Twenty years ago, a letter from a village in Himachal Pradesh arrived at the Ministry of Defence. The writer was a school teacher, and his request was as follows.
He asked, "If possible, could my wife and I be granted permission to see the place where our only son died a heroic death in the Kargil war, on the day of his first death, his memorial day, on 07/07/2000? It's okay if you can't. If it is against national security, I will withdraw my application".
The Department Officer who read the letter, said, "It does not matter what the cost of their visit is, I will pay it from my salary, if the department is unwilling to and I will bring the teacher and his wife to the place where their only boy died" and he issued an order.
