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While the services are going about the task of taking legal action against those personnel who failed to do their duty during the 1999 Kargil war, it appears they have been denied the right to honour the heroes of the war.
The civilian bureaucracy continues to drag its feet over two medals proposed for soldiers who took part directly and indirectly in the war.
The proposal, originally mooted by the Chiefs of Staff Committee - which comprises chiefs of the Indian Army, Air Force and Navy - immediately after the 1999 war with Pakistan, continues to be mired in red tape in the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
As the civilian bureaucracy continues to drag its feet, the army avoids any question on the medals.
Army sources only said the 'proposal is yet to be approved'.
"Our honour is in 'someone else's' hand," is how a senior army officer put it.
The three services have awarded special medals for their personnel who took part in the wars that India fought - from the 1948 Kashmir operations to the 1971 war - and the Siachen operations.
In keeping with this, the Chiefs of Staff Committee had recommended two medals after the Kargil war - one for those who took part in actual combat and another for those who were deployed along the Line of Control (LoC) and rest of the Indo-Pakistan border.
The recommendations were forwarded to the MoD. From there, it would go to the President, the supreme commander of the armed forces, for final approval.
Officially, the army has no explanation for the delay in awarding the medals.
However, one senior army officer said, "The bureaucracy is fighting a turf war with us. They seem to believe that by holding back the medals they are winning some game with us. It is disgraceful."
Some army personnel see a political angle to the entire episode. They point to the political establishment's attempt to cozy up to Pakistan.
"They may not want to award these medals and categorise Kargil as a victory over Pakistan," some speculate.
However, at the same time, the army has initiated legal proceedings against some personnel charged with going against the army discipline during the Kargil war.
The army has censured Major Gen V S Budhwar, dismissed Brigadier Surinder Singh and two other officers besides initiating disciplinary action against some others.
"It seems that we can only punish our men not honour them," a senior army officer pointed out.
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