Galwan valley heroes to be honored at Republic Day parade

New Delhi, Jan 12: Indian Army soldiers including Colonel B Santosh Babu of 16 Bihar battalion who took on Chinese People Liberation Army (PLA) aggression in East Ladakh’s Galwan Valley along Line of Actual Control (LAC) on June 15 last year will be posthumously honoured with gallantry medals on Republic Day.

 

 

 

The Indian soldiers had retaliated in full measure when the Chinese troops refused to withdraw from a friction location along LAC with the agreement reached between the two countries and triggered the brutal clash. The PLA troops had attacked Indian soldiers with barbed wire sticks and spears. The Indian soldiers were overwhelmed in numbers but managed to evict the Chinese soldiers in the seven-hour conflict along the Line of Actual Control, the first in more than five decades.

 

Though the Defence Ministry or Indian Army have not revealed it, reports say that these soldiers have been recommended to be awarded the war-time chakra series awards at this Republic Day. The wartime Chakra series awards include highest Paramvir Chakra, Mahavir Chakra and Vir Chakra. The peacetime highest gallantry awards include Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra.

 

The names of the 20 soldiers led by Colonel B Santosh Babu, 37, commanding officer of the 16 Bihar battalion, have been inscribed on the National War Memorial. The army has also built a memorial at Post 120 in Leh for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Galwan Valley conflict, also called “Op Snow Leopard” in army records.