Pulwama anniversary: Families of martyrs still await promised honours
On the seventh anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack, families of CRPF martyrs gathered to remember their loved ones. While paying tribute, some expressed disappointment over unfulfilled promises of memorials and honours, saying their loss remains deeply painful
Chandigarh: On the seventh anniversary of the 2019 terror attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, families of Central Reserve Police Force personnel who lost their lives that day gathered in remembrance as they paid tribute to their loved ones.
Some family members, however, are still waiting for the honours promised to their fallen kin. Sukhjit Kaur, the widow of CRPF personnel Jaimal Singh, lamented that a stadium named after her husband has yet to be built, despite the promise made to them. Additionally, a memorial gate on Ghalauti Road, which was to be constructed in his honour, remains incomplete, she said.
Jaimal, a resident of Ghalauti village in Punjab’s Moga district, was driving the CRPF bus that was targeted and blown up by terrorists on February 14, 2019.
“Only we know how difficult it is to spend a life without him,” Kaur told PTI Videos here. She added that her son, who was just five-and-a-half years old when he lost his father, is now 12 and remembers him often. “He now understands that what has happened cannot be changed,” Kaur said.
In Tarn Taran’s Gandiwind village, the family of martyr Sukhjinder Singh honoured his sacrifice and recalled his memories. Sukhjinder’s brother, Gurjant Singh, called for a government school named after Sukhjinder to be upgraded to include classes up to the 12th grade. He also urged the completion of an under-construction stadium dedicated to Sukhjinder.
The nation on Saturday marked the seventh anniversary of the Pulwama attack when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden car into a CRPF bus, which was part of a convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, resulting in the deaths of 40 CRPF personnel.