Latest news with #SukhwinderKaur
The Hindu
16-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
When home is near the border
The drive down the double-lane Damar road from Punjab's Ferozepur city to Khai Pheme Ki village takes 15 minutes. Flanking the road are freshly harvested fields and trucks loaded with grain-filled sacks. Farm houses appear intermittently. On the face of it, the regular cycle of sowing and reaping continues in this village in Ferozepur district, in the State that feeds the Food Corporation of India with the largest share of wheat. Khai Pheme Ki village sits less than 15 kilometres away from India's border with Pakistan. On a scorching day in May, hundreds have gathered outside one of the homes here, to pay homage to 50-year-old Sukhwinder Kaur, who died on May 13. Days earlier, she had sustained severe burn injuries from a strike by Pakistan, when she was serving her family dinner. Her husband, Lakhwinder Singh, 57; and son Jaswant Singh, 25, too suffered serious burns in the incident, and are being treated in hospital. The attack took place during the military confrontation over four days between India and Pakistan, following India's precision strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the night of May 6-7. Tensions between the two countries escalated after 26 civilians were killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22. The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror group with its headquarters in Muridke in Pakistan, initially claimed responsibility for the attack. As a response to India's initial strikes, Pakistan targeted civilian areas and military installations in India's border regions of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. Sukhwinder's death has opened the wounds of the people who live in villages which share a border with Pakistan, where life becomes unpredictable every time there is tension between the two countries. In Pojoke Uttar village, approximately 3 km from the border, when tensions escalated, people began sleeping in fields. With blackouts, and drones hovering in the skies, family members took turns to guard their homes and villages. They switched off the lights before darkness descended fully, understanding what could happen if they did not. In Habibwala village, barely 2 km from the border, younger men dug bunkers, and women sent children to the homes of their maternal grandparents if they lived away from the border. Malla Singh, a village panchayat member, says about 30 big and small bunkers were made in 10 days. Scars and strains The authorities took away the remains of the object that fell inside Sukhwinder's compound, but her car whose bonnet was blown up in the fire is still parked here, charred from the impact on May 9 night. Just a few metres away from the car are three cattle inside a shed. Two have suffered burns and their skins are peeling off. The electric wires passing through the roof of the house are hanging low, half melted; there are blood stains in both rooms and on the veranda. Neighbours rushed the family of three to the hospital. Sukhwinder was shifted to a bigger facility in Ludhiana, and died four days later. When her body was brought home, the neighbours put together money for tents to be set up on the roadside, so that the villagers could pay their respects without having to stand in the scorching heat. When Jaswant heard that his mother had died, he insisted on leaving the hospital for a day, despite burns and splinter injuries. 'We had just sat down for dinner when something hit our car and there was a blast. Everything went up in flames. Before we could gather our senses, our bodies were burnt,' he says, with a deep sense of loss. His older brother had died in an accident a few years ago. As he waits for his mother's body, he turns to his relatives and friends, asking every few minutes when the ambulance will arrive from Ludhiana. Then he asks about his father, who too sustained 70% burns. When Sukhwinder's body is brought home, Jaswant, who is unable to walk because of the injuries, drags himself from the cot with the help of four people and places his hands on his mother's forehead. The calm of the village is broken with the wails of the women. The men decide something must be done before the body is cremated. Those who are in mourning start raising slogans demanding ₹1 crore compensation, a government job for one member of the family, and the status of 'martyr' for Sukhwinder. Hours after negotiating with government officials and the police, the family cremates the body. Later, the Punjab government offers a ₹10 lakh compensation. The bridge to history In Hussainiwala, a little over 10 km from Ferozepur city, a cluster of villages border Pakistan. Here, many have vacated their homes and gone to live with relatives in places less dangerous. The National Martyrs Memorial, built in memory of freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Rajguru, is in Hussainiwala. Before the tensions, a daily changing of the guard took place, where both sides ceremonially lowered the flags in the evening. 'It was important for us to leave, not because we are afraid of drones or shelling, but because if we hadn't left, we might have ended up stuck had matters escalated,' says Gomma Singh, a member of the farmers' union in Gatti Rajjo Ki village in the area. He remembers stories of the 1971 war between the two countries, when Hussainiwala had become a location of conflict between Indian and Pakistani troops. The bridge to Hussainiwala, which was destroyed in that conflict and rebuilt later, is now heavily guarded by Indian troops, and only locals are allowed to pass through. It is covered with a shed. Gomma says some people have started returning home after the understanding to 'stop all firing and military action on land, in the air, and sea' came into effect on May 10, but many are still waiting. He demands that the government 'give all of us homes in cities' as living on the border 'keeps us in uncertainty'. Life disrupted Life in towns and cities in Punjab has also been affected, though cities such as Chandigarh are over 200 km from the border with Pakistan. With extra precautions ordered by the district administration, the people in Ferozepur were forced to cut short family functions and shut businesses after dusk. Rajeev Monga, whose niece got engaged on May 10, had to downscale celebrations. Simran Singh, whose son was preparing for the engineering entrance exam, was unable to reach Bengaluru on the day of the test, as the nearest airport in Amritsar was shut. The family could not get a train ticket in time. Travel agencies and hoteliers are seeing cancellations during the usually hectic school summer vacation. 'War is not good for anyone. Look at the Russia-Ukraine war. Who had thought that it would last for over three years? We shouldn't pray for war; no one knows whether it will end in five days or in five years,' says Nishant Singh, who runs a hotel and restaurant near Bhagat Singh colony in Ferozepur city. In Punjab's Bhatinda, a Haryana labourer was killed and nine others sustained injuries after an unidentified aircraft crashed and went up in flames during the wee hours of May 7. Children and seniors affected The India-Pakistan border is marked with a barbed wire and on normal days, the Zero Line is guarded by the Border Security Force (BSF). The Army takes over the guard in war-like situations. While guarding the Zero Line, a BSF troop had shot dead a Pakistani intruder close to the Lakha Singh Wala BSF post in Mamdot block of Ferozepur on May 8. It is also from Ferozepur that a BSF constable, Purnam Kumar Shaw, had inadvertently crossed into Pakistani territory on April 23. He was repatriated on May 15. 'My grandchild panicked when a blackout was announced on day one and the intruder was shot at,' says Bariam Singh, 65, from Basti Ram Lal village, smiling at his 16-year-old grandchild. He feels that earlier, wars were fought between men in uniforms; now, they are between machines, drones, and missiles. Lt. Gen. Deepender Singh Hooda, who retired as the Northern Army Commander, agrees with Bariam on the way warfare has changed. He says, 'Punjab is a key strategic location for both India and Pakistan. After Jammu, this State has a lot of civilians living in border villages. Our neighbouring country has a tendency of attacking civilians to put pressure on the government. This is why Punjab remains one of the worst-affected areas on the border, during wars.' In Kashmir, 18 people died in the targeting of civilians by Pakistan, following Operation Sindoor. Fourteen of them were from Poonch and two were children. Officials say four districts in Jammu and Kashmir — Poonch, Kupwara, Rajouri, and Baramulla — witnessed heavy losses. Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, the Director General of Military Operations, has confirmed that the armed forces lost five personnel. At the Zero Line, retired Army Hawaldar Surjeet Singh has agricultural land that he rushed to harvest when he sensed trouble. Surjeet says people living in border villages get the least facilities, but live under the highest threat. 'With the border so close, we always face the threat of firing. But there is no hospital nearby that is capable of treating grievous wounds. We have to go to cities, 40-50 km away,' he says. Darbara Singh from Basti Ram Lal has just finished feeding his cattle when his wife hands him the phone. His elder son, who is in the Indian Army and is posted in Jammu and Kashmir, has called after three days. 'My son says we can sleep peacefully as the Army is awake, guarding the nation,' Darbara says.
Hindustan Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Ludhiana: Sarpanch booked for demanding ₹4-lakh bribe
The Ludhiana vigilance bureau booked a woman sarpanch of Satjot Nagar village at Dhandran Road for demanding ₹4 lakh bribe for issuing water connections to newly constructed houses in Satjot Nagar. The accused has been identified as sarpanch Sukhwinder Kaur. Gagandeep Singh Kainth, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and a realtor and builder, registered a complaint against the sarpanch on the state government's anti-corruption helpline. Kainth in his complaint stated that he bought a chunk of land in Satjot Nagar village and constructed two houses. Meanwhile, he received a message from the sarpanch Sukhwinder Kaur, who asked him to meet her at the office. Kainth stated that when he reached her office the Sarpanch demanded ₹4 lakh for issuing a water connection to the houses, while the actual fee of water connection was ₹1100. Kainth recorded the whole conversation on his mobile phone. Further, Kainth added that when his father went to her office, the sarpanch tried to crack the deal for ₹1.50 lakh. One of his friends, who was accompanying his father, had recorded the conversation on the mobile phone. They produced the recording before the vigilance bureau officials. According to the vigilance bureau officials, an FIR under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act has been lodged against the sarpanch. A hunt is on for her arrest.
Time of India
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Ferozepur woman succumbs to burn injuries in drone attack, 1st casualty in Punjab
Bathinda: A 50-year-old woman who sustained critical injuries in a drone-related explosion in Punjab's Ferozepur succumbed to her wounds on Tuesday morning — the first civilian death outside Jammu and Kashmir linked to recent hostilities between India and Pakistan. Sukhwinder Kaur , along with her husband Lakhwinder Singh and son Monu, was injured on May 9 when debris from a Pakistani drone — intercepted and destroyed by India's air defence — crashed on to a house in Khai Pheme Ke village in Ferozepur district, igniting a fire that engulfed a parked car and the the time of the attack, Lakhwinder was trying to sleep while Sukhwinder was working in the kitchen. Even as a blackout was enforced, lights were on at the home of Lakhwinder. A number of video clips went viral after the incident wherein Lakhwinder Singh could be seen with burn injuries on his three were taken to a private hospital in critical condition. The couple was referred to DMC Hospital in Ludhiana, where Sukhwinder breathed her last on Tuesday SSP Bhupinder Singh Sidhu told TOI that Sukhwinder succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Govind Ram from Haryana's Charkhi Dadri died after an aircraft crashed at Aklian Kalan village in Bathinda on May 7, but the reasons behind the crash have not come to the announces Rs 10L for kinExpressing solidarity with family of Sukhwinder Kaur, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday announced a financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh for the family of the deceased. In a statement issued here, the CM said that out of these Rs 10 lakh, Rs 5 lakh will be given from Chief Minister's Relief Fund, whereas Rs 5 lakh will be given by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora. Sharing condolences with the members of the bereaved family, Mann prayed to the Almighty to give enormous strength to them to bear this huge and irreparable 121138404 413 |
Deccan Herald
13-05-2025
- Deccan Herald
Punjab woman injured during Pak aerial intrusion dies
The woman, Sukhwinder Kaur, and her family members received serious burn injuries last Friday when some debris fell on their house in the Khai Pheme Ke village, setting the structure and a car on fire during the Pakistani aerial intrusion.
Scroll.in
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Punjab woman dies in hospital 3 days after her home was struck by Pakistani drone
Sukhwinder Kaur, who was injured after a Pakistani drone crashed into her home in Punjab's Ferozepur district on Friday, died on Monday night, a family member told Scroll. Two other members of Kaur's family were injured. On Saturday, Scroll reported from Khai Pheme Ki village that Kaur was taken to the Anil Baghi Hospital in Ferozepur. Saurabh Bhagi, the hospital's chief executive officer, had said that Kaur had suffered 80% burn injuries. She was referred to the Dayanand Medical College in Ludhiana on Saturday, where she succumbed to her injuries on Monday. The Pakistani drone attacks on Friday night, in which Kaur's home was struck, were targeted at the army cantonment in Ferozepur town and went on till five in the morning, two security officials told Scroll. While most of the drones were intercepted, the officials were unsure how one landed in Khai Pheme Ki. Kaur is the first civilian casualty of drone strikes outside Jammu and Kashmir, where 21 civilians have died in Pakistani firings. Seven Indian security personnel were killed in the military action between India and Pakistan that started on May 7. This includes four Army personnel, one Air Force official and two from the Border Security Force, The Hindu reported. The tensions had escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22. The Pakistan Army had retaliated by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. .
