Nuh clashes: Son wanted to serve nation, says Kargil veteran
Gurugram, August 2
“He always wanted to serve the nation, and having fought in Kargil, I beamed with pride seeing him in uniform. He would lament about not being in the Army, but I would tell him what he did was equally important and that many chances would come his way to display valour. I had never thought that it would happen this way,” says Chiranji Lal, an ex-serviceman of Garhi village, whose 37-year-old son, home guard Neeraj Khan, was killed during the Nuh clashes. Neeraj was known in the force for being a Muslim with a Hindu name, and coming from a Hindu majority but peaceful village, Garhi Wajidpur. He would say that such names were a tradition there. Having served the Haryana Police for 15 years, he would often tell his family that he would make them proud.
“My children loved him in uniform. That fateful day when he left home, we didn’t know that we would be seeing him for the last time. Henceforth, we will be known not as the family of a Kargil soldier, but that of a Nuh martyr,” says his inconsolable wife, Vakila.
Neeraj has two children — 10-year-old Nitin and 6-year-old Nikita — who are in a state of shock.
Gursev, another home guard, was killed when his vehicle overturned during the pelting of stones. Gursev’s four-year-old son, Ekam, consigned the mortal remains to the flames, as the gathering bade a tearful adieu to the jawan.
