JD(U) minister apologises for 'insensitive' comment on slain soldiers

New Delhi, Aug 8: Two days after five Indian soldiers were killed by the Pakistani Army, the JD(U)'s Panchayati Raj Minister minister Bhim Singh made an 'insensitive' remark on their martyrdom, on Thursday.

On being asked why no JD(U) minister was present at the time of soldiers' funeral, Singh allegedly said, "Jawans are born to be martyred. Why else do people join Army and the police force?"

He also launched a personal attack on the reporter by asking him if his father or mother went to the airport to receive martyrs.

Meanwhile, the rattled JD(U) distanced itself after the minister made an outrageous comments on the slain soldiers.

After the estranged BJP's lashing, he tendered an apology as Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar forced him to make an immediate unconditional apology to the bereaved families of soldiers.

BJP'S reaction

On Singh's controversial remark, BJP vice-president, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "Entire country is saluting sacrifice of the soldiers but some people are insulting it,this is unfortunate,and he must apologise."

BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said: "This is simply obnoxious, shocking and shameless... any word is less to condemn the statement."

Another BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said a person like Singh does not deserve to be a minister.

On August 6, four soldiers and a JCO were killed when Pak army men fired at them at the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Another soldier was also wounded in the firing.
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Soldiers cremated with full state honours

The martyrs were given a Guard of Honour ahead of their cremation in their respective villages.

Sepoy Vijay Kumar Rai, 27, of Bihta in rural Patna, Lance Naik Shambhu Saran Singh, 29, from Bhojpur, Naik Premnath Singh, 35, and Sepoy Raghunandan Prasad, 23, from Chhapra were deployed on the Sarla forward post in Chakan-Da-Bagh sector of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.

The fifth soldier killed in the attack, 36-year-old Naik Pundalik, was part of the 14 Maratha Light Infantry and was from Mane, Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

Hundreds of people gathered at the cremation ground to pay their homage to the brave soldiers.

The Army Chief General Bikram Singh paid tribute to the martyrs in Jammu on Wednesday.

OneIndia News