Delhi HC asks Govt to pay Shaurya Chakra awardee allowance denied for two years

Kaur’s family faced multiple attacks by Khalistani militants in 1990. “It was the four of us against 200 militants…they had grenades, and rocket launchers,” Kaur told the Indian Express recalling an attack which took place on September 30 of that year. “My husband injured a militant. As soon as that happened, the firing stopped from their side…we had thought that we’ll die that day so we tried our best to survive,” she said, adding that her family was fired at continuously for five hours. She recalled the four of them retaliating with pistols and sten guns to fend off the attack.

Three years later, on January 26, 1993, Kaur, her husband (both former members of the CPI-M), Balwinder’s elder brother Ranjit Singh and latter’s wife Balraj Kaur were awarded Shaurya Chakras by then president Shankar Dyal Sharma.

In March 2020, police security provided to the family was withdrawn, despite complaints by Kaur and her husband about threats received by militants.

One year later, in October 2020, militants barged into their home and shot Balwinder who later succumbed to the injuries. While speaking to The Indian Express, Kaur suggested that militants were planning on killing her husband since 2018.

Her husband used to carry a weapon even to the market, she told The Indian Express. “Neither the government of Punjab helped me, nor the Central government,” she added.

“I had emailed the Chief Minister (AAP’s Bhagwant Mann) 10-15 times, but he didn’t give me any time to meet him,” she said. Kaur and her husband ran a school with over a thousand students enrolled before the lockdown. Now, there are just 80 students left in the school. The Shaurya Chakra is awarded for gallantry, “otherwise than in the face of the enemy.” It is conferred by the President and can be awarded to officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, members of nursing services of the armed forces and civilians among others.