Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh
The narrow lanes and the bylanes of the Behti Khurd village echoed with chants of ‘Satyam Pathak Amar Rahen’ (Long Live Satyam Pathak) as the coffin carrying the lance naik’s mortal remains passed through his village streets in an army truck.
The soldier breathed his last yesterday, on October 16, reportedly due to a heart attack while he was posted on duty at Ladakh’s Leh.
As the coffin inched closer towards his semi-plastered house, about 110 kilometres from the state capital Lucknow, wails of mourning of his loved ones took over the patriotic sloganeering.
The 38-year-old non-commissioned officer (NCO) who served in the 539 Army Service Corps (ASC) in Ladakh’s Leh, was a father of four children and encouraged them to study hard, love all and grow up to take up esteemed professions.
“He wanted his two daughters to take up teaching and aspired to see his younger son as a doctor and elder son as a DM [district magistrate],” Pathak’s wife Ram Lali told Gaon Connection.
“How will his widow and his old parents manage finances for the education of his four children. Who will help realise his [Satyam Pathak] dream for his children?” she asked in a weak voice.
Shalini, the younger daughter of the lance naik said that her father always emphasised the importance of education.
“Sabse pyaar se raho, kisi se ladayi mat karo, he used to say,” she remembered. (Love all, do not quarrel with anybody)
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has promised the family a sum of Rs 5 million to the deceased soldier’s family.
“UP CM Shri Yogi Adityanath has paid an emotional tribute to the departed soul of the martyred soldier Satyam Kumar Pathak. Along with this, he has announced a financial aid of Rs 50 lakh (Rs 50,00,000),” the Uttar Pradesh government posted on Twitter.
Pride and grief
Every resident of Behti Khurd village which Gaon Connection spoke with was filled with mixed feelings of grief and pride, unsure of which emotion to talk about.
When Gaon Connection talked to the soldier’s mother, she said that he was about to take a leave and join his family for good. Satyam Pathak was the sole breadwinner of his family.
“He was about to retire, but he couldn’t survive that long. I am a heart and diabetes patient… they (family members) didn’t even tell me that my son had died until evening,” grief-stricken Sarla Devi told Gaon Connection.
But the village’s youth manifested a perceptible fervour, fueled by the soldier’s sacrifice and proud of the life he lived.
“I am proud of him, everyone should be proud of his sacrifice. Last time he visited his family was during the Holi festival. He gleefully played with colours and we all used to feel an indescribable joy whenever he was in the village,” Piyush Pathak, the soldier’s 20-year old neighbour told Gaon Connection.
“What was special about him was that he had an effect on the youth. He motivated us to join the armed forces and serve the country,” Piyush added.
Meanwhile, the local shopkeeper Pooran who remembered the soldier as a jovial man shared that Satyam Pathak always met him whenever he visited the village.
“Whenever he came to visit his family during the holidays, he used to come to my shop and enquire about my condition. He used to call me chachua (uncle). It feels terrible to know that our village hero is no more,” the 60-year-old shopkeeper told Gaon Connection.
Situation tense in Jammu and Kashmir
Meanwhile, there has been a spate of killings –both soldiers and civilians – in Kashmir. The violence has increased in the valley as terrorists have targeted civilians with an intensity that is unprecedented in recent times. A total of 11 civilians have been killed by the terrorist in October so far.
At least nine soldiers have been killed by the terrorists in a gunbattle in the union territory’s Poonch district. On October 11 alone, five Indian soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack in Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir.
Yesterday on October 17, two labourers from Bihar – Raja Reshi Dev and Joginder Reshi Dev – who were working in the valley as migrant workers were gunned down by unidentified terrorists. were shot dead in Kulgam, about 70 kilometres away from Srinagar. A third migrant worker, Chunchun Reshi Dev, has been injured.
A day before, on October 16, Sagir Ahmed, a carpenter from Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur was shot by the terrorists. On the same day, a street food vendor from Bihar was killed too.
The Kashmir Police issued a directive late last evening asking district heads to move all non-local migrant workers to the nearest security camps of armed forces. In a message flashed to all district police, Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) said, “All non-local labourers in your respective jurisdiction should be brought to the nearest police or central paramilitary force or army establishment just now…The matter is most urgent.”
