Lieutenant General MM Naravane pays tributes to martyrs in Ambala Cantonment on Thursday. Tribune Photo

Ambala October 6

Kharga Corps of the Army today celebrated its 45th Raising Day here. To commemorate the occasion, a wreath was laid at the Kharga War Memorial by Corps Commander Lt Gen MM Naravane to pay homage to the martyrs.The Kharga Sainik Institute set up for junior commissioned officers, other ranks and their families was also inaugurated on the occasion.Talking to mediapersons, Naravane said the Corps was raised in Krishna Nagar, West Bengal, in 1971 by Lt Gen TN Raina, who later became the Army Chief, to carry out operations in the Eastern Theatre during the Indo-Pak War. It proved its mettle by capturing important towns of Khulna, Jessore, Jhenida, Magura and large swathes of territory between Ganges and Padma rivers. Subsequently, the Corps shifted to the western theatre where it was initially headquartered in Chandimandir and then moved to Ambala in 1985, he said. He said the sign of the Corps was the ‘Kharga’ or Scythe – the mythological weapon of Goddess Kali, which was adopted from a 200-year-old Kharga that was presented by the Raja of Krishna Nagar to the Corps on its raising.