Army honours 2 officers for capturing war on camera

Chandigarh: Two officers from the ministry of defence (MoD) Col Basu Deb Maitra and Lt Col Dipak Dass of photo division, directorate of public relations (DPR), who had filmed the Kargil war on camera, were honoured on Tuesday at Kargil War Memorial during Kargil Vijay Diwas celebration 2016 at Drass. They were honoured by the Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh and Army commander of Northern Command Lt Gen D

S Hooda. Both the officers paid floral tributes to martyrs and brave soldiers during wreath laying ceremony held at the memorial. Later they presented few historic signature photographs of the war to Army commander Lt Gen D S Hooda and commanders of other formations at Drass.

The photo division of DPR, MoD, was tasked for visual coverage of the Kargil Operations in 1999 and Lt Col Dass was first to reach Drass and Kargil before any media reach.

He nearly escaped death while climbing Tololing. He was also with Capt Vikram Batra and Capt Kenguruse during their last assault. A national photo awardee and personally praised by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he has his photos published in national and international newspapers, magazines including Time and Janes defence weekly.

"It is certainly a historic and nostalgic moment in my life to stand at the foothill of mighty Tololing peak after so many years where I escaped death narrowly from Pakistani firing during Kargil war in 1999," said Lt Col Dass. He also narrated emotionally about his days with martyred Capt Vikram Batra and coverage in Gun Hill operations.

Col Maitra said, "We are very grateful to the Indian Army and specially to the Army Cdr Lt Gen D S Hooda who himself recognized our contributions after 17 years and invited us." He also added that we felt very proud to pay floral tribute to our martyrs here and promised that alongwith all other officers of DPR, he would come in Kargil Vijay Diwas celebration at Drass in 2017.

Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi led the nation on the 17th Kargil Vijay Diwas on Tuesday in paying glowing tributes to the martyrs of the 1999 Kargil War with Pakistan. Paying tributes to the soldiers, Modi said: "The country will never forget the fearlessness with which they gave a befitting and unforgettable reply to the intruders."

In a series of tweets, he also lauded the firmness demonstrated by the then political leadership (National Democratic Alliance government) which ensured the victory in Kargil.

Army honours 2 officers for capturing war on camera