As a special flight of the Indian Air Force carrying the bodies of two soldiers from Odisha who were killed in Galwan valley of Ladakh landed in Bhubaneswar on Thursday evening, a pall of gloom descended on the villages of the two jawans.
The coffins of the two fallen soldiers - Sepoy Chandrakant Pradhan of Kandhamal district and Naib Subedar Nanduram Soren of Mayurbhanj district were wrapped in the tricolor. Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal, chief minister Naveen Patnaik, armed forces personnel, senior officials of the Odisha government and police officials paid their tributes to the two soldiers. A guard of honour was given to the two jawans.
The bodies were then taken to Kandhamal and Mayurbhanj by road where the last rites will be performed on Friday. Both Pradhan and Soren were from 16 Bihar Regiment. They were among 20 soldiers killed during a violent face-off with Chinese troops on Monday night.
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In Biarpanga village in Kandhamal district, people thronged to Sepoy Chandrakant Pradhan’s mud house to console his grieving parents Karunakar Pradhan and Bilasini Pradhan. Pradhan, who had joined the Army in 2014, had plans to construct a pucca house in place of the present mud and asbestos house for his seven-member family including three brothers and a sister.
{{/usCountry}}In Biarpanga village in Kandhamal district, people thronged to Sepoy Chandrakant Pradhan’s mud house to console his grieving parents Karunakar Pradhan and Bilasini Pradhan. Pradhan, who had joined the Army in 2014, had plans to construct a pucca house in place of the present mud and asbestos house for his seven-member family including three brothers and a sister.
{{/usCountry}}“We were planning for his marriage this year. So before that we had started constructing a pucca house behind our existing home. We had managed to construct the four walls of the house, but due to lack of money we had postponed it,” the soldier’s father said.
Pradhan’s younger sister Sandhyarani is still unable to believe that her elder brother is gone. “He was more like a friend to me. He had told me that he would come in August after lockdown. We were planning to see some girls to find a match for him. I can’t believe he is no longer there,” she said.
In Bada Champauda village under Bijatala block of Mayurbhanj district, Naib Subedar Nanduram Soren’s three brothers too are yet to come to terms with the death of their youngest brother. “We hardly make anything out of farming as there are no irrigation facilities. Nandu Ram used to help us financially. We are now devastated,” said Daman Soren, the eldest brother.
Soren’s wife Laxmimani and three daughters live in a rented house in Rairangpur town, about 5 km from the village. “I had last spoken to him on Monday morning when he enquired about children’s education. I never thought that it would be the last time I would be speaking to him,” said Laxmimani.
His eldest daughter Gyaneswari too is inconsolable, but wants the Indian Army to avenge her father’s death by teaching the Chinese Army a lesson.
Sarpanch of the grampanchayat, Anjali Behera demanded that Odisha government should pay an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh instead of Rs 25 lakh. “I would request the state government to give his wife a suitable government job as it would be difficult for her to raise three daughters without financial support,” she said.