The scene was one that Palampur has never witnessed during the past 50 years. A sea of mourners started pouring into Pragati Maidan early this morning to pay their homage to the brave son of Palampur. A five-hour delay in the arrival of the coffin did not deter anyone from braving the scorching heat.

Lt Kalia's body was flown to Delhi for post-mortem in the presence of an Indian Red Cross official to gauge the intensity of torture. The mortal remains, which were scheduled to reach Palampur by road in the morning, reached at 11.55 a.m. in an Indian Air Force chopper.

``Well done, my son. You have done your job. May every home produce a son like you so that the enemies dare not touch the territorial sanctity of our country,'' said Vijay Kalia, the Kargil hero's mother, as soon as the coffin was taken out ofthe helicopter. The body was accompanied by Major Sudhir Mohan Kalia, Lt Saurabh Kalia's uncle, who is serving in the mechanized infantry.

The body was received by S K Aggarwal, Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, and SSP K C Sadyal. An Army contingent saluted the martyr at the helipad. The coffin was taken to the military hospital where Hindu rituals were performed. It was then taken in a procession from Holta to Pragati Maidan via the residence of the Kalias in Tika Sughar. Army pall bearers led by Col Sarat Sharma, carried the coffin as hundreds of mourners stood on both sides of the road to salute the hero.

The procession included a convoy of vehicles led by hundreds of scooter-borne youths of Palampur. Cries of ``Saurabh Kalia amar rahe'' rent the sky. Military officers, politicians and district officials placed wreaths on the coffin. Prominent among those present were former Himachal chief minister Shanta Kumar, HPCC president Sat Mahajan, Kangra DCC president Brij Butail, Minister of State for TechnicalEducation, and MLAs Dulo Ram and Vipan Parmar. The body, draped in the tri-colour, was taken to the cremation ground, where Lt Kalia's younger brother Vaibhav lit the pyre as the jawans saluted the martyr and sounded the last post.

Shanta Kumar, in a statement, said that the Himachal Pradesh government would set up a park and name it after Lt Saurabh Kalia.

Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sat Mahajan today criticised the state government for not giving ``due recognition to the martyr from Palampur who made Himachal and the country hold their heads high.'' He said it was extremely sad that the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister did not find it convenient to be present at the cremation of ``the brave soldier who took a great initiative at a very young age while fighting in Kargil... Even cabinet ministers from Kangra district itself did not turn up to pay homage to the martyr.'' Sat Mahajan and Brij Butail have sought an explanation from the BJP-led Himachal government in this regard.