BENGALURU: In an attempt to divert the attention of Pakistani soldiers from his squad, he went charging across the firing zone. Even as the grenades thrown by him killed six enemy soldiers, he lost his life to bullets fired from the other end. Captain Keishing Clifford Nongrun was martyred on July 30, 1999. He was among the many who laid down their lives fighting the Kargil War.
Heroic deeds of many martys like him have been compiled on Honour Point — an online platform. It is a result of collective efforts of three Bengaluru-based retired Air Force personnel — Wing Commander M A Afraz, Wing Commander Rajendra Prasad and Wing Commander L K Chaubey.
The website www.honourpoint.in is now open for all to visit.It is not just Kargil. Profiles of at least 8,000 soldiers who have sacrificed their lives on the war field have been uploaded here from the data that was gathered in a span of over two years. This was launched in April this year. The team hopes to put together details of 24,000 martyrs from the Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force).
Wg Cdr Afraz said there has been no compilation of data of martyrs in the past. “Their death appears in the news and people forget about it. We want to give them a tribute online. People ought to know who their real heroes are,” he said.
He added that with this, they hope to keep their stories alive and generate a sense of patriotism among the youngsters. Their Facebook page now has over 37,000 followers.
The team, which is now operating with no external funding, connects with families of the matrys to ensure that the data gathered is authenticated. In a few cases, it is also managed by the family members of the bravehearts.
“For instance, the account of Major Akshay Girish Kumar is managed by his mother. He died at Nagrota fighting terrorists. Each profile is different. There is a note by the family in many. In some, there is a collection of articles written about them and in the others, there are poems,” said Wg Cdr Afraz.
Team Honourpoint is hoping to generate funds to help out families of the martys in the future. “We hope to collaborate with companies that are nationalist and raise funds in the future to support the martyrs’ families,” he added.
Through the site, the founders hope to throw open a platform for families to express the memories they shared, the details figured in several articles where they were featured and allow other countrymen to express gratitude.
They also give an option to visitors to sign up and create a memorial. The portal also lets visitors gather information on big days like Kargil Vijay Diwas and Vijay Diwas. Besides, one can pay tribute to the martyrs.
SURF POINT
Visit the site at http://www.honourpoint.in/
One can read posts written by the family members of the martyrs.
‘Who fell in the line of duty’ and ‘Who have now passed on’ are two categories under which profiles have been uploaded.
So far, 8,397 profiles uploaded as per data on the site.