Martyr’s daughter Gurmehar Kaur still feels conflict not conducive to progress

Having figured in the Time magazine in 2017 as a Next Gen Delhi University student, Gurmehar Kaur has said that only an honest conversation between India and Pakistan can help bring about peace.

Daughter of Capt Mandeep Singh, who was martyred in August 1999, she has been a strong votary for peace between the two countries. She had got into controversy in 2017 when she made a video with placards in her hands giving out the message, “Pakistan did not kill my dad. War killed him.”

A votary of peace even today, she told The Tribune, “The younger generation from Punjab has seen a lot in the past 10 days. Our region deserves much better. This is no age for violence, war or terrorism. Only mutual cooperation can drive South Asia ahead. A peaceful subcontinent is the greatest gift we can give our families, our soldiers and ourselves.”

She says that she fully endorses the statement of former Army chief Gen MM Naravane that a war is not romantic but a serious and expensive last resort, “Clearly, war is not something that needs to be glorified. I have welcomed ceasefire. But it has to be more than just a pause. There is no future for South Asia without any commitment.”

The peace activist said that she had been going through various social media posts of families of defence personnel. “Our families are very resilient. I have seen that with my mother. As citizens, we need to take care of their families and support the forces in such situations.”

Gumehar was recently also seen supporting campaigns in favour of Himanshi Narwal, wife of Navy officer Lt Vinay Narwal who was gunned down in Pahalgam. Gurmehar had also shot off an open letter to her empathisising with her, especially for being trolled over her statement that she did not want people to go against the Muslims.

She wrote for her, “I am like your age. Like you, I dream of love, of a life built hand-in-hand with someone I cherish. To see that dream stolen from you, in such a cruel, terror-fuelled act, broke something inside me. My mother was your age when she lost my father in the Valley. I know this kind of loss. It never leaves you. And then when you were still trying to process the pain, your tragedy was ghoulishly turned into content...You in your darkest moments have protected what is most sacred about India…its soul.”

She had also recently tweeted, “Hate is the most anti-national force that we face. The worst thing the BJP under Modi did was nurture a mob that can only be satisfied with blood, killings and hate. For 10 years, this mob has been empowered.”

Gurmehar also proudly co-relates that her father too was a part of the air defence unit of the Army, which played a pivotal role in neutralising all drone/missile attacks from Pakistan. An author, she is currently writing a book on post-partition Punjab and how people rebuild their lives.