24-07-2025
Families of martyrs to be honoured on Kargil Vijay Diwas
Surat: A "Samarpan Gaurav Samaroh" will be held in the city on
Kargil Vijay Diwas
, Saturday. At the event organized by Jay Jawan Nagrik Samiti (JJNS), the families of martyrs who lost their lives while protecting the country will be honoured.
Families of eight martyred soldiers will be honoured and with support of Rs 16 lakh being given to them.
The event will take place at Sardar Smruti Bhavan and will be chaired by city mayor Daxesh Mavani. Other guests include Lt General Bhupeshkumar Gopal and former BSF deputy inspector general Sanjaykumar Srivastava. Minister of state for education Praful Pansheriya, co-founder of NJ Group Jignesh Desai and chairman of KP Group Faruk Patel will also attend as guests.
This year, JJNS is giving assistance of Rs 80 lakh to the families of 40 soldiers, including 28 from Gujarat. Thirty-two families have already received assistance of Rs 64 lakh at various events. Most of these soldiers died while in service, while some were martyred while on missions.
"We give assistance to the families of all soldiers who died in service, as martyrs' families receive govt assistance, but the financial condition of the other families is not good in most cases.
Thus, we include as many as possible," said Kanji Bhalala, member of JJNS.
Since its inception during the 1999 Kargil War, JJNS Surat has provided a total of Rs 6.70 crore as assistance to 425 families of soldiers who were martyred or died in service over the past 26 years.
A floral tribute event will be held on Saturday morning at the Shaheed Smarak in Sarthana by Yuva Sanskruti Charitable Trust and the Saurashtra Patel Samaj Youth Team, in the presence of the families of martyred soldiers.
A Tricolour March will be organised by the Rotary Club of Surat East and Rotaract Club of Surat East, along with the families of soldiers and Army officers on Saturday. The march will begin at 9.30am from Sarthana Zoo, pass through Varachha Road, and end at Saurashtra Patel Bhavan at 10.30am. It will be welcomed with human chains and tricolours along the route.
A blood donation camp will also be organized on Kargil Vijay Diwas by Khodaldham Committee, Surat, and Lok Samarpan Blood Bank at Saurashtra Patel Bhavan, Varachha Road.
The blood donation camp will run from 7am to 5pm.
Brigadier B S Mehta, a 1971 war tankman veteran and guiding force for the committee, will be at the event along with Lt Colonel Mukesh Rathod, who guided the committee for years, and Havaldar Meharsingh Basantram, a hero of the Kargil War. A retired bank employee who contributed to the welfare of the families of soldiers, Soma Chauhan, and JV Export's Arvind Vadsak will be felicitated. Donors Dinesh Saspara and Manhar Saspara of Euro India will be guests at the event.
