Slain jawan's kin seek 'strong lesson' for Pakistan

Residents of this border town, who gathered on Monday to pay their last respects to Havildar Ravi Paul, killed in terrorist attack on an Army base in Uri, said it is high time for India to react strongly to the "Pakistan-sponsored proxy war".

Relatives of Paul said he laid down his life for a cause and it was for the Government of India to "take a call" and "respect the death of the soldiers".

"We want the incubator of terrorism, the country which sends terrorists to our country, be taught a strong lesson. The sacrifice of our brother and 17 others should not go waste, but it should be a turning point for Pakistan," Mohan Lal the elder brother of Ravi Paul said.

"How long we will continue to lose our young bravehearts to the bullets of cowards. It is high time for the Union government to say that enough is enough and teach Pakistan a lesson," Mohan Singh Bhatti, Sarpanch of Jarda village, who came to pay his last respect to the soldier said.

People who poured in to pay their homage to Paul, one of the 18 soldiers who killed in the terrorist attack yesterday, echoed similar view of "teaching the hostile neighbour a lesson".

"Pakistan has been pinching us for several years now and yesterday's attack is an act of war on our country. Never in the past have we lost so many brave men in one attack, it is high time for the country's leadership to take decision and teach Pakistan a lesson," Madan Kumar a resident of Sarva village said.

Residents of the border area have been bearing the brunt of the hostilities and the proxy war sponsored by the Pakistani side, he said.

"Whenever there is a terrorist attack or whenever there is cross-border firing the residents of the border areas became the worst sufferers. We have been demanding from the Government of India to finish this once and for all," he said.