KnowYourHeroes
12/06/2021
"When angels have fallen down and the devil has had his day, you'll find the gates of heaven guarded by a single maroon beret." To be standing among the elites, it takes much more than mere grit and gut, one needs a bullish attitude, so when you get kicked, you rise, rise up to deliver the knockout, indubitably a trait seeded in 9 PARA SF officer Captain Tushar Mahajan. Born in a family of academicians, the wayward child was barely out of his cradle when he started fantasizing to set his foot in the "Fauj". Growing up, the zeal to put on the 'olive green' only soared and raised eyebrows in the family, he was leaping towards a milepost, his parents never agreed to. Infracting his parents desire, he pursued his passion, nurturing his dream to be a soldier, Tushar made his way into National Defence Academy and subsequently in Indian Military Academy. Commissioned into famed Parachute Regiment, Lt Tushar Mahajan was living the moment he always dreamt of. 6 feet tall, robust with looks of Hercules and nerves of steel, the PARA officer walked in the combat boots as if he owned the world. A boy hailing from small town of Udhampur had everyone spellbound with his courage and charisma, but as they say 'all good thing must come to an end', the story of Captain Mahajan too is short-lived but it has every essence of a soldier who wore his heart on sleeves.
On Feb 20, 2016, a group of militants ambushed a convoy of CRPF when the Jawans of the paramilitary force was returning from a search operation, the attack took place on the Jammu-Srinagar highway near Pampore. A total of 2 CRPF Jawans and 1 civilian were killed while 9 CRPF men were critically wounded in the assault, fearing retaliation from Army, the terrorists took refuge in the nearby multi-storey EDI (Entrepreneurship Development Institute) building. The security forces in haste evacuated more than 100 people while men from PARA SF were chosen to flush out the militants, the assault team of 9 PARA was spearheaded by Captain Tushar Mahajan. The heavily armed airborne commandos stormed into the building and after 48 hours of fierce gun battle eliminated all the terrorists, but during this daredevilry, Captain Tushar bit 4 bullets and breathe his last in 92 Base Hospital. The airborne soldier lived up to the adage of his regiment; "शत्रुजीत". Before being let into the hospital, he had managed to gunshot a number of militants. Tushar's mother who would always be worried about her child's well-being, finally bid a farewell to her beloved son with tears in her eyes but ardour of pride in her heart. Captain Tushar Mahajan was honoured with 'Shaurya Chakra' for his unyielding fighting spirit and gallant efforts.
Born on April 20, 1989 to a notable educationist Shri Dev Raj Gupta and Shrimati Asha Rani, Tushar was the youngest of the two siblings. Being the 'little-one' in the Gupta family, he was fondly nicknamed "Chhotu" as per customs of a middle-class household. Tushar was the blue-eyed boy for his Maa so he would always get away with all the misdeeds and 'masti', his elder brother Nikhil would always chivvy to mom about how she's spoiling Tushar. But come what may, the notorious boy along with his big circle of friends kept herding trouble round the clock, he was crazy for cricket, the broken glass panes in the streets around his home are the witnessee of his 'fours and sixes'.
Apart from the inane nature, Tushar had a glimmer which kept everyone in awe. He was imbued with the emotions of 'Deshbhakti' and love for the Army. He was not even three when he began envisioning himself as an Army officer. "Tushar ko bachpan se hi Army ka bada shouk tha. Ye usike undar se aaya hoga. Teen saal ka tha aur kahta tha mein Army officer banoonga," said Tushar's father who is now a retired principal in Udhampur. Tushar studied from 'Little Flower Convent' up to grade 8 and then moved to 'Happy Model Secondary School' for completing his schooling. Be it school's annual function or a 'Natak' in the colony, Tushar would never shy away from expressing his 'Deshbhakti' and 'Rashtraprem'. "He was such a boy that when he was asked to write an essay in the class he wrote that his aim was to join the Army and kill terrorists. That was the time when his other classmates did not even know what terrorists or the army was," his classmate and childhood friend Sushant said. He was a very active child, an expert in Judo and Karate and unsurprisingly his idol was not a cricketer or a film-actor rather the great freedom fighter Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
Growing up, Tushar's zeal and eagerness to join the Indian Army kept growing 'fast as a bamboo' but his parents had different plans, they wanted him to pursue engineering alike his elder brother Nikhil but Tushar remained steadfast and continued to walk the same path. He himself filled up the form for UPSC's biannual NDA written exam and cleared the daunting SSB interview and medical test, seeing the passion he shared for the 'Fauj', his parents finally agreed to let him join 'The Academy' (as the ex-NDAs refer to their Alma-mater). "He always wanted to join the army and at the age of 16 he got selected for NDA. We never objected to it as it was his childhood dream to serve the nation." said Tushar's father.
July 2006, Tushar Mahajan finally stepped in the National Defence Academy, notably named as the 'Cradle of Leadership' as over the years NDA has produced finest of the officers and soldiers. After entering the academy, he firstly got allotted to the 'Alfa' (Apache) squadron and from that day it became his family for the three years of training in NDA, he ate, lived, adored the punishment and cherished the prize with the Apaches. Whether it was the cross-country or the boxing match, Tushar would give it all for the pride of his squadron. 'ALWAYS ABLE, ACTIVE AND ALERT' living up to the the epigram of his squadron, he was always beaming with josh, adored by seniors and emulated by juniors, he was a person who would always greet you with a smile.
July 14, 2009 after 44 days of passing out from the hallowed portals of the National Defence Academy, Tushar Mahajan along with 260 other Army cadets reported to the Indian Military Academy for the last stretch of the journey that young Tushar had been impatiently waiting for. Squadron had now changed to Company but the ethos remained the same, Gentleman Cadet Tushar Mahajan was assigned room no E-15 where he met his buddy Kshitij Mishra, who was from the 'India' squadron in NDA.
"As I got to know him more, my liking and regards for him kept on increasing manifolds. A very simple guy, to whom you could go asking for help any time and you won’t return disappointed. An excellent cross country runner, firer, sportsman and in academics too he was a genius. An all rounder in true sense you could say!!! We were exactly similar in terms of some habits and the most important out of those was laziness (in terms of who would get up first in the morning and wake the other one up. We even made a weekly schedule for the same but failed miserably to follow that and everyday would begin with 'Buddy tu jaa pehle, kal meri baari thi,' being the common dialogue by both of us). And if we were similar in some habits, we were totally opposite in some. He loved to flirt with dangers, that risk-taking capability of him in spite of knowing it would invite trouble was beyond my understandings. Whenever I would try and stop him he would just pat my back and say 'Buddy, life enjoy kar, aise dar dar ke jeene ke liye life bahut chhoti hai, chal tu bhi aaja……….bahut maza aega,' to which I would politely deny saying 'Nahi bhai tu hi kar'," recalls Kshitij Mishra
Time flies when you are having fun, it was June 2010, the time to say good-bye to their buddies and the IMA with a promise to meet at least once a year and to remain buddies forever. A night before the Passing out Parade, Tushar and other GCs were bubbling with mixed-range of emotions, there was bit of sadness for they won't get to see their buddies everyday but they were all on cloud nine, soon they would be taking their 'अंतिम पग' from IMA and enter into their military life. Tushar Mahajan had volunteered for the Special Forces where he was to undergo a three months of probation. "His volunteering for the Special Forces probation came as a great surprise for all of us, not because he wasn’t suited for it, but because in the complete one year of training he had never mentioned about this desire of his." said Kshitij Mishra who opted for Engineering branch in the Army.
After three months of hard, nerve-racking and taxing probation, Lt Tushar Mahajan was welcomed into the family of elite 9 PARA SF. Receiving the Balidan badge and the maroon beret, Tushar was over the moon, the journey had begun and from there onwards there was no looking back. Carrying out covert missions and counter-insurgency operations, Lt Mahajan was truly relishing the adventures of being a SF officer. He carried out many operation deep into the terrorist camps, he also volunteered for a mission where he disguised himself as a Mujahideen militant, the smash-hit story of which still remains in dark for public.
The Pampore attack
An attack on the CRPF convoy and subsequent gunfight with the SF commandos simply unfolds the truth, the Kashmir Valley held for years. It wasn't a regular cordon-and-hunt operation for the Indian Army as the local youths were trying to make a safe way for the militants who took refuge in a multi-storey building.
At about 3.45 pm, a convoy of CRPF Jawans was returning from a search operation via the Jammu-Srinagar Highway when two 'Pheran'(Kashmiri gown) clad Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists opened fire at the convoy, In the initial encounter two paramilitary men; Driver-Constable Rana, Havildar Bola Ram, and a civilian Abdul Gani Mir, were killed, and nine CRPF personnel were critically wounded. The attack took place in Pampore, a town in Kashmir famous for Saffron but over the years turned into a 'job-site' for terrorists. Praveen Kumar, an injured constable receiving treatment in hospital, said, ‘We were coming back from operation, I saw two ‘Pheran’ clad boys on the highway, as soon as our bus reached near them, they fired on us. A bullet hit our Havildar injuring him seriously, driver too was hit. We retaliated, but after that we don’t know what happened’.
The terrorists seemed to be on a "fidayeen"(suicide) mission, instead of running away to a safe shelter, they barged into a nearby government funded multi-storey Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) building that accommodated more than 120 people at that moment. A large number of students and faculty members were trapped inside, at that moment safety of the public was the top-priority hence Indian Army decided to rope in the commandos from Special Forces to annihilate the terrorists. Meanwhile the local security forces and the CRPF Jawans started to safely evacuate the civilians from the adjoining premises.
The mission was very complex as the building itself was a hinderance in the way to eliminate the militants, there were more than a dozen of room in the building and the number of terrorists hiding weren't clear either. Going inside the building was not a feasible option as the militants could be hidden anywhere. Hence a cordon around the premises was laid so that they can't escape from the building and the small gun fight began between the SF men and the infiltrators.
The full-fledged mission began with the arrival of the 10 PARA SF team which was led under the leadership of Captain Pawan Kumar. Captain Kumar was destined to lead the mission once he refused to take a leave after an injury in an encounter in Pulwama. In a haste, Captain Kumar and his men evacuated the civilians from the building and in wee hours on Feb 21, he decided to enter the building. Lt Gen Satish Dua (GOC-in-C Chinar Corps)(retd) praising the exceptional efforts of Captain Pawan Kumar said, "He had voluntarily taken upon himself to lead his men into this most difficult phase of the operation." Captain Pawan Kumar stormed into the EDI building from the front entry and thus drew a heavy rounds of fire from the militants, in this daring act Captain Kumar suffered serious bullet injuries and later succumbed in the Base Hospital but his efforts made sure that the location of terrorists was fixed and thence operation could be progressed. He was a true patriot and an exceptional leader, he was the first to enter the building, he led from the front, the gallant officer was honored with 'Shaurya Chakra' posthumously. In his last Facebook post, Captain Pawan Kumar wrote, "Kisi ko reservation chahiye to kisiko azadi bhai; humein kuch nhi chahiye bas apni razai...."
It was after Captain Kumar's martyrdom, Captain Tushar Mahajan along with the 9 PARA SF team were tasked to continue the utterly complicated mission. But even at this moment, it was unclear whether the terrorists had captivated civilians hence the question to blow down the building was totally out of equation. Indian Army upholding the highest of the professionalism wanted to make sure that every innocent civilian trapped inside the EDI building is rescued safely. Captain Tushar Mahajan along with the SF commandos entered the building once again. It has been time and again pointed out why we lose our finest of officers in the operations?, the answer lies in the grassroot training itself, the officers are meant to lead from the front, Indian Army's finest officers believe in the IMA credo of, 'The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.'
But the sad reality of Valley, time and again let down the men in uniform, when Captain Tushar Mahajan was leading the operation inside the EDI building, some politically motivated local youths tried to march towards the encounter site and make a safe way for the militants, however they were countered by the local security forces. "With an aim to save the militants, we were trying to move towards the encounter site but police fired pellets, teargas shells. They also fired in the air and prevented us from approaching the encounter site…My other friend also sustained pellet injuries in his face," he said, while showing pellet marks on his body. There were wood logs placed on the highway so security forces wouldn't reach on time. As per news reports, a day after the encounter, mosques in several localities played songs and recordings praising the terrorists.
Captain Mahajan quickly fixing the position of the perpetrators entailed them in a fierce gun-fight, the terrorists were heavily armed with automatic weapons and grenades, they were positioned on top floors with better view. Captain Tushar Mahajan drew a plan and dividing the team in two went ahead to eliminate the three terrorists. But during the heavy exchange of fire, Tushar got hit by 4 bullets, he was shifted to the 92 Base Hospital where he breathe his last. In the Pampore operation that lasted more than 48 hours, Captain Mahajan led 9 PARA SF team had managed to eliminate all the three Lashkar terrorists, the 9 PARA unit had lost Lance Naik Om Kumar and Captain Tushar Mahajan on the very same day.
Captain Tushar Mahajan's mortal remains were brought to his hometown Udhampur, the young son had left his parents while serving the nation. The mother who would always be worried about Tushar's health was now left in pain of a lifetime, she couldn't hold back her tears. While bidding the final farewell to her beloved son, she almost fainted. Recalling the whole incident, Tushar's father Dev Raj Gupta said, "I had no knowledge that Tushar was part of the ongoing operation in Pampore, but when I came to know about the martyrdom of Captain Pawan Kumar I was sad for the whole day. Though I have lost my son I am proud that he laid down his life for the nation, an honour which only a few can get" Tushar's elder brother who was working in US arrived three days later to support his bereaved parents. The gallant efforts of Captain Mahajan made sure that each and every militant was gunned down, for his exceptional leadership and nonpareil courage, Tushar was honored with 'Shaurya Chakra'.
“He was the hell of a guy…a thorough professional…..a great lover, an avid reader, a true patriot, an awesome junior and a fierce fighter….” described by his Senior.
"So Jayegi Lipatkar Tirange Ke Sath Almari Main, Ye Desh Bhakti Hai Sahab, Kuch Tareekho Par He Jagti Hai!"-Captain Tushar Mahajan's WhatsApp status as on Feb 21, 2016
He did not hold a mighty rank his name is yet obscure. But for us few who stood by him the memory endures.
He did not falter, but stood strong; nor gave in to his fear. And others took their confidence from knowing he was near.
He didn’t fight for riches, for glory, or for fame. He swore to serve the nation, and when they called, he came.
A Hero walked the field today but left it in a bag. They’ll send him homeward in a box, draped with our nation’s flag.
My Hero didn’t die to set another country free. He gave his life to save a friend. He died protecting me.
(Extracts from a poem written by Rikky Goblin as a tribute to his hero)
Sources: Honourpoint; Team Desh; findingnewmeaning-blog by Mrs Meghna Girish; rikky207.wordpress.com