Killed jawan's father wants "befitting reply" to enemy

Bhopal, Jan 11: The distraught father of Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh, who was one of the soldiers killed in an attack by Pakistan Army across the LoC, wants that the neighbouring nation be given a "befitting reply" for the dastardly act.

"The government should respond to the dastardly act by the enemy (Pakistan Army) in a befitting manner. That will be the real tribute to my martyred son," Lance Naik Sudharkar Singh's father Sachchidanand Singh said after the cremation of his son yesterday. "Hamari iccha hai ki dushman ka datkar muqabla karke usko usi ki bhasha mein jawab dena chahiye (we want that the enemy should be dealt with in a befitting manner)," Singh told PTI from Dadia village in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh.

"Sudhakar was our strength and was supposed to come to the village on Feb 15-16, but now everything is lost," Singh said. The 30-year-old deceased soldier, the youngest of the four siblings, had joined Army on Apr 7, 2002. He is survived by wife and four-month-old son Bhaskar. When asked whether he was satisfied with Government of India's response on the issue, Singh said the government has its own responsibilities but this situation "demands an equally befitting action".

The martyred soldier's cousin, Prem Singh, said Sudhakar's father-in-law was also a retired Army man and despite losing his son-in-law, he wants his grandson to join the Army. Fully supporting the views of the grief-stricken father, Prof Kailash Tyagi, from government MVM college in Bhopal, who is also the PD guide of former Army chief General VK Singh, said, "It is not advisable to remain defensive beyond a point as it will lead to cowardliness."

"After all, how long? Defensive responses on serious issues like this result in demoralisation of forces," Tyagi, who teaches Defence and Strategic Studies, said. He said the issue was being debated by his over 750 students (under-graduate and post-graduate), who were very angry over the brutal killing of the soldiers.

A retired Lieutenant General based in Mhow, on condition of anonymity, said, "You cannot expect anything from the government. The Army should deal with the situation," he added. Lance Naiks Sudhakar Singh and Hemraj were brutally killed in a raid by 29 Baloch Regiment troops of Pakistan who had intruded into Indian territory in Poonch sector on Jan 8 and their bodies were mutilated.

PTI