New Delhi: For eight years, parents of Major
Mohit Sharma celebrated his birthday wherever he was posted
but a year after he was killed in an encounter in Jammu and
Kashmir, they have only fond memories of their brave son.
Mohit, whose family will receive the country's second
highest gallantry award Ashok Chakra on the occasion of
Republic Day this year, was killed in an encounter with
terrorists in the dense forests of Harfada in Jammu and
Kashmir's Kupwara district on March 21, 2009.
"Since he joined the Army in 1999 we used to visit his
place of posting on his birthday. Ab kiske paas jayein ?...(to
whom should we go now ?)," Mohit's father R P Sharma said
from his residence in Ghaziabad.
It is only his memories and his bravery that we can
cherish now, he said. Mohit was born on January 13, 1978.
Seventeen militants and eight army personnel were killed
in the five-day long encounter which began on March 20 last
year on the higher reaches of the Shamsabari range in Harfada
forests.
Sharma said Mohit's sacrifice has made his mother do more
for others and she felt "lonely" on her son's first birthday
after his martyrdom last year.
"She distributed clothes and food to lepers today. She
still misses her son dearly," Sharma said.
Mohit was commissioned into the First Battalion of the
Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) on December 30, 1999.
His wife Reshma, a Major, is currently posted in Ambala
and will receive the gallantry award on January 26 from the
President.
Mohit was awarded the Sena Medal (gallantry) in 2005 and
also the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card.
"On March 21, 2009 while tracking an infiltrating
terrorist group he (Mohit) and his men came under heavy volume
of fire. Unmindful of his safety he rescued two of his
comrades in the midst of heavy firing, killed two terrorists
and in the process sustained multiple gunshot wounds."
Sensing grave danger to his commandos, the injured Major
charged at the terrorists and killed two more at close
range. "The brave officer succumbed to his injuries and made
the supreme sacrifice in the finest traditions of the paltan
and the country," Mohit's citation reads.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 17:50