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Kannauj labourers killed in Kashmir cremated,families numb with shock
The bodies were brought to Dannapurwa village from Lucknow in an ambulance at around 10 am. Asim Arun, MP from Kannauj Subrat Pathak, MLA Kailash Rajput and others were in the village at the time. The entire village stood by the two grieving families and expressed anger at the targeted killings in Kashmir.
Kanpur: Hundreds turned up to pay their last respects as the two labourers from Kannauj, who were killed by terrorists in Shopian (Kashmir), were cremated in their native village on Wednesday. The Uttar Pradesh government would give ₹16 lakh each to their families, announced minister for social welfare Asim Arun in Kannauj.
The bodies were brought to Dannapurwa village from Lucknow in an ambulance at around 10 am. Asim Arun, MP from Kannauj Subrat Pathak, MLA Kailash Rajput and others were in the village at the time.
The entire village stood by the two grieving families and expressed anger at the targeted killings in Kashmir.
The economic condition of the families of the two labourers, Manish, 40, and Ram Sagar, 50, is pitiable. They depend on the free ration being supplied by the government. Manish shared one bigha of land with his four brothers.
Manish’s eldest daughter Anushka,8, was shocked. She had spoken to him three days ago and Manish told her he would be home before the weekend. “He told me he had bought clothes for us and would buy crackers here,” she said, crying.
The younger daughter Priya, who also spoke to him, said he was asking about her school. “I told Papa my copy was spoiled. He told me he would buy a new one, with a new pencil.”
Pushpa, his wife, was inconsolable. She was surrounded by several women trying to comfort her. “He went to Kashmir because he was supposed to get ₹15,000 as wages. He wasn’t getting much work or money here. We have lost everything,” she said.
Some 300 metres away, in the thatched house of Ram Sagar, his wife became unconscious. People sprinkled water on her face and when she came to, she cried out how she would go on in life. “He was about to come home but his corpse came instead,” she wailed.
His son Himanshu, 14, said he chose to drop out of school to work as a labourer as his father’s earnings were not enough. “My younger brother, who is 12, is also working in the fields to support the family. My father went to Kashmir hoping he would make some extra money,” he said.
“Those who went with him got their wages on time and came back. My father did not. Had he got his wages in time he would have been with us,” he said.
