emo,
This incident happened in way back in yr 2000 and indian express is only quoting what appeared in pakistani media at that time.
Since IE cant confirm if he was actually rewarded ,hence stated "hewas said to have been felicitated "
Even Hamid mir clearly stated that new reports with pics of Kashmiri carrying "the head of an Indian officer" had infact appeared in pakistani media at that time.
Oh my man...a
sepoy was beheaded and 1 lakh Rupees was awarded for bringing back the
head of an Indian officer?
Forget it my friend, this whole news stinks...
BTW, let me tell you that whereas certainly war is terrible, Pakistan Army is quite professional and has regard for opponents...
I have never heard my father say that Indians are cowards, he admires them as opponents and broke the myth in my childhood that Indians don't know how to fight...My father is from a village which had a Muslims and Sikhs as its inhabitants and there was mutual respect for each other even in competition...
He was a brave man (very unlike me) and despite being a battery commander was carrying out recon patrols around his area of operations, since there were frequent low level infiltration attempts around his sector...Now this was 71 and Pak Fauj had every reason to be extremely vengeful against India for what had been going on in East Pakistan...
One fine morning they encountered a lost Indian Sepoy who mistook my father's sergeant (bearded fellow) for a sikh and ventured to ask him for directions about his unit, he realized his folly immediately but to his surprise he was given directions and sent off towards the Indian side...
After the ceasefire there were few destroyed Indian tanks on the Indian side of the border and one fine morning a couple of Pakistani officers had the idea to get their photos taken on one of these tanks...needless to say that the Indian sentry was pretty shaken but was reassured by my father that we are just here for a snap and you do not need to worry son...
i still have the picture and will scan it if i find it...
These may seem little things to you but they show that we do not want to behead all Indians, we are humans too and when given the choice will not go for the violent approach...
As soldiers our army will fight to the death and i know that many Indians who have fought us would testify to that...we also know that Indians are not losers but have always put up an excellent fight...
However it takes immense moral fiber to appreciate the quality of one's opponents especially on a national level...from this stems mutual respect and then we can have a more equal footing relationship...demonizing without conclusive evidence or any reason is something we have to stop doing...where there is a reason to condemn any action, that should be done maturely...
I see that the Indian media and movie industry is very big and they do not let go of any opportunity to provide anti Pakistan mirch masala for the public consumption...however these things will never be of long term benefit to anyone...
And yes, Hamid mir and a lot of other Pakistani Journalists are also yellow journalists who perpetrate concocted stories and half baked theories as facts...so i am not saying that Pakistani media is all good...however India's anti Pakistan smear campaign is much more organized and large scale and hence will be much more successful in changing the Indian mindset...
from cricket diplomacy to post mumbai war mongering...we have indeed gone back a decade or two...i am afraid time is no body's friend here...the more indecision and hesitation to mend the relationship, the more influence these haters will enjoy over the masses...
We can have honorable working relationship if we let go of the prejudice and complexes which mar our history...
If India stops treating Pakistan as a little punk whose each and every action and move in the world arena has to be blocked and is portrayed as a drama...i am sure the Pakistani public would not oppose any peace proposition...if this trend continues i do not think we are in for a good century...
So the onus lies on you young Indians too, we all see here that we can coexist...better convince our fellow countrymen on the need to move forward...