Finally, exhausted and frustrated, Savitri Saxena has decided to return her son’s Shaurya Chakra.
Assistant Commandant Vivek Saxena was martyred on 8 January 2003 while fighting terrorists in Manipur. In recognition of his bravery and sacrifice, the nation honoured him with the Shaurya Chakra.
The government had promised his family land and a memorial in his honour.
But even after 22 years, his mother, Savitri Saxena, has been forced to run from one government office to another.
Sometimes she is asked to provide proof of domicile. At other times, she is asked where she lived before her marriage. At the age of 80, what more can she possibly be expected to explain?
Yet she continues to make these rounds, only to be told to wait.
Now she says that she no longer has the strength to keep visiting government offices again and again.
This martyr’s mother is not taking this step because she is angry with the country. She is doing it because she is tired, broken and deeply disappointed by the system.
That is why she arrived at a grievance-redressal camp carrying her son’s Shaurya Chakra and said, “If this is the respect given to a martyr’s mother, then please take this honour back.”
Her son gave his life for the country, and today his mother is being asked to prove that she belongs to this very country.
This is not merely the pain of one mother. It is something that should shame all of us.
