Indian Army jawan Rajesh Orang's family seeks befitting reply to China after his martyrdom in Galwan Valley

In violent clashes with Chinese troops during a face-off in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15 night, India lost 20 of its brave soldiers including Rajesh Orang. 

According to a statement by the Indian Army, "Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area where they had earlier clashed on the night of 15/16 June 2020. 17 Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20."

26-year-old Orang was a soldier of the 16 Bihar Regiment. From childhood, Orang wanted to serve the country and so joined the Indian Army in the second year of college in 2015. After that, he was deployed in Ladakh.

He was a resident of Belgaria village in Mohammadbazar of Birbhum in West Bengal. He had visited home six months ago, in September 2019, and another visit was scheduled. However, due to the lockdown, he couldn't visit and now he will return home as a martyr.

Orang had spoken on the phone with the family only two weeks ago. He planned to travel when he came home next. The family is heartbroken at Orang's death and Rajesh's father said, "India should give a befitting reply to China." He had shouldered all the responsibilities of the family including marrying off his sister as his father was sick.

The family was informed of the tragedy over the telephone. They were also told on the phone that the body of the martyr will reach Kolkata at around 4 pm on Wednesday and then the body will be sent to his village. 

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), however, blamed China for the incident and alleged that it tried to unilaterally change the status and "departed from the consensus to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley".

In a statement, the Army said that almost the same number of Chinese troops, like that of India, have been killed during the clashes in the Galwan Valley.

MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said both sides suffered casualties in the violent face-off and the Chinese side departed from the consensus to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley. Srivastava said that India and China have been discussing through military and diplomatic channels the de-escalation of the situation in the border area in Eastern Ladakh.