Havildar Sunil Kumar, 36, of 16 Bihar Regiment had come down from the Galwan valley’s upper reaches three months before the clashes with Chinese soldiers last year. The advance unit had left for Sikandarabad and he was supposed to join them with the rest of the rear unit. He was also looking forward to returning home on leave soon. “He had booked his train ticket to Patna and we were all looking forward to his return when the Chinese incursion happened,” says Anil Kumar, Sunil’s elder brother, who was with the Bihar regiment’s 3rd battalion before he retired. “My brother was sent back to the valley’s upper reaches because of his experience there. In my 18 years with the army, I had never heard of a bloody clash of this kind, though skirmishes and physical duels did happen.”
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Five more soldiers from Bihar were killed on June 15, 2020. Given a tearful send-off by thousands at his native Taranagar in Patna district when his mortal remains were consigned to flames, Sunil was posthumously conferred the Sena Medal (Gallantry). “We are proud of him,” says his brother, who had once sought to dissuade him from joining the army. “When I retired in 2002, he joined the army. I told him that an army man has to lead a tough life, but he was determined to serve the nation as a soldier. China has always been wary of the Bihar Regiment, whose soldiers had taken them on valiantly at Nathu-la in the past. We are proud of 8 Bihar Regiment.”
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Sunil had come to his village six months before his death. While returning to his battalion, he had promised his family that he would come back soon. Even now, his father, 90, and mother, 85, often break into tears. “What can be a greater sorrow for parents than the death of their children?” asks Anil. “My brother has three children. The eldest daughter is in class 9 and the youngest son is yet to go to school. They need a guardian. BJP MP Manoj Tiwari gave us Rs 1 lakh and promised to take care of the expenses of their education. The Nitish Kumar government gave Rs 36 lakh. The Centre and the army paid us whatever is due to a soldier who falls in battle. The Telangana government promised Rs 10 lakh, but we haven’t got it yet, perhaps due to the lockdown.” The Bihar government appointed Sunil’s wife as a clerk at the Danapur sub-divisional office.
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