Names of 8,500 martyrs from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal, etched in gold lettering on black granite walls, glinted in the sunlight as the Supreme Commander walked past them.

Calling it a historic occasion, Kalam said that the memorial, a people’s initiative led by The Indian Express, “will be a constant reminder of the great sacrifices made by brave soldiers in 13 operations since Independence.”

The President, who had in his inimitable way intervened in this initiative by asking The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief and CEO Shekhar Gupta to collect funds for war widows as well, said the nation should work to ensure it’s invulnerable to invasions by land, sea, air, and in future, from space as well.

Earlier, welcoming Kalam, Shekhar Gupta said the inspiration of the President, who had kicked off the newspaper’s India Empowered campaign, and the spirit of Chandigarh had made the memorial possible. “It’s an expression of our gratitude to the people in uniform,” he said.

Calling the memorial an institution, Gupta said it linked the past with the present, and also the future since part of the walls had been kept empty to display names of those who will sacrifice their lives for the nation.

Although the dais had a distinguished line-up of the political cream of the region—present on the occasion were two Chief Ministers, three Governors and a Deputy CM—it was the day of the soldier.

Lt Gen J F R Jacob (retd), a 1971 war hero and former Chandigarh administrator who had conceived the idea of the memorial, delivered a stirring reminder to the President: “I look upon you as the Supreme Commander of the armed forces and I speak to you as an old soldier.”

And speak he did like a soldier, recalling how when he was serving, all his troops came from the erstwhile united Punjab. Many of them had now found place on the granite walls of the memorial designed by two young students of the Chandigarh College of Architecture (CCA).

“I wanted the freshness of the youth in the memorial,” said Jacob, calling it a Shaandaar Yaadgaar.

Saluting the martyrs, Gen S F Rodrigues (retd), Chandigarh administrator and a former Army chief, said what made these men special was that they had put India first in their hearts, minds and souls.

As Kalam listened, the soldiers also raised the issue of indifference towards their welfare. Turning to the President, Jacob asked: “Are you doing enough for the widows, the disabled soldiers? Search your conscience...”

Gen Rodrigues dwelt on the “crying need” for a similar memorial in New Delhi. “I hope by some mysterious alchemy, we will be able to pay homage to the heroes there before we die,” he said to cheers from the audience which included a large number of retired and serving officers, including former Army chief Gen V P Malik, GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen Daljeet Singh and AOC-in-C, Western Command, Air Marshal A K Singh.

Then there were widows and parents of the martyrs. The ceremony over, Savita Rana, whose husband Lt Col S S Rana had received the Ashok Chakra (posthumous), the highest peacetime gallantry award, walked down the aisle of the elliptical memorial, looking for the name of her husband.

Her eyes brimmed over as she finally found him. “Haan, wohi hain,” she said, before lapsing into silence.

A day earlier, Vinod Anand, mother of Second Lieutenant Mukesh Anand who laid down his life merely three-and-a-half months after joining the Army in 1993, had called up to ask when she could “see him there”.

Lt Col J S Kanwar, whose son Major Sandeep Shankla received the Ashok Chakra (posthumous) in 1991, was all praise for the memorial. “It’s an unprecedented effort. I am grateful for it.”

Others guests who took a round of the memorial included Haryana Chief Minister B S Hooda, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Haryana Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.