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Port Blair/New Delhi: The Kargil Cenotaph at Port Blair is a tribute to the brave soldiers who proudly laid down their life to win the Kargil war for their country on 26 July 1999.

India celebrates Kargil Victory Day on 26 July.

The Kargil Memorial at Port Blair was conceived, planned and executed by Faizi Hashmi in his capacity as the Port Blair Town Council Secretary in a record time of 20 days.

It was declared open on 15 August 1999 – possibly the first Kargil Memorial in the country.

The design and execution was entirely inhouse with the help of a dedicated team of architects and engineers, under close day and night supervision of the Town Council Secretary.

I went for an innovation. Under the shadow of the sculpture through which we tried to capture bravery, loyalty and sacrifice, I put a gun on the ground within the small arena with a couplet on the plaque borrowing a line from Kavi Pradeep’s ultimate poetic brilliance that gives goosebumps every time we hear it. But with a slight modification. The plaque read, “उनकी याद में, जो लौट के घर न आए” – Faizi Hashmi