Mumbai: 26/11 hero’s family shocked to get gallantry medal by post

Lance Naik Gopal Singh

Do not insult our son's sacrifice by sending his gallantry medal by post. We will not accept the same. Protocol has to be followed," was the furious reaction of Munim Singh Bhadoriya, father of the late Lance Naik Gopal Singh Bhadoriya, as the postman visited them on September 5, bearing a parcel labelled ‘Gallantry' from the Signal Record, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

The retired security officer, 60, a resident of Bapunagar, Ahmedabad, even cited the case of Vikas Sharma v/s Union of India (Civil Writ petition no 878) wherein the Himachal Pradesh HC stated, "It would be a violation of protocol to have the gallantry medal sent by courier. Such honours are reserved for formal celebrations of Independence and Republic Day."

Also read: 26/11-type threat: Mumbai Crime Branch gives clean chit to 10

Munim Singh and Jayshree Bhadoriya, parents of the late Lance Naik Gopal Singh Bhadoriya, at their house in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Munim Singh said, "It is a moment of pride for the parents of martyrs to receive the gallantry medal for the supreme sacrifice that a uniformed son or daughter has done during the course of their service to the motherland. Our son also fought terrorists during an insurgency operation in Kulgam, Jammu & Kashmir on February 12, 2017.

"My son had neutralised four out of seven terrorists and was lifting his injured colleague Lance Naik Raghuveer Singh when he was hit in the neck by a bullet fired by a terrorist. My son was badly injured, but could not be saved. Both Lance Naik Raghuveer Singh and my son were subsequently shortlisted for the Shaurya Chakra in 2017 itself."

Lance Naik Gopal Singh, a BTech graduate, joined the Army Corps of Signals in 2003 and was shortlisted for deputation in the National Security Guard (NSG) in 2007. He got married the same year.

"In 2008, during the Mumbai terror strike on November 26, Gopal was a part of the NSG team that was sent to the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, and he rescued many guests who were trapped inside, amid gunfire. Though he tried to pull out an injured security personnel, the latter unfortunately passed away in the hospital. The NSG had given a medal to my son for his brave participation in the operation," said the father.

Ex-wife sought benefits

According to Munim Singh, the couple had been staying separately since 2008 before filing for divorce in 2011, though the decree could not be taken from court, as both the parties could not be present during the court dates.

Munim Singh and a teacher at the Veer Shaheed Gopal Singh Munim Singh Bhadoriya School in Ahmedabad

"After the demise of Gopal, we learnt that his estranged wife had written to the Army, seeking benefits. We intervened and filed a civil suit in the City Civil Court, Ahmedabad on March 2017 and informed all superiors in the Army and defence ministry about the same and even expressed our plea that the right over the gallantry medal announced for my late son should not be given to anyone else," said the father.

He added, "In 2018, while late Lance Naik Raghuveer Singh's family was given the Shaurya Chakra, the Army had kept the gallantry award of Gopal pending for the court verdict. This was confirmed to me during a visit to Sainik Bhavan in Delhi a few months before the gallantry award ceremony and since then we did not get any further communication from the Army."

Court verdict

On September 23, 2021, the City Civil Court, Ahmedabad passed an order favouring the parents' reception of the ‘gallantry award' and benefits attached to the same, as per the consent agreement filed between the parties. "I sent a covering letter and the copy of the court order to all the offices concerned," said Munim Singh.

The parcel that was returned by the family

Army HQ writes to father

On July 5, 2022, the Army wrote a letter to Munim Singh stating, "If any awardee is unable to receive the award in the investiture ceremony in which their name has been listed (2018 in this case), he shall not be invested with the same in the subsequent ceremony. And hence the request to receive the award from the President of India was not approved and the Director General Signals has been entrusted with the responsibility of handing over the medal and certificate," read the letter.

On July 16, the father wrote a letter to the Director General of Signals, New Delhi, which read, "As grieving yet proud parents, we have had a very long wait to see our son's courageous supreme sacrifice being honoured by the conferment of his gallantry award at the Defence Investiture Ceremony, which is held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Since his supreme sacrifice for India, none from the family was ever intimated or invited to receive this gallantry award in 2018."

He concluded his letter stating, "As applicable to all Shaurya Chakra awardees, I too seek to receive my brave son's award from the President of India. Any other form of conferment is denying my son the honour of receiving his award from the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces."