Salute, tears, resolve mark Tejas pilot’s final journey in Kangra; Wing Commander Syal cremated with full state honours

KULLU: Wing Commander Namansh Syal, who died in the Tejas crash during the Dubai air show, was cremated with full state honours in his ancestral village of Patialkar in Nagrota Bagwan tehsil of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday.

Family members, relatives, officials, and hundreds of locals bid an emotional farewell to the 34-year-old IAF officer, who died while piloting the Tejas aircraft on Nov21. The funeral pyre was lit by Syal's cousin.


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Earlier, the mortal remains of Wing Commander Syal were brought from Dubai on board India Air Force's C130 aircraft and received with full military honour at the Sulur Air Base in Coimbatore. IAF officers, including Syal's wife, Wing Commander Afshan, paid homage to the late officer at the Sulur Air Base. After the IAF provided the guard of honour to the Wing Commander, the mortal remains were flown from the Sulur Air Base to the Gaggal airport in Kangra in the IAF aircraft and brought to Syal's ancestral village on Sunday afternoon.

Syal's parents, father Naib Subedar Jagan Nath (retd), an Army Medical Corps veteran, and mother Veena Devi, who were in Sulur, and his wife and six-year-old daughter, also came in the IAF aircraft. Hundreds of people gathered at the late pilot's house in Patialkar village, and as the mortal remains arrived in an Army vehicle, a huge commotion was witnessed as Syal's mother became inconsolable.

On behalf of the Himachal Pradesh govt, sports minister Yadvendra Goma, Nagrota Bagwan MLA Raghubir Singh Bali, and Shahpur MLA Kewal Pathania paid their tributes at the house of the late officer. Kangra officials, including the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police, were among those who attended the funeral procession.

An alumnus of the Sainik School, Sujanpur Tira, Hamirpur district, Syal was commissioned into the IAF in Dec 2009. He is survived by his wife, daughter, and parents.


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