Nirmal Khanna, wife of Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna, on Sunday thanked the Indian Air Force (IAF) for giving approval to include her husband's name National War Memorial near India Gate in New Delhi. Talking to ANI, Khanna said that when a soldier wears uniform, he knows it's a coffin and the IAF has given utmost respect to his late husband by its gesture.


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"What else can a soldier long for? When a soldier wears uniform, he knows it's a coffin. I am thankful to Indian Air Force & 130 crore Indians," she said.



Khanna remarked that she had to wage a lonely battle for many years to get War Widows Pension but stressed as good citizens we should first perform our duties and then fight for our rights. "Now, I feel accepted as daughter of India. I had to fight for War Widows Pension for long. But as good citizens we should first know our duties & then take our rights," Khanna told ANI.



Squadron Leader Ravi Khanna and three other IAF personnel were martyred in Kashmir on January 25, 1990 by Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik in Kashmir. It is to be noted that JKLF is a banned organisation and Malik was charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with this case before the TADA court in Jammu on August 31, 1990.


The decision to include Khanna's name was taken in the last week of September by the IAF. The names of personnel killed in action are provided by the respective services to the National War Memorial and they are then put up on the walls there along with the detail of action in which they had laid down their lives.