Chandigarh: Amid the row over the Army not giving a Guard of Honour to Agniveer Amritpal Singh who died in Rajouri sector, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Monday opposed the “differing” policies regarding compensation given to the family in case of death of a soldier on duty.
Singh had died during sentry duty due to a self-inflicted gunshot injury on 11 October, the Army has said. Military funerals are not entitled in such cases as per the extant Army Order of 1967 in such cases, it added.
After visiting the soldier’s family in Mansa and handing over a cheque of Rs 1 crore, Mann said he would be seeking an appointment with the Defence Minister to highlight the issue.
For his government, Mann said, Agniveer Amritpal Singh is a martyr — irrespective of the Army’s stance. The Punjab government would provide a job to the kin of the deceased and also erect a memorial in the village, he announced.
ਇੱਕ ਦੇਸ਼ ਇੱਕ ਚੋਣ ਦੀ ਗੱਲ ਕਰਨ ਵਾਲੇ ਇੱਕ ਦੇਸ਼ ਇੱਕ ਕੁਰਬਾਨੀ ਦੀ ਗੱਲ ਕਰਨ ਤੇ ਜ਼ਮੀਨੀ ਪੱਧਰ ‘ਤੇ ਲਾਗੂ ਕਰਨ…ਦੇਸ਼ ਤਾਂ ਆਪਣੇ ਮਿੱਤਰਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਲੁਟਾ ਦਿੱਤਾ…ਤੇ ਫੌਜ ਦੇ ਜਵਾਨਾਂ ਦਾ ਅਪਮਾਨ ਕਰ ਰਹੇ ਨੇ… pic.twitter.com/Dzxci8S6xB
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) October 16, 2023
On Saturday, Mann had said that it was “unfair” that a soldier’s family was compensated only in cases where there is death in combat. He said that if a soldier on duty dies because of a snow storm, or due to a heart attack working in sub-zero temperatures, it should be considered as death in the service of the nation. Such soldiers too were martyrs and should be treated accordingly, he added.
Mann had said that the Agniveer had informed his parents in his last conversation with them that he was looking forward to coming home for a marriage ceremony in the family.
“Only six months of training is given to an Agniveer which is so little considering the gravity of the duty expected of them. When we hire even a patwari (a village land registrar), we have to train him for one and a half years. When the army gives an Agniveer the same uniform and the same weapons, then why not the same treatment upon their death?” he asked.
Subsequently, the Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information issued a statement Sunday night, saying that “there has been some misunderstanding and misrepresentation of facts related to the unfortunate death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh”.
“Armed Forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after implementation of the Agnipath Scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols,”
it said.
Unfortunate Death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh on 11 Oct 2023.
There has been some misunderstanding and misrepresentation of facts related to unfortunate death of Agniveer Amritpal Singh.
Further to the initial information given out by White Knight Corps on 14 Oct 2023,… pic.twitter.com/6rhaOu3hN8
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) October 15, 2023
Amritpal Singh’s body was brought to his village by a Junior Commissioned Officer and four other ranks in a civil ambulance hired by the Agniveer unit, the Army had said Saturday, adding that the accompanying Army personnel also attended the last rites.
According to the Agniveer’s family, Singh was not extended a Guard of Honour by the army and they requested the local administration and police to honour the deceased soldier.
The episode became a raging topic after RTI activist Manik Goyal shared a video of Amritpal Singh’s cremation on social media and highlighted the family’s allegations. As the video went viral, the episode drew severe criticism of the Army and the Government of India for its policy on Agniveers.
Political leaders from Punjab, including Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia and Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress, came out to hit out at the Modi government.
Majithia alleged that the Agniveer policy was the “most shameful policy the country has ever witnessed since Independence”. “It is most tragic and unfortunate to see that due to the Modi Government’s new Agniveer Policy, the first martyr of the country, only 19-year-old Amritpal Singh was not even provided with an army ambulance to bring his body home. It is most shameful to note that even customary Guard of Honour was not provided to Martyr. This is the most shameful policy the country has ever witnessed after Independence. We completely reject the Agniveer scheme,” Majithia tweeted Saturday.
In 2022, the Modi government had rolled out the Agnipath scheme under which youths will serve the armed forces for a period of four years. Only 25 percent of Agniveers will be retained after this period.
Leader of the Opposition, Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress said that it was “shocking” that no army guard of honour was given during the cremation of the first martyred Agniveer from the Mansa district of Punjab Amritpal Singh. “Didn’t he lay down his life for the country?” he tweeted Saturday.
On Sunday, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha also hit out at the Centre, saying that the “Agniveer scheme was implemented in haste”.
“..When Agniveer Amritpal was not given military honours by the BJP government, then the Punjab police decided to give state honours to him… This country is because of soldiers, not because of (political) leaders… We had said from the start that the Agniveer Yojana is a dangerous experiment… It should not be implemented. But the BJP government did not pay attention to it…The Agniveer scheme was implemented in haste, and the doubts that were raised by the opposition came to be true,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: ‘Such cases not entitled military funerals’ — Army issues fresh statement over Agniveer’s death