Quote: LIEUTENANT DID YOU DIE IN VAIN?





I learnt about your demise from the ticker tape on one of the news

channels, last evening. It was a big encounter and a very fierce one

at that. A feeling of deep saddness enveloped me as I reflected on

your youth which had been sacrificed in Gurez Sector,in the line of

duty. What does your death mean?



By now your mortal body would be lying embalmed at the Base Hospital

and will be flown out of Srinagar later in the day,on its final

journey to the cremation ground in your native town or village.



You were too young to die,far too young! For whom and for what did you

die then? This question haunted me last night and I will attempt to

answer you.



You were probably from a village or a small town of India. You were

perhaps the son of an army officer or JCO, or from an urban or rural

civilian background. You could not be from one of the big cities where

iron has entered the soul of our youth and where the only driving

motivator is quest for money in the surreal environment of the

corporate world.



Why did you join the army? Ofcourse to get a job. But than that is

over simpliying the question. You were possibly motivated by the

traditions in your family and clan,you were probably enthused by the

sight of your elder brothers,uncles or other men from your community

in uniform,you were perhaps enchanted by the cantonement life where

you may have spent your growing years.



As your body comes home, you will not get the adulations from the

Government which a soldier's body gets in the USA. Your name will not

be read out in any obituary reference in Parliament,as is done in the

UK for all soldiers who fall in combat in the line of duty.Your name

will not be etched on any national memorial because we do not have

one! Symbolically you will become the unknown soldier for the Nation,

for whom the flame burns at India Gate, but your name will not be

etched there.The names engraved on that monument are of the soldiers

who died fighting for the British Indian Army and not those who have

made the supreme sacrifice for independent India! Can it get more

ironic?



But do not despair Lieutenant. Your comrades will do you proud! The

seniormost officer will lead the homage that your brother officers

will pay you before you leave the Valley of Kashmir one last time.

Your unit representatives will escort your body home. You will be

carried to the funeral pier draped in the flag for which you died

fighting.The darkened and tearful eyes of your grief-stricken mother

and the stoic figure of your father, benumbed by the enormity of this

tragedy, will move even the most cynical.



I do not know Lieutenant at what stage of the encounter you fell,

mortally wounded. But the fact that you were there on the lonely vigil

across the Line of Control in Gurez, is enough to vouch for your

valour. Your unit and formation commanders will see to it that you get

the gallantry award which you so richly deserve. In due time your

father or your mother will be presented the medal and parchment of

your gallantry,which will be framed and find the pride of place in

your home.Time will dull the bitterness of this tragic parting, which

right now is the only feeling that engulfs your parents and siblings,

in its enormity.



Lieutenant you were lucky. You did not live long enough to get married

and leave behind a grieving widow. You did not live long enough to

have children. For when they would have come of age you would have

seen in them a cynicism towards the army for which you died. You will

not see a young son who thinks his father is a hero and wants to

follow his footsteps in joining the army only to be harshly disuaded

by his mother (or even father!) from following a profession which

ranks so low for the youth of our country. You were lucky not to serve

long enough to see the army getting belittled . You did not live long

enough to see the utter indifference and even disdain for the army.

Like you a large number of valiant soldiers laid down their lives on

the rocky heights of Kargil,fighting against self-imposed odds. Today

it is not even felt fit to publicly commemorate the anniversary of

that stupendous military victory,won by blood and gore,in a befitting

manner.



But do not despair Lieutenant. Your name will be etched for posterity

in the annals of your Unit and your Regiment. A silver trophy with

your name inscribed on it,will grace the centre table of the unit

mess.You will also find your name in the unit Quarter Guard,where

annual homage will also be paid to you.The war memorials at the

Formation HQ where you served and at your Regimental Centre will

proudly display your name for eternity.If you joined the Army through

the NDA, your name will be written in the Hut of Remembrance through

which each cadet will pass,paying homage before his Passing Out

Parade.



There will be an obituary reference to you from your comrades in the

papers, which will be flipped over by most but which will be read in

detail by people who have a connect with those who wear or wore the

uniform.



As your parents head into the evening of their life,memories of your

valour will be their most precious possession. When ever your mother

will think of you her eyes will mist over but there will be more stars

in them than you ever wore on your shoulders.Your father may speak

quietly about you but no one will miss the swell of pride in his

chest. For your siblings you will always remain the real hero,and for

that matter even for your community and village. A school or a road

may well be named after you and you will become a part of the local

folk-lore.



You died Lieutenant, because when the test came, you decided that you

could not let down your family,your clan and your comrades, who always

expected you,without ever saying so, to do your duty.You, Lieutanant,

have done more than your duty and made your memory their hallowed

possesion.



LIEUTENANT YOU DID NOT DIE IN VAIN!







- Sarvar Bali