The Hindu : Karnataka News : Honour for great sacrifice touches every heart

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 16, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Honour for great sacrifice touches every heart

Staff Correspondent

Gen. J.J. Singh was touched when he saw a four-year-old boy dressed up as a soldier accompany his mother to receive the honour. He took out his pen and gifted it to the boy.

A PROUD SON: The Chief of the Army Staff, Joginder Jaswant Singh, presenting the `Badge of Sacrifice' to the 4-year-old son of martyr Davidas Trimbak and his mother, Kalpana Trimbak in Belgaum on Friday.

BELGAUM: More than the melodies from the trumpets and saxophones, the silent cries of the war widows and parents of slain soldiers touched the gathering. It was a day of homage to all those war heroes, albeit posthumously.

Joginder Jaswant Singh, Chief of the Army Staff, gave away the honours and Badges of Sacrifice at the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre headquarters here on Friday.

Fifteen Badges of Sacrifice were presented to the kin of as many soldiers of the regiment who died in action on the borders and while fighting terrorists in the last two years.

Tearful homage

It was heart-rending when young widows and aged mothers broke down at the venue. They paid tearful tribute to their loved ones.

Gen. Singh, who is the first Colonel of the regiment to become the Chief of the Army Staff, was touched when he saw a four-year-old boy dressed up as a soldier accompanying his mother Kalpana, widow of Devidas Trimbak of Jalgaon in Maharashtra, to receive the honour. Gen. Singh took out his pen and gifted it to the boy amidst loud applause.

Devidas was killed in an avalanche on the border in the north on February 18, 2003.

Gen. Singh, who arrived 30 minutes late for the programme, received a guard of honour and placed a wreath at the War Memorial. Several senior and retired officers of the Army were present. Members of royal families, Yuvaraj Patwardhan of Kurundwad, Raja Bahaddur Khem Savant of Savantwadi and Srimanth Sahu Chatrapati of Kolhapur laid wreaths at the War Memorial.

A document on the life of Gen. Singh was released by Lt. Gen. K.S. Brar, the senior-most Colonel of the Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre.

Gen. Singh later addressed the biennial conference of commanders and "Sainik Sammelan". He inaugurated a museum to mark the occasion.

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