TEHATTA (NADIA): An entire village, which came out on Saturday to lay to rest Indian Army jawan Jhantu Ali Shaikh, heard his brother – also a jawan with the country’s defence forces in Jammu & Kashmir – vowing revenge for the death.
Jhantu – a commando with the 6 Para Forces – died in an encounter with terrorists in J&K’s Udhampur on Thursday, two days after the Pahalgam carnage in which Pakistan-backed terrorists killed 26 people, 25 of them tourists. On Saturday, Jhantu’s elder brother, Rafiqul, a subedar in an artillery reg-iment also posted in Kashmir, led the procession that carried Jhantu’s coffin to the burial ground in Tehatta’s Patharghata village.
“My brother died in the line of duty while trying to neutralise the terrorists who butchered innocent tourists. I will avenge his death,” Rafiqul – wearing his Army uniform – said, as hundreds of Muslim and Hindu villagers from Patharghata and beyond heard him in silence.
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Villagers wave National Flag, pay last respects
The Indian Army is above all caste and creed. Can anyone say who is Hindu or who is Muslim in the Army? The Indian Army is a place where soldiers from different faiths eat from the same plate; their food is cooked in the same utensil. Come to the Army if you want to see real brotherhood,” Rafiqul said.
My brother is no more and no one can compensate the loss suffered by his family and children. I am proud that my brother sacrificed his life for the country. You have heard about terrorists identifying Hindus and then killing them. A 10-member team, including my brother, followed intelligence inputs to go to the Dudu-Basantgarh area in Udhampur to eliminate the same terrorists,” he told the villagers. Jhantu served in the Indian Army for 14 years.
Hundreds of villagers, waving the Tricolour, lined the route from Jhantu and Rafiqul’s home to the burial ground and expressed outrage at the Pahalgam massacre. A military vehicle – decked with Jhantu’s photographs, flowers and wreaths – rolled into Patharghata at 8 a.m. bearing Jhantu’s National Flag-draped coffin.
