In a remarkable tribute to the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, former army officer Lieutenant Colonel Barsha Rai completed an impressive 160-kilometer run from Srinagar to Drass. The run, which took four days to complete, was aimed at honoring the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the Kargil War.
“I ran to honor our brave hearts who sacrificed their lives for the nation,” Lt. Col. Rai told PTI. Married to an army officer stationed in Kashmir, Rai embarked on this journey from Srinagar to the Kargil War Memorial in the Drass sector. The run began on July 19 and concluded on July 22, with Rai averaging 40 kilometers per day. She was accompanied by the Chinar Warriors marathon team at various stretches.
The route was challenging, starting from Srinagar and moving to Wusan on the second day. On the third day, Rai tackled the 11,649-feet high Zojila Pass on the Srinagar-Leh national highway, which connects the Kashmir valley with the Ladakh region, before reaching Matayen. On the final day, she arrived at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass, where tributes were paid to the martyrs.
Lt. Col. Rai, who was in seventh grade when the Kargil War began, recalled how her father, Colonel Keshab Rai, moved out overnight with his entire unit. “For fauji families like ours, what followed were days of uncertainty, loss, and despair. This run was not just a personal journey for me, but a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the soldiers who fought valiantly during the Kargil war,” she said.
She emphasized that the physical pain she endured during the run was insignificant compared to the hardships faced by soldiers during the war. “Through this run, my aim was to raise awareness about the sacrifices made by our soldiers,” she added.
Lt. Col. Barsha Rai, a fourth-generation army officer, was commissioned into the Army Service Corps in March 2010 from the Officers Training Academy in Chennai, where she was awarded the Garhwal Medal. Her great-grandfather was a Military Cross recipient, underscoring a family legacy of military service.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to be in Ladakh on July 26 to attend the 25th-anniversary celebrations of India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1999 Kargil War.