Nation salutes Pathankot martyrs

Slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ rent the air as the body of Garud commando Gursewak Singh, wrapped in the tricolour, reached his native Garnala village near Ambala, while the family members of the young Sikh, who was married in November, were inconsolable. 

Haryana Ministers Anil Vij and Abhimanyu were present to pay tributes along with senior officers from the Air Force, besides personnel from the army, police and civil administration. 

Last journey of Niranjan 

The body of Lt Colonel EK Niranjan, a bomb expert with the National Security Guard who was killed while defusing a grenade at the scene of the terror attack at Pathankot IAF base, was brought to Bengaluru from where it was to be taken to his hometown Palakkad in Kerala. 

Teary-eyed people filed past the body as the martyr’s family members sat near it. “He was always interested in the army. I am proud of his sacrifice,” Niranjan’s father Sivarajan said. 

Niranjan’s sister said, “I look at him as Arjuna who fought for his karmabhoomi.” He hailed from Palakkad in Kerala and is survived by his wife Dr Radhika and an 18-month-old daughter. 

Unmatchable bravery 

In Gurdaspur, Punjab, scores of mourners gathered at the house of Subedar Fateh Singh, 51, a shooter who had won Commonwealth medals. Singh’s daughter Madhu joined the soldiers in carrying the body to the cremation ground. “What my father has done today, I don’t think anything can match it. I am proud of my father,” Madhu said. 

Singh’s wife, daughter and son had come to visit him. Before leaving the quarters, Singh told his wife that he was going to get some documents signed after which they would go home. “My father snatched the gun from that man and shot him,” she said. 

Four terrorists have been neutralised in the operation at the Pathankot air base after the Saturday attack. One Garud commando, one NSG officer and five personnel of Defence Security Corps (DSC) were martyred. Seventeen security personnel were also injured.