Kashmir highway to have first ever ‘martyr’s epitaph’ at Lethpora in memory of slain CRPF men

Srinagar, April 27  : In a significant development, Srinagar-Jammu national highway will have a first ever ‘martyrs’ epitaph’ at Lethpora, Pulwama in memory of the 40 CRPF men killed in a deadly suicide attack on February 14, top BJP leaders told.

The proposal to set up an epitaph with the names of all the 40 slain CRPF inscribed on it was first mooted by the BJP’s national spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain, who was in Kashmir recently and also paid a visit to the exact spot where the CRPF convoy bus ferrying 40 CPRF men was blown up by a Jaish-e-Muhammad suicide bomber Adil Dar, who rammed his explosive laden vehicle into the CRPF bus that was part of over 45 vehicles coming from Jammu to Srinagar.

Today, BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav also visited the spot along with BJP state spokesman Altaf Thakur and BJP’s candidate for Srinagar-Parliamentary constituency Khalid Jehangir and other BJP activists.

Madhav while talking to exclusively at the spot, said that Lethpora spot where the “40 CRPF men offered their balidaan (sacrifice), is significant and a spot to be remembered and also respected forever.” “This spot can move anyone and I am no exception. This spot has a power to move everybody emotionally and this spot should be remembered for the supreme sacrifices offered by 40 brave men,” he said.

Talking, BJP state spokesman, Altaf Thakur said that BJP top brass has already advocated that an epitaph be installed at the spot where the “40 CRPF men offered their lives for the nation.” “I personally believe that the site should have a memorial stone or an epitaph with photographs of all 40 brave soldiers and their names so that whosoever passes through the spot pays respect and obeisance there,” Thakur said.

Sources in BJP said that “sacrifices offered by the CRPF men at Lethpora” had sent to the entire “nation into a state of mourning.” “Best way to remember their martyrdom is to establish a small shrine in the form of a memorial or an epitaph at Lethpora so that the spot is garlanded and showered with flower petals by those who respect them,” BJP sources said.(KNO)