M A I N   N E W S

Martyrs’ kin feel let down
Ashok Raina

Kangra, July 26
Himachal made several promises to the kin of Kargil martyrs, but most have not been implemented even after two years of Vijay Operation, said Sub Rulia Ram, father of the Maj Sudhir Walia, who was awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumously.

Sub Rulia Ram was talking to mediapersons after attending the Vijay Divas function at the local Polytechnic College here today. He was honoured at the function by Agriculture Minister Vidaya Sagar. Sub Walia said the government claim that at least one person from the martyr’s family had been provided with a government job was far from true as his handicapped son Arun Kumar, who had passed plus two and his graduate daughter Asha Devi, despite repeated requests had not been provided with a job.

He said the only bread-earner of the family, Maj Sudhir Walia, had laid down his life for the country. The family was subsisting on his pension now.

He complained that despite the assurance of the Chief Minister during his visit to Palampur in September, 1999, that the name of Banori village would be changed to Sudhir Nagar after the name of his son, nothing had been done. He said the government had said the road between the Lower Banori to Moli Check via Harijan Basti would be named after Sudhir Walia, but the promise had not been kept.

He said the Punjab Government on the contrary had named a village after Capt Arun Jastrotia, a friend of Sudhir, as Arun Nagar near Sujanpur, Pathankot.

Mrs Vijay Kalia, mother of the Capt Saurab Kalia, Paramvir Chakra awardee, and Dr N.K. Kalia, his father, said it was his hunch that despite frantic efforts, the issue of human rights violation committed by the Pakistan forces during the Kargil conflict was not raised by the Indian leadership with Pakistan’s General Musharraf during the Agra summit.

He said he would approach world human rights institutions on the matter. Dr Kalia said: “I feel our leadership lacks the initiative to expose Pakistan on human rights issue because they are more internationalists than nationalists”.

He suggested that India should learn from Israel and China as to how to make global powers bend.