Pall of gloom on Darjeeling family after jawan death

DARJEELING: Gloom descended on the Gurung family in Darjeeling as they received the news of the death of their youngest member, Jiwan Gurung, a rifleman of the 1/4 Gorkha Regiment, killed in an IED blast planted by suspected terrorists near the Line of Control in Jammu on Friday.
Gurung, barely 23 years, hailed from Singrimtam busty near Tukdah in Darjeeling sub-division and had enrolled in the army last year.He was posted in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri district of Jammu & Kashmir.
Family members said they heard Gurung was killed while patrolling the Line of Control in the Laam belt of Nowshera sector on Friday evening. "We are in a state of shock. He was the youngest in the family," said a family member.
Terrorists targeted army soldiers by planting IEDs along the Line of Control with the help of the Border Action Teams (BATs) of the Pakistan army, officials said. A major was also killed in the blast. Gurung and the major were taken to hospital, where they died.
Gurung is the youngest among three siblings. Their father, Kishan, is employed in Arunachal Pradesh. "He (Gurung) was simple and soft spoken. He was dedicated to his work. It was his wish to join the army and he finally did so in 2018," a source said. Gurung last visited his home during Dasai (Durga) festival. "He came for Dasai and we all had a good time. But he could not stay beyond Bhai Tika and left the very next day. We did speak over phone often and kept each other abreast of what was happening," the source added.
According to a family member, Gurung's body was expected home on Sunday morning.
Even as Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) chairman and Gorkha Jamukti Morcha (GJM) president Binoy Tamang extended his condolences to the family, he took a dig at the BJP government. "The GTA and GJM express our heartfelt sympathy for the Gurung family. The Gorkhas continue to take bullets for the country but are denied justice. Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the dreams of the Gorkha community are mine, yet the dreams have not been fulfilled," he said, referring to the demand for a separate state.