Pune/Kolhapur, June 24 (PTI): Naik Sandip Jadhav had promised to return home in time for his son’s first birthday today. All that came back was his coffin.
A day of celebration turned into one of profound grief for the family of the soldier, killed in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, as he was cremated in his native village in Maharastra.
In another village in the state, a retired armyman had to witness the last rites of his younger son, who too was slain on that fateful day at the frontier.
Jadhav and his fellow solider from 15 Maratha Light Infantry, Sepoy Shravan Balku Mane, were killed in an attack by Pakistani special forces along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
There were no smiles on one-year-old Shivam’s landmark day, only eyes misting over with tears, as his 34-year-old father’s mortal remains were consigned to flames with full military honours at Kelgaon in central Maharashtra’s Sillod taluka, about 230 km from Pune.
People converged at his home in large numbers to mourn the loss of the braveheart, chanting slogans like ‘Sandip Jadhav amar rahe’ and ‘Jab tak suraj chand rahega, Sandip tera naam rahega’ as his body was taken out of the house for the last time.
Besides the toddler son, Jadhav is survived by his wife, a three-year-old daughter, his parents and a brother.
Congress MLA from Sillod Abdul Sattar and Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade were among those present at the cremation.
Similar heart-rending scenes unfolded at Gogave village in Shahuwadi tehsil of Kolhapur district, where 24-year-old Sepoy Mane was cremated with full military honours this afternoon.
The body had been flown in to Kolhapur by a military helicopter.
Army personnel, relatives and a large number of people from the area attended the cremation.
Sagar Mane, the slain sepoy’s elder brother and an army man himself, lit the pyre. Their father, who had retired from the Army several years ago, watched on.
