English
Dharamsala (HP), Aug 9 (PTI) Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today dedicated Rs 9.85 crore worth ‘War Museum’ to people and laid the foundation stone of another such memorial at Dari here.
“I salute the great heroes of the freedom struggle, the valiant men and women of Himachal who became martyrs as well as their families, who equally contributed for the country.
“The War Museum is a reminder of the sacrifices of the valiant soldiers of Himachal Pradesh. The museum would provide a peep into the country’s first Param Vir Chakra recipient Major Somnath Sharma to Captain Bikram Batra, Saurabh Kalia and others who laid their lives for the sake of the nation,” he said on the 75th anniversary of the Quit India Movement.
The chief minister said “wars are never welcome”, but “sometimes become inevitable”.
Remembering Mahatma Gandhi, Singh said it was due to the ‘do or die’ call given by the father of the nation on August 8, 1942 in his ‘quit India’ speech in Mumbai that the country attained freedom from the colonial rule.
“Quit India Movement was an important milestone in the history of India’s freedom struggle,” he said.
Spread over an area of 2,190 square metres, the War Museum displays statue of General Zorawar Singh and murals of heroic deeds on the outside. The inner hall houses busts of Vir Chakra awardees, Jamedar Bhandan Ram and Jamedar Lala with write ups of their legend on the wall.
Representatives of State Martyrs Memorial Service and Development Society said a request has been sent to the Centre for display of MIG-21 and other warfare machinery at the museum.
This is published unedited from the PTI feed.
