15 Nov , 2021 By : monika singh
A revamped memorial of the Rezang La battle, where India gave an epic fight to the intruding Chinese troops in 1962 in a clash that lasted till the last man, is set to be inaugurated by defence minister Rajnath Singh next week.
The original structure, which was erected in Chushul in 1963 close to the site of the battle, will now be significantly expanded with an auditorium and photo gallery to honour soldiers of 13 Kumaon regiment's Charlie Company that came under a relentless Chinese assault.
Officials said the memorial is being significantly expanded and will also include the names of the 20 soldiers who were killed in action during the Galwan Valley clash last year. It will retain the original memorial pillar on which the names of 109 soldiers who died during the 1962 battle are inscribed. The ceremony, to mark the anniversary of the battle, is planned for November 18.
The Army also has a small memorial for the Galwan soldiers near the site of the clash which was erected last year.
The revamped Rezang La memorial site will also have an auditorium named after Major Shaitan Singh, who led his troops into battle at posts situated at more than 17,000 feet in the biting November winter in 1962. A photo gallery and a model of the battle area is also being set up to put the memorial on the tourism map of Ladakh, said officials.
Located in Chushul, the memorial is close to the Kailash range that was occupied by the Army last year in August, which led to the disengagement of troops at Pangong Tso's finger area. The Indian troops had reoccupied Rezang La during the operation, after a gap of almost six decades. Currently, it is almost impossible for tourists to visit the memorial site given complex permissions that are required by the civil administration and army owing to the border tensions with China.
The revamped memorial and the fact that it will be inaugurated by the defence minister signify a shift towards greater recognition of the 1962 battle, a war that remained absent from official calendars for decades after the debacle. It was only in 2012 that a formal function was held to commemorate the 1962 war at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate. Before that, successive governments had ignored the anniversary of the 1962 war, with official records showing no mention of a function to mark the occasion in 50 years.
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