Dinanagar terror attack ‘hero’ discarded and forgotten

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, August 16

Despite being shot in the left arm twice, a gritty Kamaljit Singh (47) reversed his car and tried to run it over three Pakistan-trained terrorists amid firing. He was again shot in the chest and his right arm. 

The Dinanagar resident, owner of a modest hotel on the Pathankot road, ran into the infiltrators on the morning of July 27, 2015, minutes before they barged into the local police station and launched an  assault on the security forces.

A week later, Parkash Singh Badal, then Punjab CM, visited the critically injured Kamaljit in an Amritsar  hospital. Praising him for his fortitude, he announced  Rs 3 lakh aid and a job for his daughter, his son being 86 per cent disabled. The money was spent within a week on multiple surgeries. 

Three years later, Kamaljit has recovered partially — his left arm amputated and walk a shuffle. His  daughter, whose marriage has been fixed for October, was never given the promised job. 

“I was on my way to purchase vegetables for my hotel when I ran into the attackers. The government designated me a ‘terrorist victim’ and the CM announced a job for my daughter which she never got. Life now is a nightmare. I have met four deputy commissioners. Each one promised to pursue my case with the higher authorities, but nothing happened,” says a despondent Kamaljit.

His bullet-riddled car was taken away by the police and is rotting at the Dinanagar police station. In an effort to retrieve it, he approached the courts. He was told since the incident had “international ramifications”, he would not be able to get the car back. 

“The then Gurdaspur MP Vinod Khanna and Punjab minister Aruna Chaudhary (MLA from Dinanagar) received me warmly and offered me tea. Beyond that, they did nothing. I was described by then CM Badal as the ‘nation’s hero’. I do not want any tag. All I seek is a job for my daughter, as promised to me,” he says.