A person who suffers very much or is killed because of their religious or political beliefs, and is often admired because of it.

 

According to Cambridge Dictionary this is what a “martyr” is.

May it be NDA or UPA, the Govt. failed him. Mr. Modi made huge promises during his election campaign in 2014 and one of it was that his government will approach The International Court of Justice, in Hague against Pakistan for the injustice done to a brave son of India. Till now it has just proved out to be a ‘Political Gimmick’.

SHIMLA- It was May of 1999 when winter was about to end, and snow had started to melt down on the mountains of Kargil. Due to extreme temperature at such high altitude of 14000 feet all the check posts and barracks of Indian army were seized by snow. In first two weeks several patrols were conducted by different patrolling teams in Kaksar Langpa area of Kargil district by Indian Army to check whether the snow had retreated enough for the summer positions to be re-occupied.

First patrol team who observed and reported large-scale intrusion on Indian side of the Line of Control(LoC) at Kargil was of Captain Saurabh Kalia and his men. It was 15th of May when patrol team of Captain Saurabh Kalia with his men from 4 Jat Regiment were on regular patrol of Bajrang Post in Kaksar sector, where they had an encounter with intruded Pakistani Army. Five Indian Soldiers faced nearly 200 Pakistani rangers with very limited ammunition.

Before Indian reinforcements could reach them, they ran out of ammunition and were captured alive by Pakistani Rangers. And as well planned incident, no trace was the patrol was left by Pakistan. After this incident that India discover hundreds of guerrillas had established fortified positions on the peaks of the hills deep inside the Indian Line of Control, with sophisticated equipment and supply lines back to Pakistan Controlled Kashmir.

Captain Saurabh was searched by Indian army in rugged, treeless Ladakh Mountains but there was no sign of the missing troop. After 22 days from the first encounter between two nations in Kargil area, Pakistan Army handed over dead body of Captain Saurabh Kalia to Indian army commanders at the Kargil sector. The injuries on their body clearly revealed the horrible torture they had faced before being murdered. After the Post-mortem examinations the result shocked the whole nation. It was one of the most inhumane and extreme cases of torture in the history of wars. The Geneva Convention was ripped apart and Captain Saurabh was tortured for 22 days and killed after he was captured at Kaksar.

According to post-mortem report there were several burn marks on the body which seems that they were BRUTALLY BURNT with cigarettes all over the body. Their eardrums were PIERCED with hot rods, their eyes were PUNCTURED and removed with knife. Most of the teeth and bones were BROKEN. The skull was HAMMERED and FRACTURED. Lips and Nose was CHIPPED. Limbs and Genital were CHOPPED OFF. And finally he was shot DEAD.

This death was first casualty of the Kargil war which saved lives of other soldiers and we won Kargil war because Captain Saurabh Kalia opted to bear all this torture rather than revealing secrets of Indian Army to enemies.

Mr. Modi made huge promises during his election campaign in 2014 and one of it was that his government will approach The International Court of Justice, in Hague against Pakistan for the injustice done to a brave son of India. Till now it has just proved out to be a ‘Political Gimmick’.

 

The government of India has failed to do justice to this martyr, may it be NDA or UPA all are the same.
It is the sole responsibility of a nation to ensure the respect and justice to its martyrs, which has been denied in this case. Captain Saurabh Kalia is a martyr and he is still with us in our thoughts and hearts, because a martyr never dies.