Tag: paratrooper

  • ‘Please come back, papa’, pleads 10-year-old daughter of soldier killed in Rajouri blast

    By PTI

    DALPAT: “Why are you not getting up? I don’t want anything, papa. Please come back,” 10-year-old Pawana Chib cried as she stretched out her hand to touch the face of her father, paratrooper Neelam Singh, who lay in a coffin before her on Saturday.

    Standing next to her, Chib’s mother Vandana is staring in disbelief at her husband’s lifeless face held between her hands before she breaks down.

    The paratrooper’s seven-year-old son Ankit is also inconsolable.

    READ MORE| Blast during ops in Rajouri: Three more Army men succumb to injuries, death toll now five

    Singh was among the five soldiers who died in an explosion triggered by terrorists on Friday in the thickly forested Kandi area in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district where an operation is underway to flush out terrorists.

    As Singh’s mortal remains reached his Dalpat-Chak Kripalpur village here in a Tricolour-wrapped coffin, some wept and others tried to make their way through a crowd of hundreds who had gathered to catch one last glimpse of the “brave son of soil”.

    The mortal remains were brought in a cavalcade from the Indian Air Force station in Jammu, where Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, among other top Army, police and administration officials, paid homage to the slain soldier at a wreath-laying ceremony.

    Chants of “Neelam Singh Amar Rahe” echoed through the village as Vandana saluted her husband one last time.

    Singh was cremated with full military honours. His brother and CISF jawan Angad Singh lit his pyre amid chants of “Jai Shaheed, Jai Army, Jai Hind”.

    Recalling the last time Singh visited home, his father Hurdev Singh Chib said he is proud of his son.”I am proud of my son. He was a brave commando who laid down his life-fighting terrorists. He was born a warrior. As a child, he always wanted to join the Army,” Hurdev told PTI.

    A few days ago, he had come home for a while, the distraught father recalled, adding,

    “He was so dutiful that he just had tea and left. According to Hurdev, Singh was inducted into the Army in 2003. Singh’s father-in-law Captain Raghvir Singh Bhau (retd) echoed Hurdev’s sentiments.”He was brave and never feared anything. He was part of dozens of successful operations in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir. He brought laurels to the para unit and the Army,” he said.

    Singh’s cousin Suresh, however, was angry.”There is an attack every six months. How many homes will be destroyed? The forces retaliate and there will be a lull but then there will be another attack and another family will lose its son,” he said.

    Villagers described Singh as a helpful man. “I joined the armed forces just because Singh encouraged and helped me. I am indebted to him,” said a villager, Rameshwaram Singh.

    Another villager Sarita Devi recalled that Singh brought her medicines and other items whenever she was in need.

    DALPAT: “Why are you not getting up? I don’t want anything, papa. Please come back,” 10-year-old Pawana Chib cried as she stretched out her hand to touch the face of her father, paratrooper Neelam Singh, who lay in a coffin before her on Saturday.

    Standing next to her, Chib’s mother Vandana is staring in disbelief at her husband’s lifeless face held between her hands before she breaks down.

    The paratrooper’s seven-year-old son Ankit is also inconsolable.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    READ MORE| Blast during ops in Rajouri: Three more Army men succumb to injuries, death toll now five

    Singh was among the five soldiers who died in an explosion triggered by terrorists on Friday in the thickly forested Kandi area in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district where an operation is underway to flush out terrorists.

    As Singh’s mortal remains reached his Dalpat-Chak Kripalpur village here in a Tricolour-wrapped coffin, some wept and others tried to make their way through a crowd of hundreds who had gathered to catch one last glimpse of the “brave son of soil”.

    The mortal remains were brought in a cavalcade from the Indian Air Force station in Jammu, where Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi, among other top Army, police and administration officials, paid homage to the slain soldier at a wreath-laying ceremony.

    Chants of “Neelam Singh Amar Rahe” echoed through the village as Vandana saluted her husband one last time.

    Singh was cremated with full military honours. His brother and CISF jawan Angad Singh lit his pyre amid chants of “Jai Shaheed, Jai Army, Jai Hind”.

    Recalling the last time Singh visited home, his father Hurdev Singh Chib said he is proud of his son.”I am proud of my son. He was a brave commando who laid down his life-fighting terrorists. He was born a warrior. As a child, he always wanted to join the Army,” Hurdev told PTI.

    A few days ago, he had come home for a while, the distraught father recalled, adding,

    “He was so dutiful that he just had tea and left. According to Hurdev, Singh was inducted into the Army in 2003. Singh’s father-in-law Captain Raghvir Singh Bhau (retd) echoed Hurdev’s sentiments.”He was brave and never feared anything. He was part of dozens of successful operations in various parts of Jammu and Kashmir. He brought laurels to the para unit and the Army,” he said.

    Singh’s cousin Suresh, however, was angry.”There is an attack every six months. How many homes will be destroyed? The forces retaliate and there will be a lull but then there will be another attack and another family will lose its son,” he said.

    Villagers described Singh as a helpful man. “I joined the armed forces just because Singh encouraged and helped me. I am indebted to him,” said a villager, Rameshwaram Singh.

    Another villager Sarita Devi recalled that Singh brought her medicines and other items whenever she was in need.

  • In militancy-hit Shopian, government college named after slain paratrooper

    By Express News Service

    SRINAGAR:  In a first, a government degree college in militancy-hit Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir has been named after slain para-trooper, who was killed in an encounter with militants in 2010.

    The Principal of the college Prof Bashir Ahmed Dar said the function to rename the Government Degree College Shopian was held today. The college has now been named ‘Imtiyaz Ahmad Thoker Memorial Model Degree College, Shopian.’

    Hailing from Shopian, Imtiyaz Ahmad Thokar was a paratrooper of First Para and was killed in a fierce encounter with militants in Sopore in north Kashmir in February 2010. Besides para trooper Imtiyaz, five militants, an army Captain and a Naik were killed in the gunfight.

    Top civil and military officers, college staff and family members of the slain soldier were present at the function at the renaming of the college.

    Speaking on the naming of the institution, College Principal Prof Bashir Ahmed Dar lauded the valour of Imtiyaz Thokar saying he laid down his life and set an example of bravery and ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the nation.

    “The naming of this college after the martyr is a matter of honour not only for this college but for the people of the entire area,” he said.

    Shopian is one of the four militancy-hit districts in south Kashmir and has witnessed many fierce gunfights between militants and security forces over the years.

    In August this year, Lt Governor administration decided to name educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir after the police, CRPF and army men killed in militancy-related violence in the Union Territory in the last three decades of militancy violence.

    The Deputy Commissioners were directed to submit the list of schools in their districts that can be named after slain security men.

    On August 28, the administration named Government Higher Secondary School Chandwan in the border district of Kathua after Vir Chakra awardee Sepoy Bua Ditta Singh. The school was named as “Shaheed Sepoy Bua Ditta Singh school”.

    Singh was killed in 1948 while fighting Pakistani troops at Chirri Kot village in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.