Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha on Sunday expressed shock over the Army not giving the guard of honour or military funeral to Agniveer Amritpal Singh who died of a ‘self-inflicted gunshot injury’. He further drew upon the development to pick holes in the recently-launched Agniveer scheme, a tour of duty style recruitment programme into three services for armed forces for ranks below commissioned officers.
20-year-old Agniveer recruit Amritpal Singh, on October 11, was found dead with a bullet injury at an Army camp along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. The preliminary investigation revealed that the soldier died of a bullet from his own service rifle.
The Opposition parties began to raise objection with how Singh’s last rites were conducted in the soldier’s native village in Punjab. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann questioned the Centre over the matter and said his government will pay an indemnity of ₹1 crore, irrespective of what the Army’s policy is regarding the military funeral.
“When the body of martyred Agniveer Amritpal Singh was brought to his village Kotli Kalan in Punjab, no unit of force was accompanying him. He was brought here in a private ambulance and the most shocking thing is the fact that a guard of honour was not given during the last rites ceremony,” Chadha said at a press conference.
He further drew parallel with how mourning days are announced and memorials are built after political leaders die. “If an Agniveer dies in the line of duty, then they are not given that status, they are not even given a guard of honour.”
Chadha pointed out how the scheme provides the soldiers with no entitlement of gratuity or pensionary benefits. However, the Agniveer soldiers will received a Seva Nidhi Package amounting to around ₹10.4 lakh after the completion of four years in service. This package will also be exempted from the income tax provisions.
The Army on Saturday clarified that since the cause of Singh’s death was due to ‘self-inflicted injury’, therefore, no guard of honour or military funeral was provided based on the existing policy.
