By: the news reporter of the site "Hai Fe"
This morning, Thursday September 22.9.2016, XNUMX, the impressive annual memorial ceremony was held to mark the event, which ended four hundred years of Turkish rule in Haifa and in memory of Major Thakur Dalafat, commander of "The Elite Unit of the Indian Cavalry", known in the Indian Army as - "Hero of Haifa", after his fall in the battle in which he charged at the head of the mounted unit on the positions of the Ottoman army who responded by firing heavy fire on the horsemen.
The commemoration was held at the British military cemetery where the memorial ceremony for the Indian soldiers took place (adjacent to the British cemetery for the martyrs of the First World War). "The British Military Cemetery" on Jaffa Street between the shawarma restaurants and Dolphin Junction in the city, a memorial service was held in memory of the brave martyrs, the liberators of the city. Soldiers who participated in battles in the city are buried there. 2 Indian commanders participated in the battle and received the Haifa hero decoration. For several years now, this ceremony has been held in most splendor with the Indian ambassador in Israel, military attachés from all over the world serving in the country. Officers representing the IDF, representatives of the association for the history of Haifa and many other guests, including the news reporter of the "Hai Pa" website.
It was a tremendous historical legacy that was forgotten from the national memory, 98 years ago at the end of World War I, a heroic battle took place in Haifa Bay: a large force of brave Indian cavalry charged with spears and guns the well-fortified Turkish artillery positions - and subdued them, the city of Haifa was freed from the burden of the Turkish occupation. The ceremony is held every year on September 23, when the city of Haifa was captured in 1918, because of the date falling this year on a Friday, the ceremony was brought forward by one day. The ceremony is organized by the Embassy of India in Israel and the Municipality of Haifa. At the entrance to the cemetery, tables were set up full of refreshments, most of which were Indian cuisine. At the end of the ceremony, the memorial square was filled with dozens of flower bouquets laid by the various military attachments, and other bodies, decorated with the flags of the nation, Haifa and India.
The veteran Indian military attaché, Captain Tejpal Singh, took to the podium and presided over the ceremony in a dignified manner. The mayor of Haifa, Yona Yahav, also took part in the ceremony, who said in his words: "Today is of great importance in the municipal history of the city of Haifa, we celebrate this honorable ceremony for the fifth time here in our city of Haifa when this year marks the 98th anniversary of the Indian soldiers, and I assure you that in two years It will be 100 years since the event and we will do it in a bigger and bigger ceremony."
Mr. Pawan Kapoor, the Indian ambassador to the country, also spoke at the event. In his words, he noted the respect of Indian society, and the mobilization of people of all religions in India for the sake of world peace and noted that Hindu, Muslim and Christian soldiers fought side by side in the world wars and were buried in many places in the country. He also thanked the mayor of Haifa for the beautiful and fruitful relationship between the two countries.
The ceremony reached its climax when the small and colorful honor guard, moving towards the monument, stood in two lines, performed a series of seder exercises and salutes that accompanied the two minutes of silence and the playing of the anthems of India and Israel. At this time, the audience was on its feet, and the members of the various armies saluted. A unit from the Indian Army participated in the ceremony, which represented Nishka.
The continuation of the ceremony was a long parade of dozens of military appendages, placed by foreigners. Most of the wreaths were placed next to the main - Hindu - monument, but there was also a section of a secondary monument in the back part of the cemetery - of Muslim Indian soldiers who fell in battles in Her Majesty's Army in Haifa. The Indian plots In one grave were buried the ashes of the 29 Indian soldiers of Her Majesty's army whose bodies were cremated after their death, in accordance with Hindu custom. Some of these soldiers took part in the occupation of Haifa. In another plot, all the Indian Muslim soldiers are buried in one mass grave, a total of 49 soldiers are buried in the Indian plot. The memorial ceremony was attended by many members of the Indian Embassy in Israel, along with representatives of the Haifa Municipality and many military attachés from various foreign countries, including: Korea, Vietnam, Norway, Chile, England, France, Italy, Canada, Bulgaria, Germany, Serbia, Hungary, the Netherlands and more , these could witness a commemoration of the Indian martyrs, who fell in an attempt to take over the positions of the Turks with bayonets and swords, and Ephraim was scattered in one of the rivers in the land of their homeland.
Will there be a ceremony this year in memory of Haifa's hero? If so when and where?