NEW DELHI: The final journey of Flight Lieutenant Siddharth Yadav, who died in the Jaguar fighter jet crash near Gujarat’s Jamnagar Air Force Station on Wednesday night, was marked by honour, pride, and unbearable grief. The 28-year-old Indian Air Force officer, recently engaged and preparing for his wedding in November, was cremated on Friday at his ancestral village Majra Bhalkhi in Haryana’s Rewari district.
Hundreds of people, including villagers, former soldiers, and serving officers, gathered to pay their last respects. Ex-servicemen led the procession, carrying the national flag, while locals showered flower petals along the route. The IAF gave a gun salute, and his mortal remains were consigned to flames with full military honours.
But the most gut-wrenching moment came at the cremation ground. His fiancée, unable to hold back her grief, broke down crying and pleaded, “Baby, you didn’t come to take me… you promised you would.”
Her words, caught on video, quickly went viral on social media, becoming a tragic symbol of a life and love cut short.
She had also asked to see his face one last time, pleading with officials to open the coffin, “Show me his face once”. The heart-wrenching moment left the gathering of mourners in tears.
Yadav had returned home on March 23 for his engagement and reported back to duty on March 31. A relative, Sachin, recalled how excited Siddharth was about his upcoming wedding and had even made plans to build a new house.
He was commissioned as a fighter pilot in 2020 and had been serving at the Jamnagar airbase for some time. On the night of the crash, he and another pilot were on a training sortie when the Jaguar two-seater jet developed a technical snag. The pilots ejected, successfully steering the aircraft away from residential areas, but Yadav succumbed to his injuries. The other pilot survived and is receiving treatment at a military hospital in Jamnagar.
The Indian Air Force has launched a Court of Inquiry to determine the exact cause of the crash. In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), the IAF said: “An IAF Jaguar two-seater aircraft airborne from Jamnagar Airfield crashed during a night mission. The pilots faced a technical malfunction and initiated ejection, avoiding harm to airfield and local population. Unfortunately, one pilot succumbed to his injuries.”
Yadav came from a line of servicemen. His father, Sushil Yadav, served in the Indian Air Force. His grandfather and great-grandfather were part of the Indian Army. His mother, Sushila Devi, stood stoic with a photograph of her son clutched to her chest.
“I am proud to have raised a braveheart,” she said. “Let every mother send their son to defend this country. We have lost him, but he died for the motherland.”
Also present at the cremation were former Haryana minister Banwari Lal, Bawal MLA Krishan Kumar, senior officials from the Air Force and Army, and thousands of villagers who stood shoulder to shoulder in solemn tribute.
In just 28 years, Flight Lieutenant Siddharth Yadav lived with courage, commitment, and love — and in his final act, he left behind not just a proud village, but a nation in mourning.
