Victory torch reaches Dehradun, war heroes, 'veer naris' felicitated

Dehradun: The 'Swarnim Vijay Mashaal' (victory torch) lit for the year-long 50th anniversary celebrations of the 1971 war which marks India's triumph over Pakistan reached

Dehradun

on Friday.

As a tribute to the war heroes of 1971, the Army officials of Clement Town, under the command of GOC of the Division, felicitated the veteran and 'veer naris' (war widows) who led the country to victory.

Apart from saluting and honouring the torch, the Army officials, led by Commandant of Indian Military Academy (IMA) Lt Gen Harinder Singh and GOC 14 Rapid (Strike) Maj Gen Rahul R Singh, also felicitated the war veterans and the widows.

‘Veer naris’ - Chitra Devi, Bhundra Devi and Prabha Devi - were felicitated. The war veterans who were felicitated were Lt Gen (retd) Anand Swarup, who was at the forefront of the 1971 battle. Brig Mahendra Pratap Gupta, Brig N K Gupta, Brig Balraj Kapur, Honorary Capt Dhan Singh, Honorary Capt Mohan Prasad Joshi, Honorary Capt SS Bisht, Sub Awtar Singh, ME-1 Narinder Kumar Oberai, Indian Navy, Cpl Ranjith Singh Negi, Indian Air Force and CPO Mahendra Singh, Indian Navy were also honoured.

“I became the commandant of a force that was quite brief. It was raised in November and dismantled in December of 1971. But, we fought a decisive battle. The happiness I have seen on the faces of people of Bangladesh was a great feeling,” said Lt Gen(retd) Anand Swarup who added that battles of today will be fought by technology and modern equipment and hence there should be training in that direction.

On December 16, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lit the torch at the National War Memorial in New Delhi to mark the 50th anniversary celebrations of the ‘

Vijay Diwas

’. The torch started its movement from Delhi and went via Meerut to Dehradun.

“The torch will be later taken to Ambala and then to Jammu - its final destination, after covering the entire Northern Command, under the aegis of India Army,” a statement said.

Overall, there will be four victory flames to be lit and taken to the headquarters of Indian Army in four cardinal directions, which will be amalgamated into one single flame at the National War Memorial, New Delhi, on December 15, 2021.

Victory flames may also be taken to Bangladesh by the tri-services team of Indian Army.

“It is our moral responsibility as the citizens of India to take pride over the deeds of our national heroes. One can always contribute even without being physically present at the location. All you have to do is to light a candle in the name of the brave hearts,” the statement added.