Sachin was one of three youngsters from Jammu to board a plane from Delhi to Russia on August 5. (Express Photo)
On September 14, Sachin Khajuria called to tell his family that he was being sent to forward positions in the Russia-Ukraine war and would not be able to speak to them for some time. That was the last time the family spoke to the 24-year-old, who had gone to Russia to study and find employment.
On March 28, the Khajuria family of Pahariwalla village in Jammu’s Akhnoor heard the news they had been dreading for months – Sachin had been killed on the frontlines, merely days after he went there. On Sunday, the family cremated his remains in the village.
Sachin was one of three youngsters from Jammu to board a plane from Delhi to Russia on August 5. While one returned safely, the other is still missing. “He [Sachin] died in September, but the family was not informed of it,” his younger brother Koushal Khajuria told The Indian Express.
Sachin is the second casualty from Jammu in the Russia-Ukraine war – last February, the body of Maninder Singh of R S Pura’s Gowana village was brought back. The eldest of two sons of Banarsi Dass, a 50-year-old vegetable vendor, Sachin had gone to Russia hoping to study and work at the same time.
At the time of his departure, Sachin was still pursuing his undergraduate studies at Government Degree College, Akhnoor, and decided to follow a friend to Russia. For this, he contacted a local agent who helped him apply for a study visa.
Sachin’s friend, at whose urging he contacted the agent, is also missing, the family said. On August 25, Sachin called his family to say he was engaged as a porter in the army. In December, after a video showed Sachin and another youngster urging their families to help bring them home, the Khajuria family began seeking intervention.
“We contacted the BJP MP, Jugal Sharma, and even Cabinet Minister Satish Sharma – an MLA from Akhnoor’s Chhamb — for help. We wanted the central government to take up the matter with Russian authorities,” Koushal said.
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Cabinet Minister Satish Sharma, who took up Sachin’s return with authorities in Delhi, said that a “big mafia” was luring unemployed youth to Russia.
“I will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi — and also urge Chief Minister Omar Abdullah — to take up the matter of compensation with Russia through diplomatic channels,” he said.
Last December, the family was asked for DNA samples and was subsequently informed of his death. His remains were returned last week.
According to Devinder Singh, former sarpanch of Pahariwalla village, local youth fall prey to offers of working abroad because of unemployment. The government says the overall unemployment rate in the Union Territory stands at 6.7 per cent, as against the national average of 3.5 per cent.
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A baseline survey conducted under Mission YUVA on a population of 64.8 lakh in January last year found that 4.73 lakh people in the 18–50 age group were not working but were willing to work. In the just-concluded budget session of the Legislative Assembly, the government said its approach is focused on creating sustainable livelihoods through entrepreneurship, skilling and institutional reforms rather than short-term job creation.
