Families of martyred jawans foster lifelong bond

At a time when the Sahayak or buddy system in the army is under scrutiny, families of two martyrs — an officer and his buddy — carry forward the bond shared by the two soldiers who laid down their lives fighting the enemy together. 

Captain Tushar Mahajan and his buddy Lance Naik Om Prakash were awarded the Shaurya Chakra, a gallantry award posthumously at the Investiture Ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 20, along with 38 other recipients.

On February 21, 2016, Captain Mahajan risked his life trying to extricate his ‘buddy’ Lance Naik Om Prakash, at a government office building in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir where Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were holed up. Both soldiers succumbed to their injuries.

The two men, in their death, have brought two families from entirely different backgrounds closer, sharing the same pain. Tushar’s mother feels that she can relate to Om Prakash’s wife, Krishna as they both lost the men they love immensely. During their stay at a hotel in Delhi for the ceremony, Asha Rani Gupta, Mahajan’s mother, helped Krishna get ready, collect her pass and stood as a guiding force for the 33-year-old widow. The pain of losing the most important men in their lives who fought together has ignited a different relationship between the two women. They had never seen each other and were meeting for the first time in Delhi. Mahajan’s parents regret never seeing him in uniform.

Along with her husband, Krishna keeps Mahajan in her prayers as a remembrance. “My husband would tell me everything about him. When I got to know they are together even during tough times, I would always pray for both,” says Krishna who has finally gained the courage to accept things and tell the same to her two daughters- Muskan, 8, and Simran, 4. 

DNA met two other families who lost their sons fighting the terrorists and were given gallantry awards, posthumously at the ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Naik Shinde Shankar’s wife, Suvarna Shankar Shinde, 28, called her husband on February 12, the day he was supposed to leave for home. She had no clue that he had already taken three bullets during an army operation in Marsari village of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. She was later told by one of her husband’s colleague that the phone was in his hands and his last message to his wife was, “If I die, tell her to take care of herself and the kids. I wanted to come, but will not be able to.” 

“My six-year-old daughter was sitting outside in the heat, waiting for her father, who was to reach home. But it was his body that we received,” she said as her eyes welled up. 

Rajbir Singh, father of Captain Pawan Kumar, had only one child, who died at the age of 23, leading his men into a risky operation that resulted in the elimination of six terrorists. His father remembers him as a young kid who was fond of motorbikes and cars, like any other boy his age, unaware of the daily risks he took. A month before his death, Pawan had taken his parents to Punjab to attend the golden jubilee celebration of his earlier regiment- 7th Battalion Dogra. Pawan’s father still holds dear the pictures from the event.