An Agniveer died in Operation Sindoor. A year later, his parents are still fighting for pension

Jyothibai Naik has never been to Delhi. She has not even seen photographs of the iconic India Gate, which stands opposite the National War Memorial. So, when the Ministry of Defence inscribed the name of her late son, Mood Muralinaik, on one of the walls at the memorial last month, she did not quite know what to make of it.

To make matters worse, “nobody from Delhi” told them about the honour, she complained over a phone call from her village in Andhra Pradesh. “We heard about it from journalists here,” she said. Her husband, Shriramnaik, who was also on the call, asked: “Have they put up his photo too?”

Their 24-year-old son was killed in cross-border shelling on May 9, 2025, at the peak of the four-day war between India and Pakistan. Since then, the couple have been waging a battle of their own – against the government of India.

They want the Union government to extend to them the same benefits and protections that it provides to the families of other soldiers killed in military action. These include a lifelong pension, health insurance, and subsidies on travel as well as consumer goods. Jyothibai has even filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, asking...

Read more