Haryana family mourns Lance Naik killed in Pak shelling: ‘Always wanted to be in Army’

On Thursday morning, a sea of people flocked to Gulawat village in Palwal to mourn and mark their respects to the fallen soldier.

Sharma’s wife Seema, a lawyer practising at the Palwal district court, sat inside the family home, comforted by neighbours, relatives and colleagues.

Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar Sharma

“He was a very noble person… caring, honest and brave. He usually came home twice a year and stayed back for a month. Every chance he got, he would talk to and spend time with his family. The last I spoke to him, he said everything was fine and that he would call me again at midnight. I always knew Poonch was a dangerous posting…,” she says, breaking down.

Seema and Dinesh married in 2017, about three years after he joined the Army. She was then in the second year of her law college at Aligarh. Now four months pregnant with her third child, Seema says she wants her children to join the Army. Holding her 7-year old daughter and 3-year old son close to her, she says, “I want his death avenged. The government should give a befitting response.”

Amidst the sea of visitors, stood Sharma’s father, Daya Chand Sharma, stoic in his grief.

Family members mourning. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

“He always wanted to join the Army… He was an artillery gunner. He motivated his brothers, cousins and other villagers too to join the Army,” he says of the eldest of his six children. Two of his younger sons are Agniveers — one posted in Jalandhar and another in Jabalpur.

Hari Dutt, 20, the youngest of Sharma’s brothers who is posted in Jabalpur, said, “I was inspired by him. He helped me train for the Army. He would never say no to me; always got me whatever I wanted without me having to ask.”

Around 2:45 pm, as Sharma’s body arrived in a truck, chants of “Indian Army zindabad” and “Dinesh Kumar amar rahe” rent the air. People from the village and beyond fill up every inch of space on the terrace and the courtyard. After a brief round of the village, the body is taken for cremation, preceded by a 21-gun salute.