Kirti salute for Valley Muslim
MUZAFFAR RAINA
Srinagar, Aug. 14: Soldier Shabir Ahmad Malik has given Kashmir a rare honour in his death he has become the first Muslim from the state to receive the countrys second-highest peacetime gallantry award for fighting militants.
Shabir has been posthumously conferred the Kirti Chakra, the peacetime equivalent of Maha Vir Chakra and second only to Ashok Chakra, for his role in a five-day encounter in Kupwara this March which left 17 militants and eight soldiers dead.
The award is expected to help the army, not a preferred option for many Kashmiris, draw more local youths to its ranks, though there has been growing interest of late.
This is a big honour for Kashmir and the army. He is the first Kashmiri Muslim to receive such a big army award, defence spokesperson Lt Colonel J.S. Brar said.
An officer in the Srinagar-based 15 Corps said the only Kashmiri to have got a similar honour, third-highest gallantry award Shaurya Chakra, was Hameed Charra. He had also died fighting militants in 2007.
Almost the entire village had thronged 23-year-old Shabirs home to pay their respects after his death a mass outpouring of emotions that had so far been reserved for martyr militants.
Today, the scenes played out again. I tried to keep it (the news of Shabirs honour) a secret but the moment people learnt about it, they started converging at my home, Shabirs brother Ghulam Mohammad Malik said.
Malik had kept the news, given to him yesterday, close to his heart on the armys instructions. I did not break the news even to my mother because she is very emotional. She broke down when she learnt about it, he said.
Spokesperson Brar said Shabir died while trying to save a wounded colleague. One of his buddies got injured and he was shifting him to safety when he was shot at. He continued fighting bravely, killed two militants and took the injured soldier to safety.
Other honours
Ten CISF men who died fighting the Maoist raid on the Nalco plant in Orissas Damanjodi in April this year have been awarded the Presidents Police Medal for Gallantry.
An ITBP constable who lost an eye battling the Taliban while guarding an Afghanistan highway being built by India will receive the Shaurya Chakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award after Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra. Two of his colleagues killed in the operation will be conferred the honour posthumously.
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