Brush with death fails to stoke fear in injured jawans

“Please go away. Come back some other day. I cannot talk,” pleads the jawan recuperating at the state-run SSKM Hospital.

Pradhan had two bullets embedded in his body,besides severe bomb splinter injuries on his hands and other body parts. The bullets have been removed,but his left leg is immobile and he has no clue how long will it take before he can stand on his feet again.

Pradhan’s commitment for the country,however,remains as strong. “I am not scared of death. I will fight for my country,” asserts the jawan.

“So many of my friends were killed that night,” recalls Pradhan,adding that there was little help coming from the state government after the attack.

He claims to have requested some members of the media to take him to Bimpur from where he was taken to Jhargram before being brought to the city.

Strangely enough,Pradhan had not initially informed his family about the attack. “I did not tell them anything. But my two children now know of the attack and they call me every 10 minutes,” he says,just as the phone rings again and he smiles: “My children calling again.”

For the Darjeeling resident,the costs incurred in his medical treatment is a cause for worry. “The injections and medicines are very expensive. I cannot fold my foot joint and doctors have told me that they can treat me,but it will also cost a lot of money,” says Pradhan,while adding that he is unsure if he would receive the compensations announced by various agencies.

When the state government representatives and his unit members visited Pradhan,he refused to speak.

“I cannot speak. I am too ill to say anything. They said they will come back later,” he adds.