Yesterday, a solemn ceremony was organised at Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi, where the Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat released the Kargil Tribute Song to honour Kargil martyrs and the war veterans.
This stirring video of the song titled ‘Tujhe Bhulega Na Tera Hindustan’, features a number of Bollywood celebrities Vicky Kaushal, Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan to name a few, and Indian Olympic boxer, Mary Kom.
A war that began with the Pakistani infiltration into Indian territory and ended with the Indian Army announcing complete eviction of Pakistani intruders – with the Indian Army declaring 'Operation Vijay’ a success on 26 July 1999 – claimed the lives of many brave soldiers and left many more wounded.
“This year, 20th anniversary of victory in ‘Operation VIJAY’ is being celebrated with the theme ‘Remember, Rejoice and Renew’. We ‘remember’ our martyrs, by revisiting the sacrifices and instilling pride and respect among us, we ‘rejoice’ by celebrating the victory in Kargil and we ‘renew’ our resolve to safeguard the honour of the Tricolour.”PRO (Army)
The ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’ celebrations for 2019 will be spread over three days from 25-27 July 2019 and will be organised at Dras in Kargil, and New Delhi. However, as part of the build-up to the main event, numerous activities are being organised all over the country with effect from first week of July, the Army said in a Press Statement.
These would include a ‘Special National Integration Camp,’ for NCC Cadets from numerous States and UTs, and ‘Ek Daud Shaheedon Ke Naam’ for the local people of Ladakh. A ‘T-20 Cricket Championship’ would also be organised in Ladakh among other events like polo and archery competitions.
On the 14th of this month, a Victory Flame will be illuminated from the National War Memorial, New Delhi. The torch relay team would travel across 11 towns to merge the flame with the eternal one at the ‘Kargil War Memorial’ at Dras.
Finally, on 27 July, the ‘Commemoration Ceremony’ will be conducted at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi.
The event will be followed by ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas Evening’ a cultural extravaganza, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, which will be attended by the dignitaries stated by the Army PRO.
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