By Santosh Patnaik
Visakhapatnam: The Eastern Naval Command observed on Wednesday the commencement of the 50th anniversary of Vijay Diwas being celebrated as ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’ by paying tributes to the valiant personnel of the Armed Forces who made the supreme sacrifice during various operations in the 1971 war with Pakistan.
A floral wreath was placed at the ‘Victory at Sea’ War Memorial on RK Beach by Vice Admiral Kiran Manikrao Deshmukh, Director
General Naval Projects, Visakhapatnam.
A 50-man guard was paraded at the venue and a two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the martyrs. Various commemorative events are planned across the nation as part of the 50 years of India-Pak War commemoration in the form of ‘Swarnim Vijay Varsh’.
The nation celebrates Vijay Diwas on every year to commemorate the historic victory against Pakistan in the 1971 war. On this momentous day, 49 years ago, over 93,000 Pakistani troops under the command of Lieutenant General A A K Niazi raised white flags and surrendered unconditionally at Dhaka, in the presence of the three tri-service theatre Commanders of Indian Armed Forces, according to a release issued by the Navy.
It was on this day in 1971 that a declaration of the cease-fire was brought into force ending the Indo-Pak war and resulting secession of East Pakistan from Pakistan. It became the sovereign country of Bangladesh, the release stated.
