Bhabamani Behera’s eyes welled up and voice choked as she narrated the day she received the news of her son’s martyrdom in the Kargil War. Tears rolled down her wrinkled & old cheeks as she tried to wipe them up with her saree.
A box that contains all the memory of her son sits undisturbed at Bhabamani’s home in Raj Berhampur village, under Balasore’s Nilagiri block. It has been 24 years, but Bhabamani could hardly muster enough courage to open that box fearing a relapse into the memories and pain she has tried to suppress all these years.
Her son, Maheswar Behera chose to join the Indian Army to serve the Nation. Just two days before Maheswar’s death on the border, he had written a letter to her mother expressing his wellbeing. The letter reached his home first and the news of his supreme sacrifice reached a few days later.
“I could not believe my ears when they told me my son is no more. I showed them the letter and said he is alive and well. I asked the Army officers to stop joking about my son. But when they elaborated everything and showed the chronology of the events, it dawned on me that I have lost my son,” said Bhabamani.
“I had high hopes from him. We are a poor family and he was the only hope. I wanted to get him married and see him lead a happy life. I wanted to travel with him and see places. But all of my dreams were shattered during the Kargil war,” Bhabamani said with a sigh.
The saga of valour and sacrifice does not end here.
Moving on to Ganjam, OTV found the family of Srinibas Patra who attained martyrdom in Kargil War as well. Patra’s ancestral village, Jagdalpur in Ganjam still remembers him fondly. The tales of his valour and supreme sacrifice have adorned the walls of houses in the village. The soil and the air of his village smell of him even 24 years after his demise.
Patra left for the border just six days after his marriage. And he never returned. The only thing that his family and the newlywed wife could get was his ashes.
"He was the youngest among us and was the apple of my parent’s eyes. His death came as a shock for my mother and she lost her appetite soon after. My mother died remembering him. I wanted to preserve the valour of my brother and never forget his sacrifice for the country,” said Srinibas Patra’s elder brother, Trilochan Patra.
His village is gearing up to celebrate the Kargil Vijay Divas tomorrow.
On July 26, 1999, the Kargil War came to an end, with Indian soldiers successfully recapturing mountain heights that had been seized by Pakistani intruders. There were many more who laid down their lives during the war. It was their raw valour and steely resolve that gave India a decisive victory.
26 Indian Army officers and 527 soldiers were martyred in the war spanning over two months. Odisha too lost 13 brave jawans whose deeds of bravery have made them heroes forever.
As India gears up to celebrate Kargil Vijay Diwas on Wednesday, Odisha remembers the Bravehearts from the state and leads the nation in paying glowing tributes to the martyrs of 1999 and salutes their valour, grit and indomitable courage.