Punjab’s Agniveer soldier Amritpal Singh died of self-inflicted injury in Jammu and Kashmir. Now the death of Agniveer soldier has turned political as the ruling party of Punjab is attacking the BJP-led centre for not giving guard of honour during his last rituals. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also attacked the Centre over the Agniveer Scheme and called it a ‘failed experiment’.
However, the Army already made it clear that the cause of death was self-inflicted injury, the accompanying personnel were in civilian dress and as per the existing policy, no guard of honour or military honour was given to the deceased. This is in line with existing policy on the subject.
However, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann has announed an ex gratia of Rs 1 crore to the family of Agniveer soldier Amritpal Singh and has demanded martyr status for Singh. While speaking to media, CM Mann said: “The army considers only those martyrs who lost their lives during combat. If some of our soldiers are patrolling in snow and lose their lives during a storm, then they are not considered martyrs. They were there on the patrol for the country. The Punjab government has made a policy of Rs. 1 Crore ex gratia.”
“Even if someone dies of a heart attack at -40 degrees, he should be considered a martyr because he was there serving the nation. It is not necessary that he should lose his life in a bullet from the enemy. We oppose the Agniveer scheme too for this. The way the army treated Amritpal- his body was sent to the family in an ambulance. Army said that he cannot be given a guard of honour according to the protocol. I will visit his house tomorrow. We have a cheque worth Rs 1 crore ready. I will also meet the Defence Minister for this,” said Mann, as quoted by ANI.
#WATCH | Chandigarh: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann says, "… The army considers only those martyrs who lost their lives during combat. If some of our soldiers are patrolling in snow and lose their lives during a storm, then they are not considered martyrs… They were there on the… pic.twitter.com/TjLrFj72er
— ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2023
Moreover, Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, Raghav Chadha, also attacked the BJP government in Centre and said that the Agniveer scheme was implemented in haste. He said: “When Agniveer Amritpal was not given military honours by the BJP government, then the Punjab police decided to give state honours to him. This country is because of soldiers, not because of (political) leaders. We had said from the start that the Agniveer Yojana is a dangerous experiment. It should not be implemented. But the BJP government did not pay attention to it. The Agniveer scheme was implemented in haste, and the doubts that were raised by the opposition came to be true.” (As quoted by ANI)
#WATCH | Delhi: AAP MP Raghav Chadha says, "..When Agniveer Amritpal was not given military honours by the BJP government, then the Punjab police decided to give state honours to him… This country is because of soldiers, not because of (political) leaders… We had said from… pic.twitter.com/8EW9xC2eKx
— ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2023
In an unfortunate incident, Agniveer Amritpal Singh died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while on sentry duty in Rajouri sector on October 11, an Army release said. Efforts are being made to find out the cause of death in the Court of Inquiry.
