Pall of gloom descends on deceased jawan’s native village in Kurukshetra

Rifleman Mandeep Singh’s widow Prerna mourns at her residence at Anteri village of Kurukshetra on Saturday. Tribune photo: Ravi Kumar

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, October 29

A pall of gloom descended on the native village of army jawan Mandeep Singh, who was killed by terrorists in Machil sector in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.The family members of the 30-year-old were inconsolable.Several women from Aantehri village here reached the jawan’s house on Saturday and tried to console Mandeep’s widow. The couple had got married two years ago, the family said.

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Deputy Commissioner Sumedha Kataria also visited the jawan’s home and offered her condolences.The martyr’s neighbours described him as a “go-getter” who always had a smile on his face.Subhash, husband of the sarpanch of the village, said Mandeep was a helpful person who always offered help to anyone who approached him in need.Mandeep’s widow Prerna is a head constable with Haryana Police and is posted at Shahbad Markanda here.Mandeep joined 17 Sikh Regiment as a sepoy in 2008 and got married in 2014His father Phool Singh, a truck driver, said the government should give a free hand to the army to tackle the menace from Pakistan. He said Mandeep had called him around 10 days ago and promised to him to come home on Diwali.His brother Sandeep Singh said, “Give me a chance to join the army. I would avenge his death.”His cousin Jagbir Singh, an ex-serviceman, said it was an act of cowardice and urged the government to take revenge.The mortal remains of Mandeep will reach the village by 5pm and would be consigned to the flames later.Mandeep’s sacrifice came within a week after Sushil Kumar (47), a BSF constable was martyred in Jammu district. He also hailed from Kurukshetra district and belonged to Pehowa town. With PTI

Human rights of Army soldiers are supreme: Jitendra

Rajpura (Kathua), October 29Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday that an Indian soldier’s rights should take precedence over those of terrorists.He said a militant forfeits his entitlement to human rights the day he engages in terrorism, the “biggest violation of human rights”.”Human rights of an Army soldier are supreme…The human rights of Indian soldiers should take precedence over the rights of terrorists,” he said.Singh, who arrived in Jammu this morning, drove straight to International Border, saying he would like to begin his visit by meeting the security personnel posted at the border and greeting them on Diwali eve.He addressed a public meeting organised by Seema Jan Kalyan Samiti, comprising ex-servicemen, their families and local residents.He said people find Army a convenient, soft target as it was trained to exercise restraint but they did not have the courage “to call a terrorist a terrorist” or to condemn the atrocious act of mutilating a soldier’s body.Singh said was time to rise and call the bluff of the “so-called human rights protagonists and the pseudo-intellectuals” who sought to promote their politics at the cost of army jawans. He said when you asked whether Burhan Wani was a terrorist, instead of saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’, they come out with long platitudes, philosophies and postulations.“Those who lack the courage of conviction to call a spade a spade, have no right to point a finger at an armed forces jawan because of whom they are in a position to conveniently sit in their drawing rooms and issue lofty statements,” he said.Stressing that this year’s Diwali was dedicated to the army and paramilitary forces, Singh said we are able to celebrate the festival in the country, because of the young soldiers who are guarding the border day and night and spending sleepless nights.”It is a sin to say or do anything that would directly or indirectly compromise the morale of armed forces,” he added. — PTI