A 25-year-old sepoy with the Indian Army, Harsimran Singh, reportedly died by suicide on Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri, where he was posted. His mortal remains reached his native village on Saturday morning and subsequently cremated.
Notably, although the Indian Army did not give him a guard of honour, the same was done by the Punjab Police.
Harsimran hailed from the Bhasaur village of Punjab’s Dhuri constituency. Harsimran’s parent unit was the 3 Sikh Light Infantry, however, he was presently posted in the 49 Rashtriya Rifles.
Singh is the third generation in his family to serve the nation. His grandfather was in the Air Force and his father, Nirmal Singh, retired from the Bombay Engineers Group while his elder brother Davinder Singh is posted in Srinagar these days.
Nirmal was shocked to hear that his son had died by suicide. He said, “My son was a happy child. He used to call us at least twice a day. He rejoined duty on September 7 after a month-long break. I could never make out that something was bothering him. It is hard to believe that he died by suicide. We were not with him, hence don’t know what exactly happened. The Army has sent his body in an ambulance along with a few personnel.”
Harsimran had joined the Army on December 8, 2018.
Before the cremation, Harsimran’s father said, “On October 24 he turned 25. He had called us to know what his mother had cooked to celebrate his birthday. We had prayed for him in the Gurdwara. All l I want is full honours for my son. I am aware that the Army has some rules for guard of honour but at least the state government should see to it. We are a family which has been serving the country for the past several decades and respect and dignity are the only things a fauji asks for.”
The family hails from the Ramdasia Sikh community and are landless. Nirmal said, “My pension is the only source of income for me as of now. I live in the house with my wife while Davinder’s wife and their child live in Patiala.” Harsimran was divorced.
Dhuri happens to be Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s constituency and Aam Aadmi Party workers reached the family’s house to be by them after the news of the death spread.
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Cabinet minister Aman Arora laid a wreath on the mortal remains of Harsimran and the Army personnel who had accompanied his body were also present during the cremation.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Anmol Singh Dhaliwal had also met the family. Dhaliwal said, “We are standing tall with the family at this hour of grief. Harsimran was cremated with state honours.”
On October 11, Agniveer Amritpal of Mansa’s kotlikalan village had died by suicide and thus, as per Army rules, he wasn’t given the guard of honour at his last rites. However, Mann was vocal about it and had handed over a cheque worth Rs 1 crore to the family.
