‘They have given their blood – You give them a Home in J&K’ p-II;Many families of soldiers decorated with PVC even cannot own a house in J&K

By Daya Sagar
Since for a soldier nothing values more than to die bravely fighting defending his countrymen, the Indians belonging to states other than Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir have kept on making supreme sacrifices fighting the enemy on the IB and LoC in Jammu & Kashmir even earning majority of Param Vir Chakras (PVC) awarded so far after 1947. But we cannot find any of the members of the families of such decorated martyrs having his / her own ‘residence’ / agriculture land in J&K, studying in the medical / engineering colleges run by J&K Government or holding some regular service job under the State Government.
And the reason for that has been that people of Indian state of J&K have not so far accorded “Permanent Resident of J&K” status to even a soldier/ his family belonging to HP/Punjab/ Karnataka /UP/Rajasthan/ Maharashtra/ Haryana/ MP/Bihar/ who has been even decorated with supreme honors like Param Vir Chakra for fighting enemy aggression in J&K during 1947/1965/1971/1999 wars.
Many non-permanent residents of J&K have made exemplary contributions to the extent of sacrificing life or getting inflicted with total disabilities but so far J&K governments have not come up with any regular socio economic rehabilitation programmes / policies for their families even when their ‘parent’ states have been coming forward immediately to extend some ex-gratia to them in addition to the benefits / support their families are supposed to receive as services provisions. What has stopped J&K government from extending the socio- economic benefits to non- permanent resident martyrs must be asked?
On January 8th in 2013 Pakistani troops had intruded more than 500 meters into across the LOC in Mankot – Mendhar (Poonch Sector ) and in an inhuman deceitful barbaric manner they killed two India soldiers of Rajputana Rifles Lance Naik Hemraj, a resident of Uttar Pradesh and Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh,a resident of village Dadhiya Distt Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh.
Parkistanis crossed all limits of possible barbaric / inhuman acts when they beheaded the killed Indian soldiers and even carried the head of late Hemraj with them.
Smt Hemawati widow of Lance Naik Hemraj and his mother Smt Meena did not eat anything for many days protesting that the ‘head’ of Hem Raj be brought back from Pakistanis and be handed over to the family (since they had received headless mortal remains of Shaheed Hem Raj from Poonch Sector in J&K ). Let us imagine how soothing and timely it would have been had the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah been the first to visit the villages of martyrs in UP and MP to offer them condolences and as a goodwill gestures extend ex-gratia, jobs and rights to own residential plots in J&K before UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Shiv Raj Chowhan could offer some ex gratia !
There would have been no better way / style of expressing gratitude to the families of those who have been shedding blood for the people /subjects /permanent residents of J&K all these years. What it had not happened even when such suggestions were made by common subjects of J&K like me. To express solidarity with the family of Hem Raj and to console them Chief of Army Staff Gen Bikram Singh had on 16th January gone to their village Khaeraar (Shernagar ). Army Chief also visited Lance Naik Sudhakar’s family in Madhya Pradesh on 18th January
(Dadhiya village Distt Sidhi ) to express solidarity with martyr’s family. But no one from J&K administration is said to have visited them at the immediate hour of grief to express condolences what to talk of offering ‘a home’ to their family in J&K. Nothing can be more frustrating for the family whose brave sons/ husbands/ fathers are killed by the enemy in a deceitful manner when the “families” for protecting whom a soldier lays down life do not value the sacrifice worth taking care of the martyr’s family. There can be nothing more agonising than such ‘selfish’ gestures.
……………… To be continued
(Daya Sagar is a Senior journalist and a social activist can be reached at dayasagr45 @yahoo.com )

PVC decorated non-permanent resident soldiers
PVC Major Somnath Sharma HP 1947 Badgam,
PVC Lance Naik Karam Singh Barnala , Punjab 1948 Tithwal sector,
PVC Second Lieutenant Rama Raghoba Rane Chendia, Karnataka
1948 Jhangar Nowshera to Rajour,
PVC Naik Jadunath Singh Uttar Pradesh 1947 Naushahra sector,
PVC Company Havildar Major Piru Singh Rajasthan 1948 Tithwal sector,
PVC Major Dhan Singh Thapa HP Ladakh 1962,
PVC Major Shaitan Singh 1962 Chusul sector,
PVC Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir BurzarjiTarapore Mumbai 1965
Phillora in the Sialkot sector,
PVC Flying Officer Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon Punjab 1971 Saved
Srinagar Airfield,
PVC Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal Maharashtra. 1971
Shakargarh sector,
PVC Major Hoshiar Singh Haryana 1971,
PVC Captain Vikram Batra 1999 Kargil War Point 4875,
PVC Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey Batalik Sector 1999,
PVC Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav UP 1999 Kargil War and the
like of PVC Rifleman Sanjay Kumar HP Kargil War 1999)