The time when Haryana was burning due to Jat agitation, Captain Pawan Kumar was leading his troops against terrorists far away at Pampore in Jammu & Kashmir. A Graduate from JNU and a Jat from Haryana, neither reservation was on his mind and he definitely wasn’t bothered about sedition question. Capt. Pawan Kumar only wanted to do the best he could to fight off terrorists at Pampore. In fact, his last facebook post summed up what is going on through the mind of young people who wanted to see their country rise above petty issues and nonsensical slandering of what being an Indian meant to them. In his last Facebook post, Pawan said, “Kisiko reservation chahiye to kisiki ko azadi, Bhai. Humein kutch nahin chahiye bhai, Bas apni razai. (Some want reservation and some want independence. I do not want anything, except my blanket).”
22 year old Captain Pawan Kumar who hails from Jind, Haryana was commanding the 10 para regiment in a very thorny operation. A tall 7 storey government building with many rooms had been taken over by terrorists. Lt General Satish Dua, the General Officer Commanding the Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps, said “Captain Pawan Kumar of 10 Paras attained martyrdom leading his men from the front in a tricky deliberate operation at EDI government building with the possibility of some more civilians trapped not ruled out. Safety of civilians paramount who made the supreme sacrifice while fighting valiantly with the militants in the encounter.” Captain Pawan Kumar graduated from National Defense Academy at a very young age and had been in the army for three years. Under a tie up that the academy has with JNU, he received a degree from the very prestigious university.
The current skirmish in which Captain Pawan laid his life wasn’t his first. He had earlier been injured in an anti-terrorist operation but wanted to fight again. Army declared him as an ‘inspiring leader. Captain’s facebook account gives a glimpse into the life of a typical army officer. He liked his motorbikes and jeeps. He also had a dog Tyson with whom he posted a picture an year ago. The Wreath laying ceremony of Captain Pawan Kumar was held at Pathankot. His colleagues in the army said that he was a very brave and intrepid officer. He barely had 3 years of experience in the army but had matured beyond years. Even though Captain Pawan is no more with us but he laid his life at a time protecting all those people who at one place were protesting to be categorized as backward and at one place people were terming young students as seditious.
The Logical Indian community prays for the braveheart’s family and hopes his martyrdom was a lesson for all to think about their country first. It is the youth who will make this country. Just like the old establishment and ideology is always threatened by the progress we should take a lesson from Captain’s life. He broke all the perception we make in seconds: Many wanted to shut down JNU and branded the whole institution as anti-national but he is the one who is from JNU and is fighting for the country. Jats wanted reservation by their own volition. He was a jat who wanted none of it and was only concerned about his country’s security, an idea he held dear and his duty he performed without a qualm.
