War widow returns husbands Sena Medal

LUDHIANA: Nearly a month after a war widow returned her husband's Sena Medal, another war widow, Surinder Kaur returned the Sena Medal of her husband, martyr Subedar Teja Singh on Friday. She gave the medal to additional deputy commissioner Rishi Pal Singh to be given back to President Pranav Mukherjee.
Surinder Kaur, who came with her son Paramvir Singh, daughter Paramvir Kaur and office-bearers of Universal Human Rights Organization to the office of the deputy commissioner, said the medal was of no value to them as governments of the country failed to fulfill their promises to the martyr's family.
She said her husband, Subedar Teja Singh of Mahima Singh Wala village lost his life during Operation Pawan in Jaffna on September 13, 1989. He was awarded the Sena medal by the then President on January 26, 1990.
Eyes brimming with tears, she said she could not even get the last glimpse of her husband and only saw his ashes. She said her children were small when she lost her husband and the government did nothing for them. Announcements of Rs 50 lakh were made for families of martyrs of the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars but nothing was done for families of the martyrs of the operation Pawan in Jaffna. After this, who would want their children to join the armed forces and sacrifice their lives for the country, she asked.
President, Universal Human Rights Organization said the soldiers who had gone to Sri Lanka as peacekeepers, were killed and were later called back. Governments of the time made announcements for martyrs but nothing has been done so far. A day before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 17, 60-year-old Surinder Kaur returned her Sena Medal to the Ludhiana district administration, asking them to send it to the Prime Minister. She said the government had not given any help to them even after 30 years of her husband's martyrdom.
A resident of Nikko Sarai village of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur, Surinder Kaur said her husband Kashmir Singh, a Hawaldar of 13 Sikh Light Infantry was martyred in Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1987. In 1991, he was given a Sena Medal on January 26.