Irfan Ramzan Sheikh, a Class 10 student, was at the centre of a rare occasion at the Rashtrapati Bhavan — as the first Kashmiri teenager to receive the Shaurya Chakra, the peacetime gallantry award in 2019, for fighting terrorists who attacked his residence in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to The Indian Express after the function, Irfan said: “I came to know only recently that I have been selected for this award. Today, the President and all the others present at the function appreciated me.”

The award citation read, “During the intervening night of October 16/17, 2017, some local militants of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit cordoned off the house of Mohd Ramazan Sheikh, S/o of Ab Ahad Sheikh, a political activist and was acting as “Halqa President PDP” for quite a long period of time. After lying cordon around the house, a few militants knocked the door of said PDP worker.  Shri Irfan Ramzan Sheikh, elder son of the PDP worker, aged about 14 years opened the door.  He found three militants in the Verandah of the house holding AK series rifles and wearing pouches carrying magazines and grenades. These militants questioned him about the whereabouts of his father and also asked him for the key of the vehicle lying in the compound of PDP worker.  Sensing that the militants could harm his family particularly, his father, he exhibited highest degree of courage and faced the militants for some time to dodge them so as to avoid their entry inside the house.” 

“In the meantime, his father namely Mohd Ramazan Sheikh came out from the house and as the militants sighted him, they pounced upn the PDP workers resulting in scuffle between him and the militants. Shri Irfan Ramzan Sheikh knowing that the militant could cause damage to any extent, did not think for a moment for his personal safety and pounced upon the militants while exhibiting highest degree of bravery and used his full muscle power to overpower the militants for safeguarding the life of his father and other family members.  The militants resorted to indiscriminate firing resulting in severe bullet wounds to Mohammed Ramzan Sheikh. On seeing the father in a pool of blood, Shri Irfan Ramzan Sheikh did not lose courage and continued to engage one of the militants in scuffle who resorted to indiscriminate firing upon his father resulting in severe injuries to the militant as well who later also succumbed to his injuries and identified as Showkat Ahmad Kumar S/o Ab. Ahad Kumar.”

“The militants, on seeing that one of their associates also got injured, tried to flee away from the spot. However, Irfan Ramzan Sheikh chased them and they left the body of their associate militant.  While covering some distance in chasing the militants, Shri Irfan Ramzan Sheikh got a sense that his father is seriously injured and needs medical attention, he immediately returned back and with the help of other family members, shifted their injured father to hospital where he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries and passed away.

On the next day, some people from village and from adjoining areas accompanied by few militants marched towards the house of slain PDP worker and torched his house. Shri Irfan Ramzan Sheikh exhibited the extraordinary show of bravery and maturity exhibited in such a small age.”

Irfan is the eldest of four siblings, and his mother is now employed with the J&K government. Since the protesters from neighbouring villages set fire to Irfan’s house in Imam Sahib Shopian, a volatile area in south Kashmir, the family has since moved out. Soon after receiving the Award, the 16-year-old disappeared into hiding, in a house where the family has been living in fear of reprisal from the jihadists.  Shri Irfan Ramzan Sheikh, now studying XI Std., aspires to join the police force.

It was sheer grit and determination displayed by Havildar (Hav) Hangpan Dada, who killed four intruding terrorists before laying down his life at the height of 13,000 feet in the harsh and icy Himalayan range of North Kashmir

Hav  Hangpan Dada, fondly called by his comrades as Dada, was born on  2nd October of 1979 in Borduria village in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh.  Hav Dada was a keen sportsman and used to run several kilometers and do 25-30 push-ups every day even as a child.  Hav Dada joined the Army and was recruited to the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment on 28 October 1997. Six years later, he then went on to serve with the Assam Regimental Center and joined the 4th Battalion of the Assam Regiment on 24 Jan 2008.

A few years later in 2016, Hav Dada then volunteered to serve with the 35 Rashtriya Rifles engaged in anti-insurgency operations in J & K. A devout Christian, was fond of keeping snakes as pets and had to be evacuated by a helicopter once after he was bitten by one of them. Hav Dada was a soldier par excellence and was equally liked by his peers as well as seniors.

During May 2016, Hav Dada’s unit, 35 RR was deployed in the Naugam sector in J& K. On 25 May 2016, his unit had received information from intelligence sources about the presence of terrorists in the Naugam sector. A decision was taken to launch a search and destroy operation in the night to flush out the terrorists. On the night of 25 May, Hav Dada along with his other comrades led a charge on the hiding terrorists as per the planned operation. After reaching the suspected area, Hav Dada along with his team spotted the movement of terrorists and launched a well-coordinated attack on them. A fierce gun-battle ensued that went on for over 24 hours. Hav Dada killed two terrorists on the spot in a swift a daring action. On seeing this, the other two terrorists fled and hid behind some boulders. Spotting two terrorists who had hidden behind boulders, Hav Dada lunged at one of them. The two were locked in hand-to-hand combat, slipping and sliding down the hill, till Hav Dada finally neutralized him.

However, the fourth terrorist then sprayed bullets into him. Ignoring his grievous wounds, Hav Dada pinned down the shooter and severely injured him. The terrorist was eventually killed but Hav Dada succumbed to his injuries and was martyred.  Hav Dada killed three terrorists in the operation single-handedly and his action led to the elimination of the fourth terrorist. Hav Dada’s action of eliminating three terrorists in an engagement at close quarters and injuring a fourth one, in disregard to his personal safety, foiled the infiltration bid and ensured the safety of his comrades.

Hav Hangpan Dada is survived by his wife Smt Chasen Lowang Dada, daughter Roukhin, and son Senwang. For the supreme sacrifice made by him while discharging his duties and for displaying raw courage, unflinching grit combined with presence of mind with utter disregard to his personal safety, though bleeding profusely, was conferred the “Ashoka Chakra” posthumously, on the eve of the Independence Day in 2016. The 7-year-old son of martyred Havildar Hangpan Dada – whose wife received Ashok Chakra from President also wants to join army. Hangpan Dada was honoured by the Arunachal Pradesh State Govt with its highest civilian award, Arunachal Ratna, during 2018 Statehood Day celebration. The State Government had also renamed the football and volleyball tournaments for CM’s Trophy as Hangpan Dada Memorial Trophy. Dada’s heroics have been documented in an official documentary released by Indian Army.