Our Heroes
Who are our Heroes? Who do we want to follow as our role models?
By birth, a Kashmiri and after spending a long time in different parts of India, understanding and seeing people respect their heroes, sometimes I wonder who our heroes are? Each culture has its own role models who they want to emulate and respect. A quick tap of a few keys asking “Who is known as Kashmir’s hero” on ‘Google’ gives a bizarre answer. The first name that appears here is Burhan Wani. Some results also show the name of Rifleman Aurangzeb after scrolling down, but most results mention Burhan as the hero. It pushed me to wonder, are we going the right way? Does our young generation really know who Kashmir’s true heroes are? The true heroes of Kashmir who have also laid down their lives for the survival of Kashmiris are possibly unknown to them. It also forces me to conclude that it must have been part of Pakistan’s greater scheme to ensure that Kashmir’s history is ignored by Kashmiri youth and that they will one day take over Kashmir.
Well, I should recall and remind everyone of people like Brigadier Rajinder Singh Jamwal, MVC, also regarded as Kashmir’s Saviour. He was born into a Dogra family in the village of Bagoona (now Rajinderpura, Samba, Jammu & Kashmir) on 14 June 1899 and was an officer in the Jammu and Kashmir State Forces. During the 1947-1948 Indo-Pakistani War, he died in combat. The advance of a much larger force of Pakistani regulars and tribal raiders into Srinagar was successfully delayed by Brigadier Rajinder Singh and his men until the Indian Army arrived. He was the first recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra, India’s second highest military decoration.
The list of people who have laid down their lives for ‘Kashmiriyat’ is very long and also includes many non-military individuals. Military was not the only force which saved Kashmir from Pakistani regulars and raiders. Mohd Maqbool Sherwani is one such name that comes to my mind. Sherwani was a gutsy 19-year-old boy who single-handedly disrupted the advance of thousands of raiders in Baramulla. He may not be a well-known name, but Baramulla is where the legend of Sherwani resides. He moved around on his bike in 1948, telling raiders that the Indian Army has entered the outskirts of Srinagar and that they should not go further. His bluff worked and the raiders delayed their advance and by that time 1 SIKH had landed in Srinagar. He was later shot dead and crucified as raiders came to know of his bluff. He was hung on a wooded cross and shot more than 10 times, according to some eyewitnesses. His heroics gave the Indian Army enough opportunity to prepare, and a few days later, Shalateng became the graveyard of raiders on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Not only do we have a glorious past, but we’ve also got Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, AC, SM & Bar, Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz and Rifleman Aurangzeb in recent times. When militancy broke out during the early nineties in Jammu & Kashmir, Nazir was a resident of Cheki Ashmuji village, Kulgam district, Jammu and Kashmir, India, and used to work as a carpet weaver. Wani joined militancy initially and later joined Indian Army after he realised the futility of violence. According to one of his relatives, during his postings in the valley, Wani killed thirty terrorists. In January 2019, he received Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime military decoration, posthumously. He was the first to receive the Ashok Chakra award from the Kashmir region of Jammu and Kashmir. He was also awarded the Sena Medal in 2007 and for the second time in 2018, for eliminating terrorists in close combat.
My mind begins to think of the likes of Burhan Wani, Maqbool Bhatt and Afzal Guru after being told of the heroics of those valiant sons of Jammu & Kashmir. I also think of the people who are part of different militant groups (so-called pro Azadi organizations) who have been responsible for the violent killing of our own Kashmiri brothers like Lieutenant Umar Fayaz and Rifleman Aurangzeb. When I see young generation seeking to walk on the footsteps of people who are responsible for shedding our own brothers and sisters’ blood, my heart feels the pain.
I feel ashamed of how one would imitate Burhan, the so-called social media savvy commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, who is responsible for sending hundreds of young people out into the darkness. People like Syed Salahuddin who claim to be leaders of the freedom movement of Kashmir do not even have the courage to include members of their own families in this hopeless struggle that has taken lives of thousands of Kashmir’s innocent people. Perhaps these people don’t even know what a Kashmiri wants? We need more jobs for our youth and healthy lives, not Kalashnikovs in the hands of innocent civilians.
It is hard to explain how, unless it was planned and imposed upon them, Kashmiris have forgotten their glorious heritage and have begun to follow and admire terrorists. As a society, we need to recognize Pakistan’s sinister designs that have slowly and gradually destroyed the ‘Kashmiriyat’ through their proxies and are triggering a decline in Kashmiri society. Reminding people of the heroics of people like Rajinder Singh, Nazir Wani, Mohd Maqbool Sherwani, Faiyaz and Aurangzeb is our responsibility. We should continue to remind ourselves of our glorious history and passion for ‘Kashmiriyat’ where all faiths had peacefully coexisted and faced invaders together. The day we will stop following likes of Burhan, we will commence our journey towards a bright and beautiful future.
