LAC war memorial honouring Rezang La martyrs to be unveiled by Rajnath Singh, Gen Rawat

A revamped memorial of the Rezang La battle, where India gave a bloody nose to the intruding Chinese troops in the 1962 clash, is set to be unveiled by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and CDS Bipin Rawat on Thursday. 

Rezangla La was the site of the fierce battle of the 1962 India-Sino War, in which the 13th battalion of the Kumaon regiment fought till the last man to stop Chinese troops from crossing the bridge into the Chushul Valley. In the battle, 114 Indian soldiers were killed.

Rezang La war memorial 

In a stern message to China, the revamped Rezang La memorial is being significantly expanded and will now have an auditorium and photo gallery to honour the heroes of the 13 Kumaon regiment’s Charlie Company that came under a relentless Chinese assault. 

The Indian side was led by Major Shaitan Singh, who was awarded a posthumous Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration, for his actions. 

It will retain the original memorial pillar on which the names of 109 soldiers who died during the 1962 battle are inscribed. It will also include the names of the 20 war heroes who were martyred in action during the Galwan Valley clash in Eastern Ladakh last year. The original structure was erected in Chushul in 1963 close to the site of the battle. 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief of Defense Staff, General Bipin Rawat will inaugurate the revamped war memorial at a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the battle on November 18.

The renovation of the Rezang La war memorial on the Sino-India border started earlier this year, amid ongoing border tensions with India at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). India had lost 20 soldiers on June 15 last year in the Galwan Valley in fierce hand-to-hand combat with Chinese troops.