Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi's shaky grasp of historical facts is fairly well-known. At a rally in Mumbai with Lata Mangeshkar on Monday, Modi claimed that India had no national memorial to its fallen soldiers, and vowed that he would build one if he were to become prime minister.
“Should we not remember them? Should there not be a war memorial? I feel that some good things have been left for me to do,” he said at the rally.
Except that there is already one in Bengaluru: the National Military Memorial, pictured below, which lists the names of over 24,000 dead. It was dedicated to the nation earlier this month by Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj. The memorial is also the site of India's largest Tricolour, measuring 48x72 feet, which stands on a 65-metre flag post. What is more, the memorial was commissioned by a BJP chief minister, BS Yeddyurappa.
Perhaps Karnataka's capital does not feature prominently on Modi's radar due to his single-minded focus on capturing the national capital. He is, however, right about one thing: New Delhi has no national war memorial apart from the one under India Gate, the Amar Jawan Jyoti. This is an inextinguishable flame that commemorates all unidentified dead soldiers of the country.
National memorials apart, there are smaller commemorative spots around the country honouring the dead of every major war in India, except for the first one with Pakistan in 1948. After all these conflicts, though, Modi could really make his mark if he were to promise a foreign policy that would ensure that India would live so harmoniously with its neighbours, it would never have to suffer any more soldiers dying in battle. Most Indians, it's clear, would cheer even more loudly if he were to promise to build a peace memorial.
1. 1962: China
The Tawang War Memorial in Arunachal Pradesh, locally called 'Namgyal Chortan', bears the names of nearly 2,500 soldiers who died in this war.
2. 1965: Pakistan
The Golden Katar regiment of Ahmedabad erected a memorial to dead soldiers of both the 1965 and 1971 wars. It is one of the few military memorials in the country which also lists civilian deaths.
3. 1971: Pakistan (Bangladesh)
The only memorial to this war seems to be one in Badami Bagh Cantonment, just outside Srinagar. It is a simple statue with names engraved on it. Military personnel lay wreaths on it every December on Vijay Divas, the day the war ended.
4. 1999: Pakistan (Kargil)
Kargil Chowk, Patna, has become a site for protests in the Bihar capital. Everyone, from Bajrang Dal workers to supporters of Irom Sharmila, seems to make it their gathering point. The memorial stands at the centre of a busy crossroad and has the names of those from Bihar and Jharkhand who died in the Kargil war.
5. 1999: Pakistan (Kargil)
On the road from Srinagar to Leh is a huge sandstone building built by the Indian army after the Kargil war. It doubles up as a war museum and a memorial, and details the events of the war as they took place.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
“Should we not remember them? Should there not be a war memorial? I feel that some good things have been left for me to do,” he said at the rally.
Except that there is already one in Bengaluru: the National Military Memorial, pictured below, which lists the names of over 24,000 dead. It was dedicated to the nation earlier this month by Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj. The memorial is also the site of India's largest Tricolour, measuring 48x72 feet, which stands on a 65-metre flag post. What is more, the memorial was commissioned by a BJP chief minister, BS Yeddyurappa.
Perhaps Karnataka's capital does not feature prominently on Modi's radar due to his single-minded focus on capturing the national capital. He is, however, right about one thing: New Delhi has no national war memorial apart from the one under India Gate, the Amar Jawan Jyoti. This is an inextinguishable flame that commemorates all unidentified dead soldiers of the country.
National memorials apart, there are smaller commemorative spots around the country honouring the dead of every major war in India, except for the first one with Pakistan in 1948. After all these conflicts, though, Modi could really make his mark if he were to promise a foreign policy that would ensure that India would live so harmoniously with its neighbours, it would never have to suffer any more soldiers dying in battle. Most Indians, it's clear, would cheer even more loudly if he were to promise to build a peace memorial.
1. 1962: China
The Tawang War Memorial in Arunachal Pradesh, locally called 'Namgyal Chortan', bears the names of nearly 2,500 soldiers who died in this war.
2. 1965: Pakistan
The Golden Katar regiment of Ahmedabad erected a memorial to dead soldiers of both the 1965 and 1971 wars. It is one of the few military memorials in the country which also lists civilian deaths.
3. 1971: Pakistan (Bangladesh)
The only memorial to this war seems to be one in Badami Bagh Cantonment, just outside Srinagar. It is a simple statue with names engraved on it. Military personnel lay wreaths on it every December on Vijay Divas, the day the war ended.
4. 1999: Pakistan (Kargil)
Kargil Chowk, Patna, has become a site for protests in the Bihar capital. Everyone, from Bajrang Dal workers to supporters of Irom Sharmila, seems to make it their gathering point. The memorial stands at the centre of a busy crossroad and has the names of those from Bihar and Jharkhand who died in the Kargil war.
5. 1999: Pakistan (Kargil)
On the road from Srinagar to Leh is a huge sandstone building built by the Indian army after the Kargil war. It doubles up as a war museum and a memorial, and details the events of the war as they took place.