Armyman who died in Sudan cremated in Lucknow

Like every year,the large family of Pal consisting of his three brothers and a sister,was planning to celebrate summer vacation together at their native place in Patti area of Pratapgarh district in May. Pal had gone to South Sudan in October last year and was scheduled to come back on May 10.

His wife Madhu,who works with the National Commission for Women on contract basis,arrived in Lucknow for Pal’s last rites. She said he had called her on Monday saying he was feeling homesick. “When I asked him to come back,he replied he would come on May 10 when his tenure in Sudan gets over. We were planning to build our house in Lucknow and wanted to settle here after his retirement,” she said.

On Tuesday she started getting calls from several numbers asking about her identity. One person wanted to speak to the elders in her family. Later,she provided him the contact number of Pal’s elder brother Ashok Kumar,who was then informed about Pal’s demise.

Family members said the inconsolable Madhu had to be admitted in hospital in Delhi after she heard the news. She was brought to Lucknow where again she fainted on seeing the face of her husband whose body was badly damaged.

“He joined the army in 1988 after graduating from CMP College in Allahabad. He was very proud of his job. He used to say he had become a man from an animal after joining the army. I never heard him saying that he felt tired of his job or wanted to leave it. He was very responsible towards it,” said his younger sister Indu.

The family remembered Pal as the person who never lost touch with his family. “Wherever he was posted,whether in India or outside,he would call us every one or two weeks. When he was in Jammu for training before Raksha Bandhan,he reminded me to send him a Rakhi,” said teary-eyed Indu,who lives in Unchahar with her husband.

Pal’s wife and their two children Sudhanshu (14) and Ankita (17) live in Delhi. His elder brother is a railway employee and lives in Lucknow,another elder brother Pradeep lives in Chandigarh after he retired from the army,and his younger brother Devendra is posted in Fatehgarh in defence accounts. Pal’s parents live at their native village in Pratapgarh. His father T R Pal is retired from his service in the Army’s Education Corps.

Family members said the children had been eagerly awaiting Pal’s arrival as he was their favourite. “Four days before he died,I spoke to him on the phone. He never forgot to call,” said his niece Sudha,who lives in Lucknow. Pal was cremated at the Bhaisakund crematorium in the afternoon in the presence of senior army officials.