December 18, 2012 | The Hindu
Indian Army Chief Bikram Singh and a delegation
of senior Army officials, who arrive here on Wednesday, will pay tributes to Indian
Peace Keeping Force personnel, including P. Ramaswamy M. Vr. C (Maha Vir
Chakra), who did not fight for India, but nevertheless figure in the list of
people who sacrificed their lives.
It was Ramaswamy’s son, Maj. Parameshwaran, who
laid down his life as part of the IPKF. For his heroism, the Major was
presented the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest military honour.
Though The Hindu pointed out this
discrepancy on August 16 this year, and though officials at the Indian High
Commission claimed that they were aware of this issue much before the newspaper
pointed it out, nothing has so far been done to correct the mistake. A visit to
the memorial on Monday night revealed no activity, though one official claimed
that the mistake was being rectified.
Itinerary
The visiting Indian Army Chief is scheduled to
meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Defence Secretary, the Chief of Defence
Staff and the three forces’ Commanders.
His Sri Lanka visit will also take him to the
Security Force Headquarters in Vavuniya and the Ex-combatants’ Rehabilitation
Centre.
He and his wife will also spend time taking in
the heritage of Anuradhapura, and will also travel to the cooler climes of
Kandy and Nuwara Eliya.
He will be the Chief Guest at the Passing-out
Parade at the Sri Lankan Military Academy, Diyatalawa, on December 22.
