Veer Naris narrate their struggle on Flag Day

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 7

It was a day to remember the martyrs. The Veer Naris, after getting felicitated on the Armed Forces Flag Day, reached the war memorial gallery where the portraits of their husbands, who got martyred for the country, were lying. The Veer Naris stood in front of their husband’s portrait and their glaring eyes narrated their emotions.

They removed their husband’s portraits and cleaned them while tears rolled down their cheeks.

With her voice shaking, Manjeet Kaur, a Veer Nari, said her husband Dalip Singh, a sepoy, got martyred by militants in Jammu and Kashmir in 1996. She said that her daughter took birth two days after her husband died. “You can understand my condition. My heart knows that with much difficulty I raised my both children,” she said.

Her son is senior secondary educated while her daughter is still studying. “Life has not been easy for me and my children. I have never got any help from the department,” she said.

Kulwinder Kaur is another brave heart who has lived the life alone with her three children who are now grownups but without any job.

Her husband Manjinder Singh (sepoy) lost his life when he was only 27. Their younger son was only four years old. “My son has done graduation in science. Why the government does not give any job to such youth. At least they must think something about the children of the persons who lost their lives for the country,” she said, adding that she would talk to the officials concerned.

She said that she had been making her both ends meet only with the pension she got on behalf of her husband.

For Inderjit Kaur, it is a double tragedy as after losing her husband Joginder Singh at a young age in 1994, her son was also got killed in the USA three years ago. Her husband was a recipient of Shaurya Chakra. She said that every year she came here to get the honour, but the authorities concerned had actually done for them.

Paying floral tributes to the martyrs and brave soldiers at a function to commemorate the Armed Force Flag Day Punjab State War Memorial, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said every soldier who joined the armed forces had a firm determination to sacrifice his or her life for the sake of nation.

General Officer Commanding (GOC) 91 Sub Area Major General Sanjeev Bajaj also paid homage to the serving and retired officers of the armed forces. He said that the Army had specially appointed Colonels (veterans) in Jalandhar to immediately redress the problems being faced by the veteran Army officers and soldiers. The Army is duty-bound to safeguard the interests of these brave hearts, who have given their productive years of life to the nation, he added.