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Indian Navy honours forgotten heroes

Swapna Khanna in New Delhi

Almost three decades after they laid down their lives for the country, the Indian Navy Thursday finally honoured its martyrs.

The Indian Navy awarded Badges of Honour to 71 navalmen who died in action in operation Goa (1961), Indo-Pak operation (1971), Sri Lanka operation of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (1989) and the Kargil operation (1999).

The Badges of Honour, a scroll and cash awards of Rs 1 lakh each were accepted by close relatives of the martyrs. United in grief and pride, most of them cried while accepting the awards.

"Even though the Indian Navy took three years to acknowledge the sacrifices made by our sons, I am happy that at least that the honour has come." Said Kamal Sood, whose brother K K Sood died on board INS Khukri during the Indo-Pak war in 1971.

INS Khukri and INS Kirpan were assigned the task of locating and destroying a Pakistani submarine in the North Arabian sea. In the course of the operation, INS Khukri was hit by torpedoes fired by the enemy submarine on December 9, 1971. Sixty-seven men went down with the ship.

One of the awardees, Lt Darambhir Singh Sihag, was a marine commando deployed for Operation Rakshak' in Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I am very proud of my husband," said his wife Jyoti (22), with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.

Lt. Dharambir Singh Sihag and Jyoti got married on November 28, 1998.

"My sister, who is with the Indian Navy, introduced us. I was only 17 when he met my parents with a proposal. My parents refused, but he decided to wait. After five years of courtship we got married and nine months later he died in action," she said.

"In fact, we stayed together only for three months," Jyoti said trying to hold back tears.

"Though for many the award came late, the fact that their sacrifices have been acknowledged fills us all with a sense of joy and pride," said Jyoti.

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