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Palampur (Himachal Pradesh): "A soldier wants to die taking the bullet in his chest and
not being barbarically tortured for days," says Vijaya Kalia,
mother of the 1999 Kargil conflict martyr Capt. Saurabh Kalia.
She and her husband N.K. Kalia, who retired as a senior scientist
from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR),
told IANS Wednesday they did not want any soldier to suffer the
way their son did at the hands of Pakistani troops.
"We just want that the people behind the inhuman torture should be
identified and exemplary punishment should be meted out to them so
that in future no soldier, anywhere in the world, should go
through what my son and his colleagues underwent," said the
martyr's father.
For over 13 years, the elderly couple has demanded justice for
their son Capt. Saurabh and five other soldiers, whose mutilated
bodies were handed over to the Indian authorities by Pakistan
after weeks of gruesome torture.
"The Indian government has failed to give justice to the families
of those soldiers who were victims of war crime," said Capt.
Saurabh's father.
Capt. Saurabh, of the 4 Jat Regiment, was the first army officer
to report the incursion by the Pakistani Army on Indian soil. He
and five soldiers - Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram,
Moola Ram and Naresh Singh - were on a patrol of the Bajrang Post
in the Kaksar sector of Jammu and Kashmir when they were taken
captive by Pakistani troops May 15, 1999.
They were tortured for weeks before being killed. Their mutilated
bodies were handed over to India June 9, 1999.
"If the government acted swiftly against 26/11 Pakistani terrorist
Ajmal Kasab, why is the government feeling helpless and not
serious in pursuing with Pakistan the issue of war atrocities,"
Kalia sought to know.
He said they were fighting only for the honour and pride of the
soldiers.
The elderly couple, settled in this tea garden town, about 220 km
from the state capital Shimla, has moved the Supreme Court,
seeking direction to the central government to raise their son's
case in the International Court of Justice.
"It's a simple case of violation of the Geneva Convention," Kalia
said.
"Since an individual cannot move the International Court of
Justice, we are seeking directions to the Indian government to
move the international court," the elderly man added.
Information collected by Kalia from the external affairs ministry
under the Right to Information (RTI) Act said that "the government
had conveyed the anguish and anger of the Indian people to the
foreign minister of Pakistan during his visit to Delhi June 12,
1999. An aide-memoire was also handed to Pakistan June 15, 1999.
However, Pakistan denied our claims".
Capt. Saurabh, who was posted in Kargil soon after passing out of
the Indian Military Academy, did not live long enough to even
receive his first pay packet.
Today, the martyr's photographs, uniforms, shoes and mementoes are
kept in his room, which has been named 'Saurabh Smriti Kaksha' (a
museum), in the Kalias' four-bedroom house in Palampur.
India and Pakistan fought a limited war over the icy heights of
Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir in May-July 1999. India took back all
the positions that had been occupied by the Pakistani Army.
India lost 527 soldiers and Pakistan upwards of 700 men.
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