Since the time of World War I, many from Salem have taken part in various war operations.
The district administration has offered respects to the brave souls by constructing a memorial for the war heroes, on the District Collectorate premises.
The war memorial was constructed with support from Naachi Granites, a firm run by an Indian Air Force veteran, Laxman Vairavan.
The memorial has plaques in memory of a former ICS officer, who served in Salem during the pre-independence era; a plaque in memory of soldiers from Salem who took part in World War I; and a plaque in memory of martyrs who sacrificed their lives, serving the nation after independence.
Major T. Prabhakar, assistant director, Ex-Servicemen Welfare Department, said that the plaques of the ICS officer and the World War heroes were there at the old collectorate building.
Collectorate rebuilt
“In the old collectorate building, memory stones in honour of T.L.R.Chandran, an Indian Civil Services officer who died during service here, and 196 men who took part in World War I, from Salem, were present. When the collectorate building was reconstructed, this stones were preserved. A plaque, in honour of 19 men from Salem, who served in the army and sacrificed their lives for the nation, has also been placed in the memorial,” he said.
J. Barnabas, general secretary of the Salem Historical Society, said: “T.L.R. Chandran was the first special officer for prohibition appointed here during C. Rajagopalachari’s regime, before Independence, and he died during service, on Decemeber 22, 1937.”
He said: “When the collectorate building was reconstructed, we requested the district administration to reinstall the plaques in the new building. However, technical reasons were cited.” “We requested the district administration to construct a memorial for the brave souls and it has come out well,” he added.
Names of 19 men from the Indian Army, who were martyred in various combats, starting from the Indo-China War in 1962 to Operation Rakshak in 2001, has been carried on the plaque.
Laxman Vairavan, an Indian Air Force veteran who contributed to the memorial, said, “I wanted to do something for the servicemen who laid their lives for the nation.” He added, “This will increase patriotic fervour among the youth”. “I feel that respect for the armed forces, among the general public, is quite less,” he said.
S. Sridhar, brother of sepoy T.S. Nataraja who was martyred in Operation Rakshak in Kashmir in 2001, said, “This is indeed a proud moment for us, and we, as a family, are inspired by our brother, and continue to serve the public in whatever ways we can.” Mr. Sridhar said that the memorial would remind the public of sacrifices of our armed forces personnel.
