The opposition parties in Punjab expressed shock over the Army’s decision not to give a guard of honour during the last rites of Agniveer Amritpal Singh, who died in Jammu and Kashmir on October 11. The Army justified their decision by stating that since Singh’s cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot injury, no guard of honour or military funeral was provided according to the existing policy.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann announced that his government will raise a strong objection with the Centre regarding this matter. He also stated that regardless of the Army’s policy, his government’s policy remains the same for a martyr, and they will provide Rs 1 crore to the soldier’s family in accordance with the state policy, considering Amritpal Singh as a martyr of the country.
Amritpal Singh, who served with a battalion of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles in the Poonch sector, was cremated in his native village in Punjab’s Mansa district. Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal expressed shock that Singh was cremated without an army guard of honour. She called for intervention from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, requesting necessary directions to accord military honours to all martyred soldiers.
The Army clarified in a statement that Agniveer Amritpal Singh died while on sentry duty in Rajouri Sector due to a self-inflicted gunshot injury. A court of inquiry is still in progress to gather more details. The body of Singh, accompanied by a junior commissioned officer and four other ranks, was transported in a civil ambulance hired by the unit of the Agniveer. Army personnel also attended the last rites.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring criticized the treatment of the soldier, stating that it was a sad day for the country. He questioned whether being an Agniveer meant that their lives didn’t matter as much. He also highlighted that the family had to request the local Punjab Police to give their son a guard of honour.
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal criticized the Bhagwant Mann government for not sending any state-level dignitary to give a befitting farewell to the young martyr. He called on the chief minister to stand by the martyr’s family in the most magnanimous way possible. SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia demanded the scrapping of the Agniveer scheme and the regularisation of all soldiers recruited under it.
(Note: This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)