Orissa, Catholic tribal among dead in Delhi and Beijing border clashes
Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar: Chandrakant Pradhan died for the homeland. The family is devastated but also proud of his sacrifice. Another soldier from Orissa died in the clashes.
Raikia (AsiaNews) - "Kandhamal's son died for India, we are deeply saddened, and we console his family and the entire Catholic community". This is how Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar recalled Chandrakant Pradhan, one of the 20 Indian soldiers who died on June 15 in the clashes with a Chinese garrison on the Himalayan border. According to Indian news sources, unconfirmed by Beijing, there are 43 victims among the Chinese military. In the aftermath the two military commands in the region began talks and yesterday the Chinese army released 10 Indian soldiers. They had been captured during the clashes, during which soldiers were reportedly armed with spiked clubs and stones instead of guns. Delhi and Beijing accuse each other of having crossed the temporary border near the Galwan valley, between Indian Ladakh and the Chinese region of Aksai Chin. Along the Himalayan arch, the two countries share a border of 3488 km, disputed for long stretches and the cause of a bloody war in 1962.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar (Orissa) expressed great sadness at the death of Chandrakant Pradhan, the 28-year-old Catholic tribal who died on June 15 in fighting between Indian and Chinese troops on the Himalayan border. In 2014, he entered the 16th Bihar regiment. His body was brought to the parish of Raikia, Kandhamal district, where a funeral service was celebrated in his memory.
“I know his parents personally, they made many sacrifices to raise their children with good education and strong faith," says Dibya Paricha Singh, secretary of the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission speaking to AsiaNews.
With his salary as a soldier, Pradhan contributed to the livelihood of his family, especially his two brothers and sister.
Pradhan's family members received the news of his death on June 16: "We are devastated but also proud of our son, who sacrificed himself for the homeland". The Prime Minister of Orissa, Naveen Patnaik, has also praised the heroism of the young Catholic, like that of Naib Subedar Nanduram Soren, another native of the area, who also died during the border clashes with Chinese forces.
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07/01/2020 13:20
