Amid row over the Army not giving a guard of honour during the last rites of Agniveer Amritpal Singh who died in Jammu and Kashmir on October 11, the Indian Army has released a statement clearing the air. A statement posted on Twitter by ADG-PI Indian Army said that there have been some misunderstandings and misrepresentation of facts on the issue.
It added that Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty and that military honours were not extended to his funeral as deaths arising out of self-inflicted injuries are not given such honours.
"It is a grave loss to the family and the Indian Army that Agniveer Amritpal Singh committed suicide by shooting himself while on sentry duty," the Army said. "In consonance with the existing practice, the mortal remains, after conduct of medico-legal procedures, were transported under Army arrangements along with an escort party to the native place for the last rites," it said.
The Army said the Armed Forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after the implementation of the Agnipath scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols. "Unfortunate instances of death arising out of suicide/self-inflicted injury, irrespective of the type of entry, are accorded due respect by the Armed Forces along with deep and enduring empathy with the family," it said.
"Such cases, however, are not entitled to military funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967, in vogue. Policy on the subject has been consistently followed ever since, without any discrimination," it said.
The clarification comes as Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday expressed anguish over the Army not giving a guard of honour for Singh. Mann added that he would raise the issue with the Army officials.
Mann who will visit the family on Monday said the government will provide the soldier's family a compensation of Rs 1 crore. He also alleged that the Army sent Amritpal's body in a private ambulance.
He also questioned why the Army could not give Amritpal a guard of honour. "Why not? You gave him the uniform and he is a martyr of the country," Mann said, adding that the Punjab government considers any soldier who lays down his life for the country a martyr.
"If any soldier suffers a heart attack or a brain haemorrhage at minus 40 degrees temperature, he should be regarded as a martyr as he was serving the nation," he added. "It is not necessary that he be killed by an enemy bullet," Mann stressed.
Singh, who was serving with a battalion of the Army's Jammu and Kashmir Rifles unit in the Poonch sector, was cremated on Friday at his native village in Punjab's Mansa district.