India, Bangladesh to unveil war memorial in Meghalaya

History will come alive 42 years after the 1971 war in a border town of Meghalaya as India and Bangladesh will come together to unveil a war memorial.

West Garo Hills: History will come alive 42 years after the 1971 war in this border town of Meghalaya as India and Bangladesh will come together to unveil a war memorial for this country`s valiant troopers who fought against a Pakistani Army attack.

Chief of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed will arrive in India and travel with his counterpart, BSF director general Subhash Joshi on May 25 to inaugurate the memorial -- a black granite pillar -- installed recently by India as a tribute to nine courageous BSF men who laid down their lives while repulsing an audacious attack launched by 200 Pakistani Army regulars on May 25, 1971. The attack took place at Kilapara border post in Dalu area in this district, which shares its border with Bangladesh. The nine BSF personnel were manning this post, months before the war to liberate Bangladesh was fought in December that year. "The valour of the men who fought in Kilapara and Dalu in 1971 had become a forgotten chapter." "We decided to bring alive that history and share the moment with our Bangladeshi border guarding counterparts," the Border Security Force (BSF) chief told a news agency in Delhi. The battle that took place here is part of folklore in the border areas and other places and is even talked in parallels with the tales of the `Mukti Bahani` movement which aimed to liberate Bangladesh, Joshi said. Both the DGs will lead their officers and jawans and lay wreaths, salute and stand together at the memorial as part of confidence building measures recently charted out by the Home Departments of both countries. PTI