Latest update:11 January 2026 at 05:00 IST

A mother wrapping a blanket around her martyred son’s statue in Jammu highlights the personal cost of sacrifice behind India’s soldiers.

In the cold of winter in Jammu, a mother covers the statue of her martyred son with a blanket. (Image source: X)

Winter mornings in Jammu are painfully painful. Air penetrates the skin, and even standing still for a few minutes feels uncomfortable. One cold day, Jaswant Kaur walked up to a statue that meant more to her than words. The statue belongs to her son, police officer Gurnam Singh, who was martyred in 2016. She wrapped a blanket around the statue.

The clip of the statue covered with a blanket went viral. For social media users, it’s just a mom doing what comes natural. For her, the statue is not stone or metal. It is her child standing silently in the cold.

“I am a mother, and in this extreme cold, where we are struggling to keep ourselves warm, how can I leave my son’s statue exposed to the extreme cold?” She told NDTV.

He died defending the border

Gurnam Singh was killed on the night of October 21-22, 2016 in Hira Nagar sector while guarding the India border. A sniper’s bullet ended his life amid escalating tension along the border. He was on duty, doing what soldiers are trained to do.

Just a day earlier, Gurnam had stopped an infiltration attempt. Under the cover of heavy bombardment, Pakistani forces were trying to push the terrorists across the border. Gurnam stood his ground. He killed one of the terrorists and forced the others to retreat. This act likely saved lives on the Indian side.

The next night, he did not return.

“For her, he’s still alive.”

For the country, Gurnam Singh is remembered as a soldier who died while serving. For his mother, discrimination does not exist. It is not a memory or a framed picture on the wall. He is her son, present to her everywhere.

Her brother Kulwinder Singh spoke about the true meaning of this sacrifice. “If you see the tricolor fluttering, it’s not just because the wind is blowing; it’s the last breath of soldiers like Gurnam and others on the ground,” he said.

Neighbors echo the same sentiments. Ashwani, who lives near Jaswant Kaur, puts it simply: “To others, Gurnam is just another soldier who sacrificed his life for the nation. But to his mother, he is a son, a part of her being.”

How did the internet react?

The image also sparked a wave of reactions online, with users having difficulty translating the sentiment into words. One comment read: “This broke me. A mother never stops being a mother, even after sacrifice.” Another wrote: “People talk about martyrs, but this shows what their families go through every day.” One user said: “No statue is stone cold for a mother. It is still her child.” Many others echoed the same sentiments, describing the moment as “heartbreaking,” “pure” and “impossible to forget.”

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