File photo: Month-Long celebrations to honour the soldiers who fought the war will begin on August 28.
The Narendra Modi government plans a big 35-crore celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war with Pakistan. A mini Republic Day-type parade is planned at Rajpath, the Delhi boulevard that hosted a record-breaking yoga performance last week, government sources said.
They said the month-long celebrations to honour the soldiers who fought the war will begin on August 28 - the day in 1965 that India captured the Haji Pir pass, now in Pakistan Administered Kashmir.
After initial reverses, India had won tactical victories in the 1965 war, which is largely seen as having had no clear result, ending with a United Nations-mandated ceasefire on September 23, 1965. Both sides have over the years claimed that they won the war; independent assessments say India had the upper hand when the UN stepped in leading to the Tashkent declaration.
The Modi government will emphatically celebrate the 1965 war as India's victory.
The Rajpath parade will be held on September 20, and will include, apart from a show of military might, a thrilling aerial display with commandos slithering down ropes from helicopters.
The government, sources said, also plans a "festival of victories" commemorating battles in Burkee, Khemkaran, Asal Uttar, Phillora , Parbhat Ali, Bhuj Monabao and Dograi.
The government also plans to honour Lal Bahadur Shastri, who was Prime Minister in 1965, and his powerful slogans like "Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan," in an attempt to reach out to both segments - the jawan (soldier) and the kisaan (farmer), recently upset with the BJP-led government's policies.
Farmers have been up in arms against the Land Acquisition Bill and former servicemen are angry that the government has not implemented "One rank One Pension" or OROP yet. Some 1965 war veterans have said they are boycotting the celebrations over OROP.
"We will not attend any government function till OROP in implemented," said Major General (Retd.) Satbir Singh of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement.
President Pranab Mukerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to attend at least two programmes each and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will attend at least one, sources said.