Thousands of people gathered at the home of Sepoy Rajesh Orang in West Bengal’s Birbhum district and Havildar Bipul Roy in Alipurduar district to pay their last respects to the martyrs.
The two soldiers were among the 20 killed in the face-off with the Chinese troops in Ladakh.
While the body of Rajesh Orang was brought to Belghoria village in Birbhum from the Panagarh airbase, that of Bipul Roy was flown to the Hashimara airbase in north Bengal and then taken to his Bindipara village in Alipurduar.
Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was among those who visited the home of Rajesh Orang and paid respects to the fallen soldier. Leaders of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata party also visited the village of Rajesh Orang. The body of the jawan was led to rest with full military honours at a place near the village.
A similar scene unfolded in Alipurduar district when the body of Bipul Roy arrived in the evening. Hundreds of villagers had gathered. His mortal remains were laid to rest near the village.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended the all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “All India Trinamool Congress Party expresses its solidarity with the Central government, so that the enemy is fought in a united manner,” she said at the meeting.
She said the situation was “serious” but not a “sudden development” because China had been building a huge military infrastructure at the Line of Actual Control over the past few months. “We love our nation, we are all together and we will never allow any country to hurt our nation, killing our own jawans,” she said.
