Ranchi, Jan. 16: Tears rolled down her eyes as Balamdina Ekka looked upwards after placing flowers at the statue of her husband, Jharkhand's only Param Veer Chakra recipient Lance Naik Albert Ekka, today on the road named after the war hero as Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon played in the background.
For the next five minutes, her eyes remained fixated on the statue as if she was communicating with her husband, who died a martyr in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
Balamdina had returned to Ranchi a few hours ago from Tripura, carrying the remains of her war hero husband from his samadhi sthal at Sripally. With this, a 44-year-old wait finally came to an end for the septuagenarian widow from Gumla.
Led by Jharkhand Tribal Advisory Council (TAC) member Ratan Tirkey, a nine-member team, comprising Balamdina, her son Vincent, deputy secretary of state cabinet secretariat and coordination department George Kumar and two Indian Army jawans among others, had left for Tripura on January 9 to bring back soil from Albert Ekka's grave.
On returning to Ranchi around 1pm today, Balamdina was received at the airport with full military honours that included a band salute and guard of honour. Seated on a wheelchair with a white box carrying her husband's remains in her lap, a military jawan assisted her out of the terminal building.
Outside, a huge gathering, primarily of schoolchildren, welcomed her with banners and posters of the martyr.
Balamdina left the airport in a military cavalcade that passed through various thoroughfares of the city - Hinoo Chowk, Birsa Munda Chowk and Sujata Chowk - before reaching Albert Ekka Chowk, where she paid floral tributes to her husband.
Thereafter, she was driven to other parts of the city, like Kadru Chowk, Kishoreganj Chowk and Ratu Road, all the while clutching the box with the remains, before being taken to her village at Jari in Gumla district.
An emotional Balamdina blessed everyone for helping her dream come true. " Bahut achcha laga mereko. Saare log, sarkar, army's sab ko main aashirvad deti hoon ki aaj mera sapna pura hua. (I felt very good. I bless all - people, the government and the army - for fulfilling my dream)," she said.
TAC member Ratan Tirkey pointed out that she had barely ventured out of her village all her life, but visiting her war hero husband's grave in the distant northeastern state to personally collect his mortal remains was her long-cherished dream.
"She is very happy. After years, Albert Ekka's family got the kind of respect they truly deserve. As soon as we landed in Tripura, she was received with military honours. They took her to the martyr samadhi sthal, Gangasagar, on the India-Bangladesh border using the same route that Albert Ekka took while heading to the war. She was also taken to the Kali temple where he and a group of jawans prayed before leaving for the war," Tirkey said and thanked the Tripura government for its help and cooperation.
Albert Ekka, then only 29, was killed on December 3 in the Battle of Hilli during the Indo-Pak War of 1971. He was posthumously awarded the Param Veer Chakra, India's highest military decoration.
Taking note of Balamdina's demand of getting her husband's remains last year, the Raghubar Das government coordinated with the Tripura government. Thereafter, a special courier (a BSF jawan) brought soil from his grave in an urn and handed it over to the chief minister in the presence of other officials at Project Building on December 1 last year.
Das also visited Ekka's village on December 3 to hand over the urn to Balamdina. But she and son Vincent politely declined to accept it, questioning its authenticity.
Thereafter, Das declared that a team would accompany her to Tripura on state expenses to collect the remains.
