Patna : The elderly parents of three soldiers from Bihar, who were among the 18 troops killed in a terror attack in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir, are sad at the sudden upheaval in their lives but proud of their sons’ supreme sacrifices.
“I am proud of my martyred son (Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh) despite my personal loss,” Jagnarayan Singh of Raktu village in Bihar’s Bhojpur district said. His wife Rajmuna Devi echoed his views.
“We are old now but the news of my son’s martyrdom is a matter of pride. Earlier, our older son Kamta Singh too was martyred; now another son has died,” they said.
In fact, not only Ashok Kumar Singh’s native village but residents of the entire Piro block said they were proud of his supreme sacrifice.
“Hundreds of residents of nearby villages have come to pay their respects to him even though his body is yet to arrive in our village,” Singh said.
Sepoy Rakesh Singh’s father Harihar Kushwaha said his son was brave and sacrificed his life for the country.
“I have lost my son but am proud for his martyrdom,” a teary-eyed Kushwaha, a resident of Badha village in Kaimur district, said.
Kushwaha said all the residents of his village had decided not to cook food till the body of the brave soldier arrived in the village. “We are proud that my son died for the country.”
Naik Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi’s parents Mathura Yadav and Kunti Devi too said they were proud of his sacrifice.
“We have lost our son in old age but are proud of his sacrifice for the country,” said Yadav, a resident of Boknari village in Gaya district.