Village gives U'khand martyr hero's farewell

Saviour's funeral

Shahidon ki chitaon par legenge har baras mele, watan pe marne walon ka baki yehi nishan hoga (Only the annual fairs at the tombs of the martyrs will be the proof of their existence).

The words of the couplet were proved correct once again at Pure Nangu village in Uttar Pradesh’s newly created Amethi district, about 150 kilometres from here, when thousands thronged the funeral of Indian Air Force officer Akhilesh Kumar Singh, who was among the victims of Tuesday’s helicopter crash in Uttarakhand.

In fact, the crowds at Singh’s ancestral house in the village swelled to such an extent that the district administration had to erect barriers on its borders to restrict the entry of the people.

Vehicle entry banned

Entry of vehicles had been completely banned in the village, sources said.

Thousands of people from the nearby villages descended on Pure Nangu village to pay their respect to Singh, who was a Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) in the IAF.

“I now feel that I have something good. Do not worry about me.. people are in great difficulty here and we are trying to rescue them,” Singh had told his father Bikramajeet Singh, when he had spoken to him last on Tuesday morning.

The distraught father said that Singh had asked him to settle the marriage of the youngest sister.

Of the four sisters, the other three are already married.

“That is the only regret he will have,” the father said with tears in his eyes.

Congress vice-president and MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi attended the funeral of Singh on Saturday.

His body was consigned to flames with full state honour in the presence of thousands of people.

Rahul, according to the sources, has assured all help to the bereaved family.
Compensation

UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the next of the kin of the two IAF personnel.

The IAF MI 17 chopper had crashed near Gaurikund while undertaking a rescue mission in Uttarakhand on Tuesday amid foggy weather killing all 19 people.