Everyone knows that Pakistan has waged a proxy war. Our Army should give a befitting reply once and for all, an elderly man who lives in Dhonchak’s neighbourhood said.
CHANDIGARH: Jagmeet Kaur, an economics teacher, with her two doting children Kabir Singh (6) and Banni Kaur (2) had just returned to Panchkula after spending time with her husband Col Manpreet Singh in Kashmir. She was devastated when the news came a fortnight later that Col Manpreet had been killed in gun battle with terrorists in Anantnag.
Col Manpreet Singh, commanding officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, was a third-generation Army officer. He was leading his troops from the front when he received critical gunshot wounds. In 2012, he was decorated with the Sena Medal for gallantry after he neutralised terrorists in J&K.
Singh had spent almost five years with the same Rashtriya Rifles battalion, the first three as the second-in-command and then as the Commanding Officer. Singh was about to complete his tenure with Rashtriya Rifles in four months.
He was recently honoured with a gallantry award by the Army. The colonel belonged to Bharaunjian village near Chandigarh in the SAS Nagar district of Punjab. His grandfather and his two brothers were soldiers in the British troops. His father and his two cousins were soldiers too in the Indian Army.
A pall of gloom descended on his village in Panchakula. His body is expected on Friday and is likely to be cremated the same day. A large number of people are turning up to mourn the death. “The mortal remains of my son-in-law will reach tomorrow afternoon as the Army formalities take time,” said Jagdev Singh Grewal.
Major Aashish Dhonchak
Major Aashish Dhonchak hailing from Panipat in Haryana too laid down his life fighting terrorists in Anantnag. He leaves behind a two-year-old daughter, wife and three sisters. He was planning to visit the family on his birthday next month. Dhonchak joined the Indian Army in 2013 and was the only brother of three sisters.
As the news of his death spread, villagers and neighbours rushed to his house in Sector 7 of Panipat. His uncle Dilwar Singh said, “We knew there was an operation underway. But we got the news of his death from my son who’s also in the Army,’’ Singh said.
“Everyone knows that Pakistan has waged a proxy war. Our Army should give a befitting reply once and for all so that no mother has to mourn the loss of her son, no sister loses her brother again, no wife loses her husband and no child loses its father,” an elderly man who lives in Dhonchak’s neighbourhood in Panipat said.
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