KANNUR: A memorial built by the War Memorial Committee, Kannur, to honour the jawans who laid down their lives for the nation, was formally dedicated to the nation by Devaswom Minister Ramachandran Kadannappally on Saturday.
The memorial, located at the traffic circle in front of the Kannur Head Post Office, was built by the War Memorial Committee, mainly with the support of ex-servicemen in the district.
As many as 45 soldiers from the district had laid down their lives for the nation since Independence. Most of them were killed in the Indo-China war of 1962, and the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971.
The number of those killed in encounters with militants in Jammu and Kashmir is 19. It was a committee with Col(retd) N V G Nambiar as convener and the District Collector as chairman, which led the construction of the war memorial.
In addition to ex-servicemen, the committee had the support of Madras Regimental Centre, Ooty, Ezhimala Naval Academy, 122 Infantry Battalion of Territorial Army, Kannur, and the DSC centre. The memorial column, which has a height of 15 ft, is built of granite.
K Sudhakaran MP presided over the function held in connection with the dedication of the memorial to the nation. MLAs M Prakasan, K C Joseph, P Jayarajan and K P Mohanan, Vice Admiral Anurag G Thapliyal, Commandant of the INA Major Sujith Krishnan, Brigadier S S Yadav and District panchayat president K A Sarala were among those present at the function.