‘Vij remark an insult to all right-minded citizens’

He also reacted to the statements by those targeting Gurmehar claiming that her father had not died in the Kargil war and that he had died in the Valley while fighting militants. “Is the sacrifice of soldiers who fight in anti-insurgency operations any less than those who died in the Kargil war? Do these people mean to say that those central police forces personnel who lay down their lives while fighting Maoists are not making any sacrifice for the country? Such statements are a show of disrespect to every soldier who fights for the flag of this country and lays down his life fighting to uphold his honour,” he said. He added that since the ceasefire in Kargil had taken place just a few days ago and intruders had withdrawn, his brother had warned his unit personnel to be prepared to face an attack as the enemy would certainly want to hit back at a new place of choosing.

Recalling the action in which his brother laid down his life, Davinder said the unit personnel had informed the family that Captain Mandeep had fought gallantly and till his last breath. “My brother tried to save the life of a fellow soldier in the hail of gunfire that his company location came under and was hit. However, even after being hit he continued to give directions to fight back the attack until he passed away 15 minutes later,” he said.

Davinder Deep said the feedback received from the people who knew about the attack on his brother’s company was that the company HQ was “poorly sited” and was “located in a bowl” and was under observation from surrounding hills. “Also, there was an order by the commanding officer that only the sentries were to be armed with weapons and the rest of the personnel had to deposit their arms in the ‘kot’ or the armoury. When the militant attack took place, nearly 50 per cent of the arms were lying deposited in the ‘kot’,” he said.

In fact, on the very next day of the attack in which Capt Mandeep lost his life, the commanding officer of 4 Rashtriya Rifles battalion was gunned down by a disgruntled jawan along with a JCO, wireless operator and driver. The jawan had lost a close relative in the attack on company HQs and was later sentenced to death by a court martial. The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.