National

A village mourns its beloved son

YAMUNANAGAR (HARYANA): A pall of gloom has descended on Mandoli village near here, the native place of veteran actor and Union Minister Sunil Dutt who died in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The news of the death was received with shock in the village.

Sunil Dutt's younger brother Som Dutt, who had left for Mumbai by train on Tuesday following a message that his elder brother was not well, would now only reach in time for the cremation later on Wednesday evening, villagers said.

Mr. Dutt, who was born in the nondescript village of Khurd (now in Pakistan) in Jhelum district, shifted to this village after Partition. People here see him as a man who brought laurels to the small village and the entire country with his contributions to Bollywood, maintaining peace and harmony through his untiring tirade against communalism.

The entire district was deeply mourning the death of Sunil Dutt as he was considered an outstanding son of the soil. The residents of the village still remember him as `Ballu' as he was fondly called instead of Balraj, his earlier name.

His cousin Diwan Suraj Dutt and Vipin Mohan, who is president of the Mujhal Sabha, Yamunanagar, expressed grief at the death of Mr. Dutt and described it as a great loss to the Mujhal community to which the actor-politician belonged.

With moist eyes, another cousin Ashok Mohan said he had met Mr Dutt in Delhi just a fortnight ago. ``He asked about everyone in the village and assured me that he will soon come to Mandoli.''

Mr Dutt's father Raghunath Dutt had adopted this remote village as the Government had allotted 14- acre land here for those migrating from Pakistan.

At the time of migration, Mr Dutt was employed in the Army and posted in Lucknow. But after Partition, he left the Army and stayed in Mandoli before leaving for Bombay in the 1950s.

``We have lost a big pillar of our strength,'' said his cousins Kishan Mohan and Rajkumar Mohan, with tears in their eyes.

Maya Devi, an elderly woman of the village, said Mr. Dutt used to treat him like mother since his mother treated her like a sister.

Satya Sharma, another resident of Mandoli, said the late Minister treated her like sister. ``He always came to my place whenever he visited the village,'' she added.

Mr. Dutt had once brought to the village his two daughters, Priya and Namrata, and son Sanjay when they were all very young. His cousin Ashok Mohan's family remembered those days and showed the photographs of the young children.

The late Minister had several relatives and friends in Yamunanagar district.

Mr Dutt had last visited the village ahead of the Parliamentary elections in May, 2004 when he came to address a rally in favour of Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Kurukshetra Naveen Jindal, who later won the election. ``In Mr Sunil Dutt, Yamunanagar has lost one of its great personalities but the district will keep his fond memories alive for ever,'' Deputy Commissioner R. K. Rao said. PTI/UNI

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