A year after Pulwama attack, Punjab short-changes martyr’s wife

AMRITSAR: Grief-stricken family of head constable Sukhjinder Singh of 76 Battalion of CRPF, who was killed in the fidayeen attack in Pulwama on February 14, 2019, are pessimistic about their future.
Sukhjinder, who turned 35 just a couple of days before his death, had joined the CRPF when he was 19. He is survived by his wife Sarabjit Kaur, son Gurjot, who was barely seven months old at the time, and his father and elder brother Gurjant Singh. Sukhjinder and his wife had become parents for first time after eight years of marriage.
Just four hours before the Pulwama blast, Sukhjinder had called up Sarabjit and Gurjant while travelling on the ill-fated bus to Srinagar.
Struggling to cope with life, Sarabjit reveals she felt humiliated when she was offered a peon’s job by the government. However, it is not clear what her educational qualification is.
She is also worried that the family has only received Rs 5 lakh of the promised Rs 12 lakh compensation. “I have been making rounds of various government offices, meeting political leaders but to no avail. The government seems to have forgotten its promises but we are the sufferers and we can’t forget,” she told TOI.
Uncertain about her and her one-and-a-half-year-old son Gurjot’s future, she said a decent job would have provided her family financial security for future. After her husband’s death, Sarabjit lives with her parents, but visits her in-laws every weekend at Gandiwind in Tarn Taran district.
Gurjant said the government had announced compensation of Rs 12 lakh and a job to his brother’s wife but till date the family had received only Rs 5 lakh and an offer of peon’s job. “We want the government to at least offer a decent job to a martyr’s family and hand over the pending compensation amount,” he said.
Recalling his brother’s plans for future, Gurjant said Sukhjinder’s martyrdom was a huge irreparable loss for the family. He said his brother had planned to take premature retirement from CRPF and settle abroad with his family for his son’s future.
Not all promises fulfilled, says Maninder’s brother
CRPF constable Maninder Singh Attri had a BTech degree and worked for an IT firm in Bengaluru before quitting and joining the force one-and-a-half year before he was killed in Pulwama attack. He was just 28.
The Gurdaspur native’s younger brother Lakhvish, who was posted in Shillong with CRPF’s paramedic division at the time last year, said the state government had paid Rs 10 lakh compensation to the family in two instalments. However, it was yet to keep its other promises — to rename Dinanagar senior secondary school after Maninder.
Lakvish said he had resigned from his CRPF job to take care of their ailing father Satpal Singh. “I approached everyone for a government job but nothing has been done so far,” he said and appealed to chief minister Amarinder Singh to personally intervene to take care of the martyr’s family.