Chandigarh: For two decades, the black granite blocks of the Chandigarh War Memorial stood frozen in time, bearing the names of thousands of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation. This week, those blocks found new voices as 240 more bravehearts were added to the memorial, ensuring their courage, sacrifice and stories are etched into history and remembered by generations to come.Among them is Subedar Sanjiv Kumar of 4 Para (Special Forces), who was killed in action during Operation Rangdori Baihk in Kupwara sector, Jammu & Kashmir, in April 2020 while leading a team of para commandos against infiltrating terrorists.On April 4 that year, Kumar and his team were air-dropped into snowbound terrain amid poor visibility. After trekking for hours through deep snow, they tracked two terrorists hiding in the dense Zurhama forest. During the operation, an ice cornice collapsed, sending some of his men into a frozen stream where the terrorists were hiding.Despite coming under intense fire, Subedar Kumar entered the icy nallah to rescue his scouts and safely evacuated one of them. He then charged at the terrorists, killing one at close quarters and engaging the others in hand-to-hand combat. He sustained a gunshot wound during the encounter and later succumbed to his injuries.For his exceptional courage, leadership and supreme sacrifice, he was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra, the nation’s second-highest peacetime gallantry award. He is survived by his wife and son.His name is among those newly engraved on the memorial, along with Naib Subedar Rajesh Kumar (Kirti Chakra), 30 RR/14 Mahar, and Shaurya Chakra awardees Sepoy Satnam Singh (1 RR/5 Mahar), Havildar Vipan Thakur (9 Para SF), GDSM Sunil Kumar (21 RR/10 Guards) and Naik Rajesh Kumar (1 Para SF).Dedicated to the nation by former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on Aug 17, 2006, the Chandigarh War Memorial honours more than 8,500 martyrs from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Designed by the Chandigarh College of Architecture and built by the UT engineering department, the memorial has since been maintained by the department.However, since its inauguration, no new names of battle casualties and soldiers killed in action had been added to the memorial.The process of updating the memorial was initiated after deputy commissioner-cum-president, Zila Sainik Board, Nishant Kumar Yadav, directed Col HS Ghuman (Retd), Zila Sainik Welfare Officer, to undertake the exercise.Working on a war footing, the Zila Sainik Welfare Office coordinated with the Integrated Headquarters of the Army and regimental record offices across the country to obtain the latest list of martyrs. A committee comprising R P Singh, office superintendent, Subedar Major Tilak Raj, Hav Pawan Kumar and Hav Satnam Singh cross-verified the names using records from the National War Memorial in New Delhi and authenticated details received from regimental record offices.Subsequently, the office of the chief engineer, Chandigarh, assigned JE Bhuvesh Kumar to execute the engraving work. The engineering department accorded top priority to inscribing the names of 240 martyrs from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh on the hallowed walls of the memorial, ensuring that their sacrifice will never be forgotten.
