"Jai Hind Papa." A stoic six-year-old Kabir dressed in army-style fatigues saluted his father one last time before Colonel Manpreet Singh, killed in the gunfight with terrorists in Kashmir valley, was cremated at his village in Punjab's Mohali district on September 15.
Since early morning, Colonel Singh's house in Bharaunjian village witnessed a steady stream of mourners who joined his inconsolable wife, mother and other family members in his final journey. An Army officer was seen holding Kabir as the family and others paid their last respects while a relative held on to his two-year-old daughter Banni.
Kabir was later seen clinging to the tricolour-wrapped coffin of his father along with other family members. He bowed before his father's body just before cremation as "Bharat Mata ke Sapoot Ki Jai" and "Bharat Mata ki Jai" slogans rent the air.
