Martyr’s widow pays tribute at Kargil

KENDRAPARA: Nibedita  Mallick, widow of Kargil martyr Sachidananda Mallick, visited the war memorial in Kargil on Thursday and paid tribute to her husband, who was a soldier of 12 Mahar Regiment. He was martyred during the Kargil War on June 28, 1999.  Two years back, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had promised Nibedita that the Government would make arrangement to send her to the memorial to pay tribute to her husband.  However, the promise was never fulfilled and Nibedita decided to visit the memorial at Drass Sector of Kargil on her own.

The Kargil War Memorial, built by Indian Army in memory of soldiers who laid down their lives in the Kargil War of 1999, has names of 559 martyrs including her husband. “I lived with my husband for only five years. My son was only three years old when my husband was killed.

I have lived all these years without him and our son, who is now 22, has been brought up amidst stories of gallantry,” said Nibedita. Her 22-year-old son, Soumyaranjan, who is studying electrical engineering in a Bhubaneswar-based college, said the memorial is a temple for him. “My father is my hero. I have a dream of following in his footsteps and working in the Army as an electrical engineer,” he said.