Delhi War Cemetery is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves commission. Casualties of WWII (mainly Dutch) and some from WWI lay buried here. Their 1155 graves were moved from Lucknow, Kanpur, Merut, Alahabad & Dehradun. It also has a register with a roll of honour of the 25,000 Indian soldiers who were accorded the last rites as per their religious traditions.
Some feel that maintaining them is an added expense and a case of land grabbing, especially for people who don't even belong to India. But I personally feel, a soldier is a soldier and the least they can get is a decent burial or last rites, especially if they die in a foreign land. Warriors, doctors, nurses, pilots, sailors etc. from so many countries lay interred here.
Established by Royal Charter in 1917, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission pays tribute to the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars. It is a non-profit-making organisation.
India's share in the expense of the whole exercise is 1.26 percent. British High Commission pays for the rest of it.
The youngest documented Indian soldier is 'Gul Muhhamed' aged only 16 yrs of age. He rests in the Kohima War Cemetery in Nagaland, among 1400 other bravehearts.
(what touched me is the way it is maintained. when I walked in, a maali asked me "Madam have you come too look around or do you have someone here from your family." when we said we were just looking around, he patiently told us everything about the cemetery and got back to his gardening.)
Some feel that maintaining them is an added expense and a case of land grabbing, especially for people who don't even belong to India. But I personally feel, a soldier is a soldier and the least they can get is a decent burial or last rites, especially if they die in a foreign land. Warriors, doctors, nurses, pilots, sailors etc. from so many countries lay interred here.
Established by Royal Charter in 1917, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission pays tribute to the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars. It is a non-profit-making organisation.
India's share in the expense of the whole exercise is 1.26 percent. British High Commission pays for the rest of it.
The youngest documented Indian soldier is 'Gul Muhhamed' aged only 16 yrs of age. He rests in the Kohima War Cemetery in Nagaland, among 1400 other bravehearts.
(what touched me is the way it is maintained. when I walked in, a maali asked me "Madam have you come too look around or do you have someone here from your family." when we said we were just looking around, he patiently told us everything about the cemetery and got back to his gardening.)
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| The Casualties |
Very nice photos Vandu. Thank you for sharing this....:)
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ReplyDeleteVandana, I was completely unaware of this. The photos are beautiful. Thank you very much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYes Shriraj, Lot of people don't know about it. That is the reason I posted it :)
ReplyDeleteGood job!..
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