No help from government, martyr's wife returns his Sena Medal

LUDHIANA: A day before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Ludhiana, 60year-old Surinder Kaur returned her husband's Sena Medal claiming that the government had not provided any help 30 years after her husband laid down his life in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

She handed over the medal to officials of Ludhiana district administration asking them to give it to the Prime Minister.

A resident of Nikko Sarai village of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur, Surinder Kaur said it was in 1987 that her husband Kashmir Singh, a Hawaldar with 13 Sikh Light Infantry , sacrificed his life in

Jafna

. He was awarded a Sena Medal on January 26 in 1991 posthumously.

“My son was eight years old and daughter 6 at that time and I never knew what to do. I could not even see the body of my husband. The life has been really tough. We have not got any help from the government except benefits from the Army ,“ Surinder Kaur said.

“Previous governments did nothing at all and now I have been forced to return the medal of my husband,“ she said.

Surinder said she is hopeful that Modi would do something and this was the reason that she came with her family to Ludhiana. She said when government had provided help (petrol pump and cash) to families of several martyrs, why was she left out.

Her son Roop Tejinder Singh, 36, said the family received letters from the defence ministry that petrol pump would be allotted to them but nothing has happened till date.

He said even Sarabjit's family members, who died in Pakistan jail as an alleged Indian spy , have been offered jobs. “He was merely a spy , but my father was a martyr who died for the country . We have not been given anything and now we want that Prime Minister Modi to do something for us. Nobody would have allowed us to meet the Prime Minister, therefore we decided to return the medal through the Ludhiana deputy commissioner and we handed over the medal to the general accountant (GA) to Ludhiana deputy commissioner,“ said Roop Tejinder, who is unemployed even after doing a diploma in art and crafts.

Swati

Tiwana

, GA to DC, said she received the medal as the family was quite adamant to return it. She, however, said they would get in touch with DC Gurdaspur to verify all the details.

The administration has requested the family to reconsider their decision. “I have told them that our office will work towards getting them their due respect and help from the government and that they should not return the medal,“ said Tiwana.

TIGHT SECURITY

A mid tight security in PAU, a PAU school bus was not allowed to leave the university campus. The permission was given only after the intervention of the education department.Police also conducted checks at bus stand and railway station on Monday

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