No place to honour India's war dead

There is a huge disconnect somewhere between the voter and the voted. Only a few weeks ago the nation commemorated the 10th anniversary of India’s Kargil victory on July 26. The response on the streets and from the media was overwhelming. Kargil martyrs were remembered with reverence.
Those who had fought and survived told the tales of those who died on those treacherous mountains — some tortured by their captors — to a nation that knows and feels the relevance of the sacrifice of their brave soldiers. And yet, till date, no government has thought it necessary to build a National War Memorial in Delhi.
The towering memorial we have at India Gate is a testimony to the honour bestowed by the Britishers on imperial India’s soldiers who fought for the Crown in World War I and the Afghan War. They found it necessary to erect the memorial as a symbol of gratitude to some of the best soldiers that ever fought under the Union Jack. Over 70,000 soldiers of Imperial India died in these wars.
Built by the famous architect Edwin Lutyens, the bricks that have been used to construct the 39.62 metre-high and 27.43 metre-wide arch, have the regimental numbers of fallen heroes. The memorial recounts the valour of our boys who fought in France, Flanders, Iran, Mesopotamia, East Africa and in the North-West Frontier Provinces. Since 1971, a flame has burnt beneath the arches, as a mark of respect to our soldiers.
The armed forces’ proposal to construct a war memorial has been languishing in the file cabinets of the Delhi government for over three decades now. The plan of the armed forces envisages the construction of the memorial beneath the lawns of the India Gate.
Except for a small wall, which too will be barely visible to the pedestrians in that area, there is no construction that will spoil India Gate’s visage. Beneath the surface will be a spacious memorial, a monument that will record the names of our martyrs; where citizens and bereaved families can visit in sombre silence to pay homage to those who gave their today for our tomorrow.
Memorials for soldiers and civilians who have died fighting to preserve their nations’ security and core values are common all over the world. In fact, these memorials are inevitably preserved with due care and memorial services are utilised to imbibe patriotism in the younger generation. As an example, school children constitute 70 per cent of the millions who have visited the Memorial Hall of China’s War of Resistance against Japan.
The Americans have built their World War II Memorial in the most revered area of Washington DC. The memorial is flanked by the famous Washington Monument on one side and the Lincoln Memorial on the other. Opened in 2004, the memorial honours the 16 million Americans who took part in the war effort, of whom 400,000 died.
The Taukayyan War Cemetery in Burma is the largest war memorial in that country. It has the graves organised in four sectors, housing the remains of the dead in Meiktila, Akyab (Sittwe), Mandalay and Sahmaw sectors.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains cemeteries in 150 countries. The Debt of Honour Register of the Commission lists 1.7 million Commonwealth soldiers and thousands of civilians who died in the two great wars, their remains being buried in 23,000 burial sites. There are thousands of Indians listed in the register.
Six nations make the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, including India. However, back at home, we have reached a state where ex-servicemen have to go to the extent of returning their medals to the President for getting a fair pension deal. Concerns for Delhi’s visage are hardly obvious when one sees the new metro alignment coming up with no concern for blending it with the existing landscape.
Paradoxically, those who fought to keep the Tricolour fluttering are yet to find solace even beneath the lawns of India Gate.