Indian Army Chief Bikram Singh and a delegation of senior Army officials, who arrive here on Wednesday, will pay tributes to Indian Peace Keeping Force personnel, including P. Ramaswamy M. Vr. C (Maha Vir Chakra), who did not fight for India, but nevertheless figure in the list of people who sacrificed their lives.
It was Ramaswamy’s son, Maj. Parameshwaran, who laid down his life as part of the IPKF. For his heroism, the Major was presented the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military honour.
Though The Hindu pointed out this discrepancy on August 16 this year, and though officials at the Indian High Commission claimed that they were aware of this issue much before the newspaper pointed it out, nothing has so far been done to correct the mistake. A visit to the memorial on Monday night revealed no activity, though one official claimed that the mistake was being rectified.
Itinerary
The visiting Indian Army Chief is scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary, the Chief of Defence Staff and the three forces’ Commanders.
His Sri Lanka visit will also take him to the Security Force Headquarters in Vavuniya and the Ex-combatants’ Rehabilitation Centre.
He and his wife will also spend time taking in the heritage of Anuradhapura, and will also travel to the cooler climes of Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.
He will be the Chief Guest at the Passing-out Parade at the Sri Lankan Military Academy, Diyatalawa, on December 22.
