Umesh Jadhav, an artist and a resident of Aurangabad district in Maharashtra has started a unique initiative to salute the brave hearts of Pulwama incident by visiting the house of every jawan and collecting soil from their house as well as their grave to build a memorial in Pulwama in the form of India's map on the first anniversary of Pulwama incident.
"Every day a soldier sacrifices his life for the country. And a common man should think about what he or she is doing selflessly for these soldiers and for our country. I am visiting the houses of each soldier and paying my tribute. I am an artist and I am doing what I can. I collect the soil from the place where the soldier had put his first step and where he was buried. After collecting the soil, will make a memorial in the shape of an Indian map to show that we are one and we are connected to this soil," he said.
The campaign was started from April 9 and till now he has travelled several states where martyrs belonged including Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Pondicherry. He will be heading to other places in coming time.
His aim is to complete the campaign by 14 February 2020 which will also be marked as the first anniversary of Pulwama incident. The initiative is completely crowdfunded and the idea of the campaign is to pay tribute to Pulwama slain jawans.
Umesh has a specially designed car with him with several messages written on it dedicated to the Indian Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
( With inputs from ANI )