The Indian Army, in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir government, has established a war memorial in Rajouri to solemnly honour those who laid down their lives during Operation Sindoor in May 2025. The memorial has been erected at Gujjar Mandi Chowk, officials said on Saturday.
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The officials said the memorial serves not only as a site of remembrance but also as a reminder of the shared sacrifices of soldiers and civilians during times of conflict. It reflects the resilience of the people of Rajouri and their unwavering support for the nation's security forces.
The location of the memorial is far from incidental, as locations surrounding Gujjar Mandi Chowk witnessed intense Pakistani shelling on civilian areas during the four-day conflict, reports pointed out. Rajouri Additional District Development Commissioner (ADDC) Raj Kumar Thapa was among the people who lost their lives in the Pakistani shelling. Thapa breathed his last when a shell struck his official residence in the area on May 10.
A mural of Raj Kumar Thapa will feature at the memorial, along with those of Subedar Major Pawan Kumar of the Krishna Ghati Brigade and three other Army personnel who lost their lives in the line of duty, news agency PTI quoted officials as saying.
They said a separate statue depicting an Army soldier alongside a local nomad with his child and a goat has also been installed at the site, symbolising the strong bond between the armed forces and the residents of the border areas.
Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian Armed Forces across the border on May 7 to hit terror infrastructure in Pakistan to avenge the killing of 26 people by terrorists in the Pahalgam attack.