Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including ministers in the central and Uttar Pradesh government faced anger in Meerut on Tuesday, 19 February, after they were found wearing shoes while attending the funeral of jawan Ajay Kumar.
Kumar, a sepoy of the 55 Rashtriya Rifles was killed in an encounter with terrorists in Pulwama that started on Sunday night.
In a video that has now gone viral, villagers and kin of the slain jawan can be seen protesting against the BJP leaders attending the ceremony. Following the backlash, the leaders can be seen removing their shoes.
Union minister Satyapal Singh, Meerut’s BJP MP Rajendra Agarwal, Siddharth Nath Singh and other leaders of the BJP were present at the funeral, reported Hindi daily Jansatta.
Singh was among the four Army men killed in the encounter, which also resulted in the gunning down of three Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists including Abdul Rashid Ghazi alias Kamran, the suspected mastermind of the Pulwama attack.
Major VS Dhoundiyal from Dehradun, Havildar Sheo Ram from Jhunjhunu and Sepoy Hari Singh were the other martyred jawans.
A report by The Indian Express said the body of the jawan was carried in a huge procession before it was cremated. “My son sacrificed his life for the country but it will not deter us. My grandson (Ajay’s son, Aarav) will also serve the Indian Army one day like his father,” the report quoted Ajay’s Veerpal Singh, who is also an ex-serviceman, as saying.
(With inputs from Indian Express and Jansatta)
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