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Jaipur: Fate put him in a wheelchair, yet he was the one in driving seat

Naik Desh Raj was involved in an operation to check infiltration from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

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Naik Desh Raj with his wife. He lost mobility fighting militants in Kashmir
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Life can take an unexpected turn when everything appears to be going well. Former Naik Desh Raj, a Black Cat Commando of the Indian Army found himself staring at a cruel fate when he was boarded out of the Army with 100% disability on medical grounds after his hideout was hit by Pakistani Artillery shell during cross-border firing in Naushera sector of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir. But his didn’t lose hope and his sheer grit has finally given him a reason to smile. 

The year was 2005. Naik Desh Raj was involved in an operation to check infiltration from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. “It was a route preferred by infiltrators. The modus operandi was simple: Pakistani posts from across the LOC would open intense fire and cover the infiltration of the militants. 

There were three of us covering a probable route for infiltration and laid an ambush. However, as the firing started, a shell landed on our hideout and the bunker caved in burying me underneath the rubble,” Desh Raj recalls. 

The jawan lay in the debris for some time before the firing stopped and he could be rescued by the armed forces. However, by the time the damage was done as Desh Raj was left paralyzed for life from his waist down.

“Asli ladai to abhi shuru honi baaki thi (the real battle was yet to start),” he says. The jawan struggled initially. “There was no support from home and my kids were also young aged five and three years. I was on a wheel-chair and could not even turn my neck to look at someone. My biggest worry was to live through today,” he adds.

However, it was not just Desh Raj who turned hopeless, even his family members, relatives and neighbours changed. “They mocked me and called me names. With time I realized that I cannot give up. Agar zindagi se ladkar hi jeena hai to ladai hee sahi. I realised that since I am the source of strength for my family, I did not have the option of giving up,” Desh Raj told dna.

It was then that he encouraged his wife to pursue her education. She completed her graduation, and with the help of Rajasthan govt got a job as Lower Division Clerk LDC in Rajasthan State Revenue department. Finally, we had some monetary support. With his wife’s job – now she has been promoted to UDC in the same office – and disability pension from the Army he started rebuilding his life brick by brick.

His sons are making him proud today and his neighbours look at him with awe and tell his story to their kids. His elder son, a national basketball player is pursuing his graduation from Kirorimal College in Delhi and is nurturing ambitions of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming an officer in the Army. The younger one is about to finish his schooling at Jaipur with plans to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

“Everything appears normal today, but this long journey on a wheelchair was anything but normal. Zindagi ek poora chakkar kat chuki hai. Earlier, I used to be the source of motivation for my family and now I draw my motivation from my family,” the former commando says.

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