Thousands throng Sabarkantha village

KISHANGADH, July 8: Lance Havaldar Kantibhai Sukhabhai, 35, was a man who did not talk too much. Despite serving in the Army for more tha...

KISHANGADH, July 8: Lance Havaldar Kantibhai Sukhabhai, 35, was a man who did not talk too much. Despite serving in the Army for more than 15 years, not once had he spoken at home about his life in the army 8212; until he made an eloquent statement by his martyrdom in Kargil.

On Thursday morning, thousands of people thronged Kishangadh8217;s Kadva Doongri hamlet to attend the cremation of this hero. Hundreds marched barefoot, kilometers from the highway to Kantibhai8217;s house in the midst of the granite hills of Sabarkantha.

They first assembled at the soldier8217;s house to pay him their last respects, and then proceeded to the cremation ground. Six jawans and a junior commissioned officer, who had accompanied the body from Ahmedabad, were the pall bearers. The state police jawans gave the last salute.

Kantibhai was in a company of 10 soldiers who were deputed to supply ammunition to their comrades fighting close to a peak in the Mushkoh valley, said Lance Havaldar Amrabhai Rathod, his colleague from 12 Mahar. While they were scaling the height, a shell fell, killing Kantibhai and four others instantly.

Amrabhai, who hails from Dantla village of Kheda district, was touched by the display of solidarity by the simple men, women and children who turned out to say a final farewell to Kantibhai. 8220;The morale on the front is very high; it gets a further boost when you see such support,8221; he said.

On the homefront, Kantibhai8217;s story is one of sacrifice and an overwhelming sense of responsibility. The eldest son in the family, he lost his father, who was a jawan in the State Reserve Police 20 years ago, even before he joined the Army. Now the responsibility of looking after the family rests on the soldier8217;s younger brother Laxmanbhai as the youngest one is mentally handicapped.

Kantibhai is survived by his mother, wife, one daughter and two sons. 8220;Rekha is 17 and the responsibility of her marriage is mine,8221; said Laxmanbhai who farms the small land they own in the village. 8220;Kantibhai had come two months ago, baked some bricks for the house he was building and then gone. He never told us how he lived, what he did,8221; Laxmanbhai recalled.