‘My son’s a martyr, won’t shed tears’

Zeeshan Javed | TNN | Oct 14, 2017, KOLKATA: When Amitava Malik visited his Madhyamgram home this August, his father Soumen advised him to consider changing his profession given the volatile situation in Darjeeling where he was posted since early 2015.

"You should be proud that you are a police officer's father. I will not leave the force for any other job," the 27-year-old sub-inspector retorted, silencing his father. On Friday morning, when Soumen heard on television the news of his son's death in a gunbattle with Gorkha Janmukti Morcha cadres near the Bengal-Sikkim border, these were the words that played over and over again in his mind.

"My son is a martyr and I am proud of him. I will not cry because he has laid down his life in the line of duty," the heart-broken father kept repeating to himself and everyone around him, refusing to shed a single tear.

Amitava's mother, Ganga, younger brother, Arunava, friends and neighbours at Sarat Kanan in Madhyamgram's Shibtala could not display such resilience and self-control.

"Mashima (Amitava's mother) is inconsolable," said Santu Biswas, Amitava's classmate since kindergarten in Madhyamgram Boys' High School. "She has fainted several times since hearing the news of Amitava's death."

Amitava's wife, Mona, had accompanied her husband to Darjeeling after the two got married this March. Hugging her dead husband's coffin, all that the inconsolable woman could mutter was, "His duty has ended. At least now let me be with him."

Amitava, always a topper in school and college, joined the police force in 2014 and was posted in Darjeeling Sadar police station in early 2015. The electrical engineer from Burdwan University cracked many competitive exams and could have opted for a 'safe' job in the banking or insurance sectors.

"His parents tried to convince him to take up a job in a bank as it was comfortable and safe, but Amitava did not agree," said his cousin Kallol Manna.

The state government has decided to employ his father Soumen in the school education department's office in North 24 Parganas, education minister Partha Chatterjee said. Rs 5 lakh will be given to the bereaved family from the CM's relief fund, the minister added. "The slain officer's wife will also be employed by the home department. The CM had already talked to the father over the phone.

The Shibtala neighbourhood was shrouded in a pall of gloom on Friday. "His father is a plumber and did not have money to educate his son, but Amitava taught children and did odd jobs to partially fund his education," said Anima Kunango, a relative.

The local Kali Puja pandal nearby lay abandoned on Friday morning. The grieving neighbourhood has decided not to celebrate the festival this year.

The officer's body could not be brought back to Kolkata on Friday as the hearse got stopped at every bend on the way to Bagdogra by people wanting to pay respects. By the time the motorcade reached the airport, the last flight to Kolkata had already left.