Last salute: 7-year-old son in army fatigues lights Col Manpreet Singh’s pyre in Mohali

“Jai Hind, Papa.” Seven-year-old Kabir in army fatigues saluted his father one last time before lighting the pyre of Colonel Manpreet Singh, the commanding officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles who made the supreme sacrifice during a gunfight with terrorists in Kashmir Valley early on Wednesday, at their native village in Punjab’s Mohali district on Friday.

Since Friday morning, a steady stream of mourners visited Colonel Singh’s house at Bharaunjian village to offer condolences to the bereaved family members. An army officer was seen holding Kabir as the family and others paid their last respects, while a relative held on to his two-year-old daughter, Banni.

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Kabir was later seen holding on to the Tricolour-wrapped coffin of his father along with other family members. He bowed before his father’s body just before the cremation as “Bharat Mata Ke Sapoot Ki Jai” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” slogans rent the air.

The cremation took place with full military honours, including a wreath-laying ceremony and a gun salute. Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit, former army chief General VP Malik and Punjab ministers Chetan Singh Jouramajra and Anmol Gagan Maan as well as senior army and police officers were present. Lt Gen DP Vats (retd), a BJP leader, was also present.

Purohit and Anmol Maan were seen consoling the bereaved family members.

‘Very sad, but proud of our student’

In the morning, Colonel Singh’s mother was seen crying as she waited at the doorstep to receive her son’s mortal remains amid slogans of ‘Shahid Colonel Manpreet Singh amar rahe’. A second-generation soldier, Colonel Singh’s father who died nine years ago, was an ex-serviceman.

The body was brought in flower-bedecked vehicle escorted by army vehicles. Subsequently, it was kept at the colonel’s house for people to pay homage.

Schoolteachers of Colonel Singh also turned up at the funeral. “He was a gem for us. He was a gem for the nation,” said one of them. Asha Chadha, another teacher, described him as an extraordinary student. “We are very sad today but at the same time proud that we are teachers of a martyr who sacrificed his life for the nation.”

Besides his young children, the officer, a Sena Medal awardee, is survived by wife Jagmeet Kaur, a government school teacher in Haryana’s Panchkula district, mother Manjeet Kaur and brother Sandeep Singh.

Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish Dhonchak of Panipat and Jammu and Kashmir deputy superintendent of police Humayun Bhat laid down their lives in the line of duty while fighting terrorists in the higher reaches of Kokernag in Anantnag district on Wednesday.

Colonel Manpreet Singh had joined the army in 2003 as a lieutenant and was serving in Anantnag for the past four years. He had visited his native Bharaunjian village near Mullanpur seven months ago. (With PTI inputs)