‘Jai Hind, papa’: Six-year-old son lights Col Manpreet Singh’s pyre in Mohali

Chandigarh, September 15

The mortal remains of Col Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), who laid down his life in the line of duty during a gun battle with terrorists in Anantnag, were consigned to the flames with full military honours at his native place at Mullanpur near Chandigarh today.

Purohit pays tributes

• Governor Banwarilal Purohit paid tributes to the martyr and offered his condolences to the bereaved family
• Ministers Chetan Singh Jouramajra and Anmol Gagan Maan, and GOC-in-C, Western Command, Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar were also present

Emotional scenes were witnessed at the funeral, with his six-year -old son, Kabir, donning an Army-pattern combat dress, saluting the coffin and uttering “Jai Hind, papa”. The pyre was lit by the son, who was assisted by Col Manpreet’s brother, Sandeep Singh, as family members bid adieu with folded hands with tears in their eyes.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit paid tributes to the martyr and offered his condolences to the bereaved family. Among those who attended the funeral were Punjab Defence Services Welfare Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Anmol Gagan Maan and the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar.

A former Chief of the Army Staff, Gen VP Malik (retd), who was also from the Singh Light Infantry, into which Col Manpreet had been commissioned in 2005, Lt Gen DP Vats (retd) as well as a large number senior serving and retired regimental officers, veterans and civilian officers were also present.

Wreaths were also laid on behalf of the Chief of the Army Staff, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Director General, Rashtriya Rifles, and Colonel of the Sikh Light Infantry. A ceremonial guard from the Sikh Light Infantry reversed arms as a mark of respect while buglers sounded the Last Post followed by the Rouse.

Earlier, the mortal remains of Col Manpreet Singh and Major Aashish Dhonchak, who belonged to Panipat and was killed in the same operation, were airlifted to Chandigarh from Srinagar in an IAF aircraft.

As the flower-decked coffin draped with the national flag arrived at Col Manpreet Singh’s native village, Bharaunjian near Mullanpur, hundreds of relatives, friends and locals, many of them waving the Tricolour, gathered to pay their last respects as slogans of “Bharat mata ki jai” and “Col Manpreet Singh amar rahe” rent the air.

Col Manpreet Singh is survived by his mother, Manjit Kaur, wife Jagmeet, who is a teacher, son and a two-year old daughter, Baani. A second-generation soldier, his father, Lakhmir Singh, had also served with the Sikh Light Infantry as a naik.

An alumnus of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Mullanpur, and commerce graduate from SD College, Chandigarh, he had completed his chartered accountant studies before he chose to don the olive green.

In 2021, he had been decorated with the Sena Medal for neutralising terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.