A monument has been erected in between a mosque and a park in New Garden Town’s Usman Block. It is in the memory of Captain Qazi Jawad Ikram Shaheed who was awarded Tamgha-e-Basalat after the Kargil conflict of 1999. The monument stands between two pillars with small, green minarets and has the first kalma inscribed on top. A smaller monument with the same inscription stands at the end of the lane.

When I asked people in the area about the monument and the Kargil conflict, it became clear that those who were merely visiting the area from different parts of the city for work did not remember much. However, the inhabitants of Usman Block knew about Captain Jawad Ikram’s family, the monument and Kargil conflict in a lot of detail.

Faisal, a passerby, did not seem to know anything about the Kargil War. He referred me to a "moulvi sahib" of the mosque who he said "would have the answers. I do not know about Kargil because I have just come here from Sahiwal."

Similarly, Muhammad Mubeen, the security guard at an internet services office opposite the mosque, said he "started working here ten days ago, and first saw the monument then. I didn’t know about it before."

Nabila, who also works in the area as a receptionist, was the first one who had some details about the conflict, but she said with a smile, "I read up on it during my school years. I have forgotten most of it now."

The people who have lived in the neighbourhood for longer knew more about the war and the family of Captain Jawad Ikram Shaheed. Qari Muhammad Tufail said, "I know that a lot of soldiers came back from Kargil martyred, and that we lost. Captain Jawad Ikram was one of the martyrs. I know his house is in this Block. His mother lives there."

Naveed, a lawyer, who was sitting in the park enjoying the weather after the light drizzle, had a lot to say about Kargil. "Kargil? It was a pointless exercise. So many people died, not just Pakistanis but Indians, too. We have no idea how many people died; we will always be told figures less than the actual. If a hundred people die, we will be told that twenty died. That’s because higher numbers cause panic. Kargil happened in a mountainous region so all the deaths were of soldiers as no civilians live in those areas."

As the conversation continued, Naveed raised an important concern, "No commissions were formed after the war to investigate what happened. It happened during Nawaz Sharif’s government. No one, whether Musharraf or anyone else, has told us any details of what happened."

Naveed, who hails from Peshawar, proudly mentioned the hero from KPK, Col. Sher Khan Shaheed who "defended a lot of posts on his own and was awarded the Nishan-e-Haider. Captain Jawad Ikram was also martyred. He lived here.

"After his shahadat, his funeral was held in this park," he adds. "The monument was built right in the front of the street where his house is."

I then visited the house of Sameena Riaz, Captain Jawad Ikram Shaheed’s mother. She described his childhood and how, after his FSc, he had studied at Government College, Lahore. A bright student, he did extremely well in Matric and Intermediate. When he did not get admission in a medical college, he got into the military. His first posting was in Jhelum and later he was in Okara for three years -- from 1997 to ’99.

"I didn’t know much about Kargil back then," she recalled. "I had never heard of it. …When we heard of his shahadat, my husband would try to reassure me by saying, ‘We have a brave son!’

She said that she had also lost her son-in-law, named Saqib, in the Operation Zarb-e-Azb two years ago. Today, she lives in the house with her younger son and his family. Her husband is also no more.

She took out two albums that chronicled her son’s life. There were pictures of the young couple in Saudi Arabia, followed by his pictures as a toddler, snapshots of award ceremonies and then his training in the army. She pointed out her son to me, while wiping away tears from her eyes. "I’m so surprised that my tears never dry."