Rupin Katyal cremated
From Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

GURGAON,Dec 26 — Even as Rachna Katyal was still in the captivity of the hijackers of the Indian Airlines plane, her in-laws and other relatives cremated her husband, Rupin Katyal, who was stabbed to death by the hijackers.

Mr Kamal Katyal, an uncle of Rupin, said that the earlier schedule for cremation was 11 am. ‘‘But the relatives and family members decided to postpone it to 2 pm, hoping that Rachna would be released and be able to attend the cremation," he said. The programme was delayed by another hour with the family members hoping against hope for the last-minute arrival of Rachna.

The Union Minister of State for Civil Avaition, Mr Chaman Lal Gupta,who was here during the cremation described the role of the Taliban militia in Afghanistan as ‘‘negative’’ in so far as its cooperation with the Indian Government on the release of the hostages was concerned. In response to questions from mediapersons, he, however, said that the Taliban had cooperated to some extent by providing food and medicine and other logistics to the passengers.

Though the Government of India tried to establish a direct channel with the militia for the release of the hostages, the Taliban showed a ‘‘negative’’ attitude by preferring to go through the United Nations, he added. ‘‘We are still trying to open dialogue with the militia," he said.

Today, hundreds of sympathisers could be seen heading for the Katyal residence in Sector 14, where they assembled to mourn his death.

A large number of cars and two-wheelers were part of the funeral procession: Rupin’s body was cremated amidst heart-rending scenes. Those present included Mr Chaman Lal Gupta, the local MLA, Mr Dharamvir Gaba, an INLD leader, Mr Gopi Chand Gehlot, a BJP leader, Mr Sita Ram Singla and Mr Veneet Punia, additional political secretary to the Chief Minister of Haryana, and Vice-Chairman of the local municipality, Mr Subash Singla.

Accordig to Mr Punia,who represented the Chief Minister, the latter had condemned the ‘‘dastardly’’ act of the militants and the state government was in touch with the Centre for dealing with the situation.

The crowds gathered at the residence of the Katyals raised slogans like: ‘‘Rupin Katyal, tum amar raho’’.

The relatives were upset with the authorities. An inconsolable Mr Chander Mohan Katyal, father of the deceased, wanted to know from the minister as to what exactly the Union Government was doing to prevent hijackings of planes in future. ‘‘For how long will you let people be killed like this ?’’ he asked the minister. When the minister said that the government was looking into these aspects, Mr Katyal reacted by saying that the policy of ‘‘wait and watch’’ was at the root of all problems. The relatives were also not happy with the authorities at allowing the hijackers to take away the plane from Amritsar, where it had landed for fuel. The family members also urged the minister to take measures for the early release of Rachna as she must be under tremendous psychological pain at the loss of her husband.

Relatives of the deceased said they had learnt from some of the co-passengers who were released by the hijackers that the militants stabbed Rupin in the neck. While he was bleeding, the hijackers left him in the seat next to his wife, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The family was anxious about the condition of Rachna. Her father, Mr Chander Mohan Sehgal, broke down several times, saying that his daughter had promised to come to his place after returning from Kathmandu. Rupin and Rachna had married on December 3. They had gone for their honeymoon to Kathmandu.

According to Mr Veneet Sehgal, elder brother of Rachna, the couple was to return by a flight on December 22. But his sister rang him up from Kathmandu on December 22 to inform that she was fine and that they would be returning by the Indian Airlines flight on December 24.

An emotionally charged Mr Prakash Lal Katyal, 84, grandfather of the deceased, said: ‘‘The light of my house has been extinguished forever.’’ Mr Prakash Lal is a former municipal commissioner.

Mr Deepak Poswal, a neighbour of the Katyals, said that Rupin was ‘‘dear’’ to all who knew him. Mr Devender Singh, who is a close friend of the deceased, asserted that he was a ‘‘gentle person to the core."