Shaheed Grenadier
Manohar Lal
Relatives’
wait for grenadier’s body ends in disappointment
Twenty-five-year-old
Grenadier Manohar Lal’s relatives had come all the
way from Fatehabad, Haryana, to witness the
ceremonial Guard of Honour being accorded to him for
his sacrifice in the battle for Tuloling.
But they were
disappointed when they found only four coffins at
the Guard of Honour. None of them had the mortal
remains of Manohar Lal. Though 18 coffins were
brought off the Indian Airlines flight from Srinagar
today, only four were accorded the ceremonial honour.
The Guard of Honour was given to Lance Naik Rajbir
Singh and Grenadier Surinder Singh, both of 18
Grenadiers, and Lance Naik Jasbir Singh and Naik
Chaman Singh of 2nd Rajputana Rifles. While Army
officials balked at confirming the total number of
dead soldiers brought in, they took the plea that
the ceremony was not performed here for the 14
others because of logistical reasons.
“Since the
families are in far off places and we have been
requested to ensure that the bodies reach the
hometowns before sunset, we are rushing them there.
The ceremonies will be performed by the authorities
there,” said a senior officer.
But try
explaining logistics to Rajinder and Zile Singh,
uncles of Grenadier Manohar Lal. They had travelled
all day to reach Delhi in time for the ceremony. For
the first time, the Haryana government had sent
along a Haryana Police escort and an official from
the District Sainik Board to accompany the dead.
Nine of the 18
dead are from Haryana. “Manohar’s body isn’t
here,” the policeman accompanying the relatives
said.
The bodies of
the 14 soldiers (14 from 18 Grenadiers, two from a
Naga regiment, and two from 2nd Rajputana Rifles)
were taken directly from the airport to the barracks
at the Army parade ground. Only the relatives of the
dead were allowed in.
An officer
said that not according the Guard of Honour at Delhi
didn’t, in any way, mitigate the sacrifice. “The
ceremonies will be conducted at their respective
hometowns,” he added.
Grenadier
Manohar Singh was one of the several soldiers who
had charged up the Tuloling peak on the intervening
night of 12 and 13 June. He was one of the 13 killed
in an artillery burst which also left six others
injured.
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