‘What I could not do, my son did, by making the ultimate sacrifice’: Father of CRPF jawan killed in Pulwama terror attack
Vijay Soreng from Jharkhand had joined the CRPF’s 82nd Battalion in 1993, and died in Jammu & Kashmir on February 14, 2019. He always believed that dying for the country in the line of duty was the best way to go, according to his family.
Vrish Soreng, 65, is both a grieving as well as a proud father. His son, Vijay Soreng, 47, was killed in the terrorist attack at Pulwama, in Jammu & Kashmir, on Thursday. Even as grief shrouded the family home of the younger Soren, a member of the Central Reserve Police Force, his father stood tall.
A resident of Basia Farmasa village at Basia block in Gumla district of Jharkhand, and himself a retired soldier, Soreng Senior said that it was his wish during his service period to even die for the nation. “What I could not do, my son did, by making the ultimate sacrifice,” said the stoic father.
Vrish now takes care of his meagre agricultural fields, along with his younger son, Sanjay Soreng, 40. The other family members include Vrish’s wife Lakshmi Devi, 60; Vijay’s wife, Kamala Ba, a policewoman with the 10th battalion of Jharkhand Armed Police at Ranchi; and Vijay’s three children.
Vijay’s eldest son Arun, 21, is an undergraduate student at a college in Khunti district; daughter Barkha Kumari, 15, is a Class IX student at a school in Keonjhar, Odisha; and youngest son Rahul, 9, is a student in the same school.
Sanjay recalled his elder brother’s ambition to serve the nation: “Even as a child, my brother was fascinated by the army. He joined the army quite early. He used to say that giving away one’s life in the line of duty was the best possible way to die.”
Vijay had come home for a few days — from February 1 to 8 — and Sanjay said that he could not imagine that would be their last meeting. Vijay had contacted his family before his convoy left Jammu, around noon on Thursday. “My brother said he had left from his camp; he said that the roads were slippery and that he would call us after reaching his destination,” said Sanjay.
That call never came. The family members got some news about the IED blast, but nothing was confirmed. “We all tried to reach Vijay over the phone. But, his phone was switched off,” said Sanjay. Around 1.30am on Friday, the family received a call from army command room in Jammu & Kashmir, informing them that Vijay was no more.
“Within moments, everything changed. My mother has been inconsolable,” said Sanjay.
About his sister-in-law, he said, “She is a strong woman, but I don’t know how she’ll cope with this news. Two of their children are still young.”
According to Sanjay, Vijay’s body was to reach Ranchi airport on Friday night, and the cremation would be on Saturday.
