HOMAGE TO MARTYRS: President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam at the War Memorial in Chandigarh on Thursday. — Photo: PTI

CHANDIGARH: President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Thursday exhorted the people to make a resolve to work with greater unity, singular determination and vision to make India and all its States not only rich and prosperous, but also "invulnerable forever to invasion across its borders — on land, sea and air and further into history, to aggression from space."

Dedicating to the nation the Chandigarh War Memorial constructed in the Bougainvillea Garden here, Mr. Kalam said: "The nation depends on you now, more than ever, to drive away the divisive forces that keep man away from man, and prevent hearty cooperation and mutual help."

He said that he was honoured to be part of this historic occasion "as we remember our gallant soldiers, who since Independence in 1947 had laid down their lives in 13 different operations of the Army, Navy and Air Force... Their names are here before you, engraved in granite, so that they will be remembered through many centuries as brave and dignified souls who sacrificed their lives so that the future generations can live in honour, peace and prosperity."

Citizens' initiative

Mr. Kalam appreciated the creation of the War Memorial through a citizens' initiative led by the Indian Express Group of Newspapers at a cost of Rs. 70 lakh which honours 8,500 martyrs belonging to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. He was also happy that part of the funds raised for the Memorial would be used for upgrading schools and hospitals in rural areas to which the martyred soldiers belonged.

The President said the people of this strategically important region had sacrificed 8,459 lives to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. "We are honouring them today."

People from all other regions also lived through nearly a century of united struggle for freedom from alien rule, he said. Those noble and brave souls had visualised politics as a national movement towards noble ideals and goals.

"Let us now take the opportunity to reawaken the same spirit of the Freedom Movement, visualise politics as a national development movement for realising a safe, prosperous and happy India by 2020."

Responding to the demand for setting up a national war memorial in New Delhi dedicated to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in defence operations since 1947, he said he would certainly work towards this.

The ceremony was attended by the Governors of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, S.F. Rodrigues, A.R. Kidwai and V.S. Kokje, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, his Himachal counterpart Virbhadra Singh and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.

The former Punjab Governor, J.F.R. Jacob, who conceived the plan, laid the foundation stone of the memorial. He described it as a "Shaandar Yaadgar" (mgnificent memorial) and urged the Chief Ministers to do "more" for the war veterans and the families of martyrs.

The Editor-in-Chief of the Indian Express Group, Shekhar Gupta, said that students of the Chandigarh College of Architecture had designed the memorial with money donated by corporate houses and people from all walks of life.

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