21 years to the martyrdom of first Kargil martyr Capt Saurabh Kalia

Captain Saurabh Kalia was born on 29 June 1976 in Amritsar of Punjab and was selected in the Indian Military Academy through the NDA exam in August 1997. Captain Kalia along with five jawans were taken captive by Pakistani troops on May 1999, after they ran out of ammunition during the prolonged gun battle along LoC.

Kangra: The nation will celebrate the 21st anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, but for Captain Saurabh Kalia's parents, the war for justice has not yet over.

Even after so many years, Captain Kalia has not received justice and his father continues to fight a lonely battle with little or no support.

NK Kalia, father of Captain Saurabh Kalia --one of the first casualties of the war, who was brutally tortured, along with five other soldiers, by the Pakistan army during the war, continues to wait for official action.

Captain Saurabh Kalia was born on 29 June, 1976 in Amritsar of Punjab and was selected in the Indian Military Academy through the NDA exam in August 1997.

On 12 December 1998, he received a commission in the 4th Jat Regiment of the Indian Army after the training.

Initially, he was posted for a few days in Jat Regiment Centre Bareilly, but a few months before the war he was posted to the Kargil sector.

After being posted to Kargil, Captain Kalia said his mother not to worry if he is not able to call her for many days.

The Indian army found that there was a large-scale infiltration in the border areas of Kargil by the Pakistani Army.

Captain Saurabh along with five jawans went to Kaksar area of Kargil to investigate reports of the incursion.

They were taken captive by Pakistani troops on May 15, 1999 after they ran out of ammunition during the prolonged gun battle along LoC.

While in captivity, the soldiers were subjected to inhumane torture and humiliation.

The postmortem reports revealed that Captain Kalia's was tortured with burnt cigarette marks all over the body, hot-rods were used to pierce the ear lobes, all the teeth and bones were almost broken and the eyes were punctured.

The nails were pulled off, hands and genitals were cut off before they were finally shot dead.

The mutilated bodies of Saurabh Kalia and the five other jawans were sent to their families on June 9.

Captain Kalia's mother was not able to identify the mutilated body of his son.

N.K Kalia's fight for justice for his son's untimely and miserable death continues even after 21 years of Kargil war.

Saurabh's father moved to the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Centre to take up his son's case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The matter is still pending in the apex court as the centre informed the court in 2015 that India could not raise it in ICJ without Pakistan's consent as it is a matter of bilateral issues between two countries.

The family has been continuously demanding justice and action against Pakistan from the Human Rights Commission, Government of India and the Indian Army.