Bring Back Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan Safe: News Nation begins campaign for his speedy rescue

The simmering tensions between India and Pakistan spell a likely doom for the Indian soldier Sepoy Chandu Babulal Chavan who crossed the Line of Control to Pakistan inadvertently on Thursday.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has ensured that India is making all attempts to secure the release of the Indian soldier. 

“All attempts are being made to secure his release,” he told reporters on Friday. The Home Minister also said that New Delhi will take up the matter with Islamabad for his early release.

While such inadvertent crossing by Army and civilians are not unusual on either side, Chavan's return through existing mechanisms can prove to be highly difficult in the aftermath of India's surgical strike in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) which killed at least 50 terrorists on Friday. 

Indian Army has confirmed that Chandu Babulal's crossing over was not related to the surgical strikes. 

Meanwhile, Chavan's grandmother, who had brought him and his borther up after they loss their parents at a young age, passed away on Friday after hearing the news. Chavan's brother Bhushan Babulal Chavan, who is also in Indian Army, said that he had spoken to his brother on Wednesday and all was well. 

But this has not stopped Pakistani media to claim that Chandu Babulal was captured during the Indian Army's bid to inflitrate the Pakistani border. 

Also read: What is 37 Rashtriya Rifles?

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations Dr Maleeha Lodhi, was quoted in Pak media as saying that their army has "captured an Indian soldier who was trying to enter” into Pakistani territory. 

“What we saw on Thursday was cross border shelling, by mortar fire as well as small arms fire. We have captured one Indian soldier who was trying to cross while two Pakistani soldiers were martyred in cross border shelling.”

Curiously, the cause of Sepoy Chavan has found little resonance in Indian media.  Owing to lack of information about his capture and release efforts, only a couple of media houses has reported anything on the issue. 

When most of the energy is focused on the details of the surgical strikes in response to the Uri attacks which killed 19 soldiers, the efforts for the safe return of Chandu Babulal also require a national impetus.

Also read: Pakistan denies knowledge of his whereabouts

NewsNation.in has decided to take the step to galvanise support for speedy and safe return of Sepoy Chavan. From this day, we shall consistently appeal to Government of India and Indian Army to make all possible efforts for his safe return. And we seek your help in achieving that. 

Please join us and pray for Sepoy Chavan's safe return and share your sentiments in the comments box below.