Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Martyr's widow not allowed into Rashtrapati Bhavan

It is a shame how this nation treats its people - even the widow of a soldier who has been awarded the highest medal on the same day by the President of India!! Shame on you India. Here is the media report:

Wed, Jan 28 02:13 AM

It takes extraordinary valour to win the Ashok Chakra, the country's highest peacetime gallantry award. But that is no guarantee a soldier would get the respect that should accompany that recognition.

On Republic Day, President Pratibha Patil bestowed Shanti Bohra with Havildar Bahadur Singh Bohra's Ashok Chakra (posthumous) in front of the entire nation. But a few hours later, the martyr's 29-year-old wife and her two daughters, aged five and three, were turned away from the gates of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Shanti had travelled from Jodhpur to receive the award. Her pleas with Patil's staff that she had no place to leave her daughters behind, fell on deaf ears.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan official, not authorised to speak to the media, said, "At formal functions, children are not allowed. Only those invited by name are allowed for security reasons.

" However, had the matter been brought to the notice of officials, it could have been resolved as it involved a highly decorated soldier's family, he claimed. "Some consideration should have been shown towards the lady.

Where was she supposed to have left her kids?" asked an outraged army officer. Bohra, a squad commander of 10 Para (Special Forces), led an assault team carrying out counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir's Lawanz area.

Last September, he engaged a group of heavily armed terrorists and killed three of them despite several gunshot injuries. His citation reads: "Bohra displayed most conspicuous bravery and made supreme sacrifice for the nation.

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