New Delhi: More than a year after Operation Sindoor, the Union government has released the names of six military personnel who died in the line of duty during the military confrontation against Pakistan in May 2025, inscribing them on a wall at the National War Memorial in Delhi. This is nearly a year after Defence minister Rajnath Singh declared in parliament that no soldiers were harmed in the operation.Operation Sindoor was conducted in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 last year in which 26 civilians, most of them tourists, lost their lives. The Indian armed forces had in retaliation struck nine terror-linked sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir allegedly associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. There was no ceremonial announcement for the personnel who lost their lives. In fact, the government had until now evaded most questions around it. This has prompted the opposition to accuse the government of concealing their martyrdom and denying them due recognition for over a year.There were reports of army personnel having died in the operation, but Singh had told Lok Sabha that “no soldiers were harmed”.“Have the terrorists who wiped the sindoor off our sisters and daughters been dealt with by our forces in Operation Sindoor, eliminating their masters? The answer is, yes. If you have a question to ask, ask this: were any of our brave soldiers harmed in this operation? The answer is, no, none of our soldiers were harmed,” he had said in the Lok Sabha in July 2025.While the government later acknowledged “casualties”, it did not cite any names or the number of casualties.According to The Hindu, the list of the deceased personnel inscribed on wall no. ‘3D’ of Tyag Chakra at the National War Memorial include five from the Indian Army and one from the Indian Air Force. They are Subedar Major Pawan Kumar, Rifleman Sunil Kumar (VrC), Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar, Agniveer Mood Muralinaik, Havildar Sunil Kumar Singh from the Army, and Indian Air Force’s Sergeant Surendra Kumar.Names of the military personnel who died in the line of duty during Operation Sindoor in 2025, inscribed on a wall at the National War Memorial. Photo: PTI/Kunal Dutt“Most of the six casualties took place in Jammu and Kashmir,” a defence ministry official told The Telegraph.Reacting to the delayed announcement, the Congress said it was a “shame” that a government that flaunts its nationalism had denied the bravehearts the honour they deserved for a year.“These are the brave sons of India who laid down their lives defending India’s honour and the sindoor of our sisters after the Pahalgam attack. Their names should have been etched into the national consciousness. Their families should have seen a grateful nation honouring their sacrifice,” Congress media and publicity head Pawan Khera said in a post on X.“Instead, for an entire year, the BJP government chose to conceal their martyrdom from the nation. The same government that wraps itself in the flag and speaks endlessly of nationalism denied these heroes the recognition and remembrance they deserved. Such a shame!” he added.Congress secretary Gaurav Pandhi questioned why the defence minister had said no soldiers were harmed and why the names of the six personnel were kept unknown for a year.“Why this info was hidden from people of India for one year? Why the families of the martyrs were kept away from the honor? Why people of India were not given the opportunity to pay respect to the martyrs for full one year? Why did Rajnath Singh had to lie? One day, the leaders of the BJP will have to explain this to the people of India, through the court of law,” he said on X.Notably, Muralinaik of 851 Light Regiment was the only Agniveer to die during Operation Sindoor. He was killed in Pakistani shelling in Poonch on May 9, 2025. His death became the subject of a legal challenge before the Bombay high court, where his family has sought parity in pensionary and welfare benefits of regular soldiers.The Union government has told the high court that Agniveers are not similarly placed as regular soldiers and hence cannot be given posthumous pensionary benefits.