended the meeting in memory of the martyrs. Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs), and other ranks from the Army, the Navy and the Air Force are members of the association. The association helps ex-servicemen with securing their pensions, helping them and their families get medical attention and facilitating their children’s education. It works towards raising awareness among civilians of how to join the armed forces, he said.
