Arti, 14, says Pakistan won’t mend its ways unless India retaliates now

Slain soldier Naik Sunil Kumar Vidyarthi’s sobbing daughter, Arti, 14, demanded that her father’s real killers be punished.

“We should retaliate in the same manner as Pakistan has done. Unless we retaliate, Pakistan will never mend its ways,” said Arti at Boknari village in Gaya, about 117 kms south of Patna.

Her two younger sisters, Anshu and Ashika, were simply inconsolable.

A pall of gloom had also descended at sepoy Rakesh Singh’s native village Badhdha under Nuaon block of Kaimur district, over 200 kms south-west of Patna.

His father, Harihar Singh Kushwaha, 70, a roadside vegetable vendor, who had two bighas of farmland, said: “I had dreamt of a better future after Rakesh joined the Indian Army in 2008. He was our last child and our best hope. Everyone in our family and in the village used to love him because of his sober and helpful nature.”

Proud of his youngest among four sons and two daughters, Kushwaha said, “I am ready to send my other two sons and the two-year-old grandson, Harshit, to the army if the country needs them,” he added.

In Raktu Tola village under Piro sub-division of Ara, nearly 125 kms west of Patna, there was shock and disbelief on the face of Sangeeta Devi.

Less than a fortnight of having celebrated ‘Teej’, a Hindu festival for the wellness of her husband, Havildar Ashok Kumar Singh, was killed in the terror attack.

Her son, Vikas Singh, also in the army, broke the news to her on Monday morning. Ever since, Devi has been fainting intermittently.

 

Meanwhile, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had announced an ex-gratia payment of `5 lakh to the next of kin of e