After 55 years, still no memorial for India’s war heroes

No country for dead soldiers. India may well be that country. Sixty-nine years ago, India won independence from the British. Since 1947, more than 25,000 men from the country’s armed forces have laid down their lives in the wars and battles of 1947-48, 1962, 1965, 1971, Operation Vijay, Indian Peace Keeping Operations in Sri Lanka, and UN Peace Keeping Operations, besides the ongoing insurgency and numerous other low-conflict operations.

In the meanwhile, the National War Memorial —a place you go to for honouring the dead soldiers who embraced death fighting for you and for independent India — still remains an idea, etched in the drawing board.

After the Union Cabinet cleared the construction of a NWM and a war museum near the Indian Gate complex in the national capital on October 7, 2015, a design for the `500 crore monument is yet to be finalised as is the issuing of global tender for the construction. “The design will be approved soon and global tender is in the works. So work is on at a fast pace” is the stock response of defence ministry officials when queried about the NWM timelines.

Contrary to popular notions, the memorial at India Gate has names of only those soldiers who died fighting for the British Raj — especially during World War I and the operations in Afghanistan-Wazirstan expeditions. The NWM will be dedicated to the memory of all Indian soldiers who have laid down their lives fighting for independent India.

It was 55 years ago in 1961 when the Chief of Staff Committee proposed a war memorial. The issue was put in the backburner due to the 1962 Indo-China conflict. A committee was set up in 1967 by the defence ministry to pave the way forward was soon conveniently forgotten until the subject surfaced again in 2004. Site selection proved to be a distraction once again till the formation of a Group of Ministers (GoM) in 2008. It took six years and a change of guard at the Centre in 2014 for the NWM and a war museum site to be finalised near India Gate. According to the plan, the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate, the NWM and a war museum will form an integrated complex. The NWM is expected to be a concave horizontal circular structure with small walls that will have the names of the war heroes. The structure will be skirted by a circular pathway. Artistic landscaping of the lawns will be an attractive feature. The idea is not to disturb the aesthetics and feeling of open space. No tall structures will be erected.