Galwan heroes to honoured with their names inscribed on National War Memorial

The names of “Galwan ke Balwaan, the 20 Indian Army personnel, who were killed after bravely fighting Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15, will forever be inscribed and enshrined on the National War Memorial, Times of India reported.

However, the process for inscribing the names of the 20 brave Army personnel on the memorial may take a few months.

On June 15, soldiers of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) ambushed and killed 20 Indian soldiers, including Colonel B Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of the 16 Bihar regiment.

The Indian Army fought with the Chinese army for hours in unarmed combat and inflected a very high death toll on the PLA. The incident significantly escalated the border tension in eastern Ladakh with India calling it “a premeditated and planned action by China”.

China is yet to disclose the number of its soldiers who were killed. According to American intelligence, at least 35 Chinese soldiers were killed in Galwan.

Also, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs has told families of those who died at the hands of the Indian Army that they must not follow the traditional burial ceremonies and funeral services but should be conducted remotely.

Beijing is putting pressure on the families of fallen soldiers and has told them not to conduct burials and in-person funeral ceremonies.

However, The aggrieved families are not being silent and the Chinese government is struggling to silence social media platforms like Weibo.

But India has decided to honour its beaves and during his visit to Lukung forward post in eastern Ladakh on July 17, defence minister Rajnath Singh personally conveyed his appreciation and compliments to the troops from the Bihar regiment for displaying exemplary grit and courage in fighting the Chinese troops.

The Defence Minister told the soldiers that the entire nation is  proud and the Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice in the Galwan Valley clash not only showed exemplary courage in safeguarding the border but also protected the pride of 130 crore Indians.

Last month, five Indian soldiers were awarded ‘Commendation Cards’ by Army Chief Gen M M Naravane for bravery in dealing with Chinese troops during the Galwan Valley clash as well as confronting rival soldiers in Pangong Tso in May.