On Video, BJP Leaders Asked To Remove Shoes By Soldier's Angry Relatives

Senior BJP leaders attending the funeral of a soldier killed in the Monday encounter with terrorists in Pulwama were accused of insensitive behaviour by relatives of the army man.

Union minister Satyapal Singh, Uttar Pradesh minister Sidharth Nath Singh and Meerut BJP lawmaker Rajendra Agarwal were sitting in the cremation area with their shoes on, which infuriated the family of Ajay Kumar, the jawan who died in Kashmir. In a mobile phone clip that has been widely shared on social media, a member of the soldier's family can be seen shouting at the leaders and asking them to be sensitive. The leaders then apologise with folded hands and remove their shoes, which are taken away.

The leaders then apologise with folded hands and remove their shoes, which are taken away.

Mr Agarwal and Satyapal Singh appear to be chatting and laughing in a separate mobile clip that has been shared online.

Ajay Kumar was among four army men killed in an encounter with Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists in Pulwama, just a short distance from the spot where over 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were killed last week in a suicide attack by the Pakistan-based terrorist group. 

Mr Kumar, 27, was from the Bassi Tikri village in Meerut in western UP. He was father to a two-year-old boy. His father was also in the army. He joined the army in 2011 and was married in 2015.