MP beggar stunt at soldier's home

Lucknow: The family of one of the soldiers killed in Uri have accused their local MP of "humiliating" them, alleging the BJP politician's men attempted to raise alms for them right in front of their home as though they were "beggars".   Kalawati Devi, mother of Sepoy Ganesh Shankar Yadav, said that Tuesday's visit by Sant Kabir Nagar MP Sharad Tripathi had "reduced us from a hero's family to beggars". "He came here with dozens of his supporters and perhaps expected us to stop mourning and start playing host to him," Kalawati said from her village, Dhurapali. "He sat here for about half an hour. Suddenly, we saw his men appealing to the people standing around our house to donate money for us. Some of them spread a towel, on which some people started tossing 10-rupee, 50-rupee and 100-rupee notes." Kalawati said the contributors were not from Dhurapali village. The homes of the slain soldiers had attracted many visitors, apart from the media, in the immediate aftermath of the Uri attack. "We had not asked for money; we had only expected due respect," the slain soldier's wife, Gudiya Yadav, said. "But he (the MP) insulted a martyr who had laid down his life for the nation." Kalawati had told this newspaper on Monday that her son had died because of "politics in India". "The political parties claim before elections that they would teach Pakistan a lesson but start playing diplomatic games after grabbing power," she had said. Today, she said: "What this MP did was beyond my imagination. The entire village is furious with him." Arjun Yadav, a relative of Ganesh, said: "We have reached the conclusion that our politicians can never respect people. It was the most humiliating experience of our lives." Tripathi's phone was switched off but one of his aides said the MP himself had not asked for the donations. He, however, acknowledged that Tripathi's "supporters were collecting the donations" and that the MP had left the village "the moment he realised that the villagers were turning furious and could start chanting slogans against him". The Sant Kabir Vikas Manch, a local social organisation, said that although it could do nothing to reverse the "insult handed to a martyr by a politician", it would try to honour the slain sepoy's memory by installing his statue in the village. "It will be installed soon and unveiled on January 26 next year," said Dara Singh, the convener of the Manch. The Telegraph, Calcutta