Indian army comes under fire for denying state funeral to Sikh soldier

Monitoring Desk

NEW DELHI: Indian army came under fire from political quarters for refusing to honour a Sikh solider who died of a gunshot wound near Line of Control in Occupied Kashmir, reported Indian media on Monday.

Sepoy Amritpal Singh was found dead on October 11 from a gunshot wound along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch region of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir while on guard duty in the Mankote area near the LoC.

Amritpal Singh, who was serving with the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, was cremated on Friday in his hometown of Mansa, Indian Punjab.

In this regard, AAP leader Raghav Chadha expressed his disappointment with the government for not paying proper tribute and honour to Amritpal Singh.

Following a court of inquiry seeking additional information, the Indian army described Agniveer Amritpal Singh’s death while on sentry duty in Rajouri Sector as “an unfortunate incident” caused by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Meanwhile, in his statement, the AAP leader said, “Shame on the BJP government that doesn’t honour martyrs. Merely taking photos and distributing sweets on Diwali doesn’t suffice. If genuine respect is to be shown, pensions and compensation for their families should not be discontinued under the disguise of cost-cutting.”

Amid a major political controversy over not giving a guard of honour to the Sikh soldier, the Indian army insisted that Amritpal Singh died by suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty and clarified that military honours were not extended to his funeral as deaths arising out of self-inflicted injuries are not given such honours.

The Indian army also asserted that it does not differentiate among soldiers based on whether they joined the force prior to or after the implementation of the Centre’s Agnipath scheme, under which soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers are recruited into the three services of the armed forces. All recruits will be hired only for a four-year period.

“It is a grave loss to the family and the Indian army that Amritpal Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty,” the Indian army said. “In consonance with the existing practice, the mortal remains, after conduct of medico-legal procedures, were transported under Army arrangements along with an escort party to the native place for the last rites,” it said.

Opposition attacks govt

A row erupted after the funeral, with opposition parties expressing shock over the matter.

On Sunday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) questioned the BJP government over the police under the Agnipath Scheme.

Addressing a press conference, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said Singh’s family will not be entitled to pension, while he will not be accorded the status of a martyr. “No army unit came to hand over his body. His body was brought in a private ambulance and he was not given any military honour. But the police gave him state honours during his last rites,” Chadha added.

He said this “raises serious questions” over the policies of the BJP-led Centre. “The Punjab government, led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, will be giving an amount of one crore rupees as Samman Rashi to the family of Amritpal Singh and will also accord the status of a martyr to him. The Punjab government is with them in this hour of grief,” the AAP leader said.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said she was shocked to learn that Singh was cremated without the army guard of honour.

She sought intervention from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the matter, seeking necessary directions to accord military honours to all martyred soldiers.

Reacting to the incident, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said, “This is a sad day for our country as this (soldier) who was recruited under the Agniveer scheme was sent back home in a private ambulance and not given any guard of honour by the army.”

“Does being an Agniveer mean that their lives don’t matter as much,” he asked on X. “The bereaved family had to request the local Punjab Police to give our young boy a guard of honour. Is this why BJP started this policy? Is this how we will treat our Agniveers, different from the rest of our soldiers? Does the central government have any answers for this inhuman treatment of our young martyr? Shameful!,” Warring added.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal attacked the Bhagwant Mann government, saying he was shocked by the refusal of the chief minister to send any state-level dignitary to give a befitting farewell to the young martyr.

“CM must not hide behind the excuse of central government policies as nothing stops the state government from giving honour to the martyr and from standing by his family the most magnanimous way at this painful juncture. This is what S. Parkash Singh Ji Badal would have immediately done,” Badal posted on X.

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia demanded the scrapping of the Agniveer scheme and sought regularisation of all soldiers recruited under it till date.