Poonch mourns martyr on Eid; India loses 1 more rifleman as Pak opens fire again

On the occasion of Eid, as a family of soldiers, along with thousand others, bid farewell to its ‘braveheart’ son Rifleman Aurangzeb in his native village Salani of Mendhar tehsil in frontier Poonch district, it also had revenge on mind — “100 heads in return”.

“I want to appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back at least 100 heads in return for my brother Tiger Aurangzeb. If the Government cannot fulfil our demand they must make it clear to us. We know how to do it. We are capable of avenging death of our Tiger,” said one of the brothers, also an Armyman, of the Rifleman.

Angry over the gruesome murder of Augrangzeb by terrorists, locals in the area didn’t even celebrate Eid and walked several miles to join the funeral procession.

But even Eid didn’t deter the Pakistan Army from targeting a routine Indian Army patrol, that too, 700 metres inside the Indian territory in Nowshersa sector. An army jawan, 21-year-old Rifleman Bikas Gurung, received serious injuries and later he succumbed. According to Defence spokesman Gurung hailed from Manipur and is survived by his mother Beena Gurung.

In Aurangzeb’s village, echoing similar sentiments as his younger son, Mohd Haneef, father of the Rifleman, set a 72-hour deadline for the Centre to find and kill those who abducted and killed his son in cold-blood on Thursday evening.

“My son was a brave soldier. He sacrificed his life, another son is in the Army, I also served the Indian Army. We are all ready to sacrifice our lives. Kashmir is ours. We must not let Kashmir burn. We must weed out the goons who are destroying Kashmir,” Mohd Haneef told senior Army officers, who arrived in the native village to pay homage to his martyr son.

He also questioned a senior Army officer, “How are Pakistani flags allowed to be unfurled in Kashmir Valley? It should not be allowed. Why Indian flags are not unfurled there?”

The retired Armyman also slammed those doing politics over the death of martyrs in Jammu & Kashmir and the separatist leaders who, he alleged, were Pakistan sympathisers.

He favoured all-out offensive against the terror groups active in the Kashmir Valley. In response, the senior Army officer tried his best to pacify the grieving father by holding his hands and saying all the soldiers of his unit are like his son Aurangzeb. “You are not alone. We are standing behind you and we will always be with you”.

Earlier, soon after his coffin, wrapped in a Tricolour, arrived at his home, Haneef said my son has fulfilled his promise. He sacrificed his life and returned home on Eid.

Aurangzeb’s last journey was cut short by unidentified terrorists on early Thursday morning.

According to police, Aurangzeb was abducted by a group of two-three terrorists from a private vehicle in which he was travelling from Kalampora area of Pulwama on Thursday morning. He had boarded the vehicle from outside his unit headquarters.

As the Army and police launched massive manhunt to track him down, the terrorists tortured him for several hours and later dumped his bullet-ridden body in village Gusoo of Pulwama, 10 kms from the site of abduction.

Before starting his journey, Aurangzeb had informed his father, an ex-serviceman, that he will be reaching home soon to celebrate Eid. His younger brother, also a serving Armyman, was also expected to join the family.

The festive atmosphere in the house suddenly turned in to despair after local Army authorities contacted Mohd Haneef, father of Aurangzeb and informed him about his abduction. His mother, Raj Bi made passionate appeals to the terrorists to release his son but her pleas could not make much difference.

Aurangzeb was reportedly shot in the head and neck from a very close range by ‘unidentified’ terrorists who wanted to avenge killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sameer Tiger.

An ace shooter, Aurangzeb, was member of the crack team of Major Rohit Shukla credited with neutralising Sameer Tiger in May 2018.

Before dispatching his mortal remains to his native village, senior Army officers in Srinagar also paid tributes to him. However, due to inclement weather conditions the mortal remains of the soldier could not reach his native village on Friday. On Saturday his mortal remains were buried with full military honours in the presence of large number of villagers and close family members in his native village.

Meanwhile, violating ceasefire along the Line of Control, the Pakistan Army had initiated ‘unprovoked’ and indiscriminate firing of mortars on early Saturday morning in which 21-year-old rifleman Bikas Gurung received serious injuries and later he succumbed”. According to Defence Spokesman, Rifleman Bikas Gurung hailed from Manipur and is survived by his mother Beena Gurung.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Sunday, 17 June 2018 | Mohit Kandhari | Jammu