SHAHEED

GUNNER UDDHAB DAS

'I will not cry for my martyred son'
Anchali, June 28 (Darshan Balwally)

INDIAN ARMY gunner and Assam’s hero Uddhab Das was laid to rest with a 21-gun salute, a part of the full military honours, at his native Anchali village in Barpeta district.

The only ambition of Uddhab Das, 21, was to serve in the Indian Army. He was martyred recently on the Tiger Hill in the Kargil sector while trying to position an artillery gun.

He fell amid a hail of bullets fired by Pakistani Army personnel. Mrs Khageswari Devi, Udhab’s mother, refused to shed tears. “I am proud my son laid down his life for his country”, she said. His stoic father, Mr Bandhuram Das, however, silently broke down on hearing her brave words.

Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who participated in the cremation, seized the opportunity to lambast the insurgent group, the ULFA, for assisting the enemy country’s Inter-Services Intelligence services (ISI).

The insurgent group is allegedly passing information about troop movements and other defence-related details to Pakistan to enable it to destabilise the north-eastern region.

The mood at Anchali village was tense as the mortal remains of Das were brought from the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport by an Indian Airlines flight at noon yesterday.

Almost the entire village broke into tears as the casket was brought to the martyr’s house for religious rituals.

COURTSEY: THE HINDUSTAN TIMES