Political row over suicide of Indian soldier after army refuses him guard of honour

Political parties accuse Indian Army of discriminating between its soldiers

Representative: Indian army soldiers during an operation in Manipur (AFP via Getty Images)

The death by suicide of a 19-year-old Indian Army soldier has snowballed into a political controversy after his last rites were conducted without a military guard of honour.

Recruited under Agnipath – a tour of duty style four-year service scheme introduced last year – soldier Amritpal Singh died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 11 October.

Political parties both in national capital Delhi and in Singh’s home state have accused the army of discriminating between those enlisted under the scheme and other soldiers, forcing the military to issue a clarification.

Parliamentarian Raghav Chadha of the Aam Aadmi Party which is in power in Delhi lashed out at prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for not according Singh the status of a martyr.

“No army unit came to hand over his body. His body was brought in a private ambulance and he was not given any military honour. But the police gave him state honours during his last rites,” Chadha said.

This “raises serious questions” over the policies of the BJP-led federal government, he was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.

The army, however, clarified that because the death of the young soldier was due to a self-inflicted injury, no guard of honour or military funeral was accorded as per its existing policy.

"Armed Forces do not differentiate between the soldiers who joined prior to or after implementation of the Agnipath Scheme as regards entitled benefits and protocols," said the army in its statement issued on Sunday, as it condoled the loss of Singh.

His mortal remains “were transported under army arrangements along with an escort party to the native place for the last rites”, said the army. Singh’s father told The Indian Express that an army havildar (sergeant) and two soldiers accompanied his son’s body to his native village for the last rites.

The controversy erupted after the ruling and opposition parties in Singh’s home state Punjab lashed out at Mr Modi’s federal government for “disrespecting” the serving members of the army.

The Agnipath scheme, first introduced in June last year, reduces the initial contract length of most soldiers from the current 17 years to four. It effectively makes them ineligible for pension that was seen as one of the main benefits of joining the armed forces for hundreds of thousands of aspirants as it provided social security to those coming from marginalised backgrounds in the absence of resources to get degrees for other career options.

"The Punjab government, led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann, will be giving an amount of Rs 10m (£98,828) to the family of Amritpal Singh and will also accord the status of a martyr to him. The Punjab government is with them in this hour of grief," Mr Chadha said.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and former union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal also expressed her shock over the reports that Singh was cremated without the army guard of honour as she sought the intervention of the country’s defence minister, Rajnath Singh.

The Indian Army however asserted that this has been their long-standing policy, saying that an average of 100 to 140 soldiers die each year by suicide. They are not accorded military funerals but financial assistance is provided as per entitlement.

"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.

“Such cases, however, are not entitled military funerals as per the extant Army Order of 1967," the army stated.