Tag Archives: Salma Shafeeq Ghori

The story of an Indian hero who laid down his life for the country

Mysuru, KARNATAKA :

This July, Salma Shafeeq Ghori completes 15 years without her husband Major Shafeeq Khan Ghori. It was her son’s first day at school. She had been visiting family and they had just come back home when a group of Army men knocked on the door. They had been trying to reach her the whole day with the news.
The first two days, they said his condition was critical. “It was a shock for my father-in-law and my little one who did not understand what was happening around him. Nobody wanted to believe it was him and finally after two days of wait and agony, he was brought home for a final farewell with due military honours,” Salma recollects.
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The story of a brave heart
It took their son three years to understand what happened on his first day at school. His questions about his father’s return finally stopped and he accepted that he was truly gone. He stopped asking his mother – why don’t we visit him and why can’t we call him? Tell him to visit me in my dreams, I want to see him.
Relatives had often told Major Shafeeq – what you have done is enough. It is time to leave the fighting and stay with your family. He would respond with twinkling eyes, that he could die walking on the road too. At least working at the Army would give him a death he could be proud of. He hadn’t joined so he could leave.
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On a more serious note, he would prepare his family members. “Live life always as though I am with you and the kids. Never deprive them of anything just because I am not there. I’ll be back soon,” That’s how life continues now, as though he is still a part of us,” Salma reminisces.
Major Shafeeq, 40, was killed in action in Operation Rakshak. He succumbed to a bullet fighting militants. His last act was saving a fellow-soldier’s life from the bullets. His field tenure was to end in another two years and he was to spend the next few years with his family in a peaceful location. He was a keen sportsperson, good at football and cricket, but his favourite pastime was singing.
“I miss daily life with him, our conversations, our travels together, the ferocious way he defended what he believed in, his love, and bringing up our children. He was a hero with a mighty heart,” Salma relates.
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Putting together the pieces
Salma and Shafeeq had a happy life together for 10 years, till 2001. With two beautiful children, Salma says that she didn’t know what sorrow was. The children grew up and got busy with school, but she felt a void that nothing could fill. This changed when she made friends with Subhashini Vasanth, who ran the Vasanthratna Foundation for Arts.
Vasanthratna Foundation helps the families of Army martyrs heal through arts and vocational activities. “While looking after the families of martyrs, understanding their sorrow and pain, I realised that I was not the only one who was suffering. So many of them had it much worse than me. Spending time with these women and empathising with them has helped me overcome my own pain,” says Salma.
Many more families need peace and healing
Hundreds of soldiers in the Army die every year, leaving behind their families. Many families lose their only support and need help carrying on. Vasanthratna Foundation helps such families, giving them vocational training, counselling and support to carry on and be brave.
Donate to help the foundation support vocational training for 30 Army widows here.
source: http://www.milaap.org / Milaap / Home / August 2016

Remembering sacrifice of those killed in line of duty

Mysuru, KARNATAKA :

Eight families of Army personnel to be felicitated

District administration to do the honours during the official Republic Day function

VeKare Ex-Servicemen Trust’s president says it is for the first time war widows will be honoured

Mysore:

On Republic Day, the district administration will honour the family members of the armed forces personnel who laid down their lives while defending the country.

M.N. Subramani, president of the city-based VeKare Ex-Servicemen Trust, who first mooted the idea of felicitating ex-servicemen and remember the personnel who were killed in the line of duty by honouring their family members, said that this is for the first time that war widows were being honoured by the district authorities during Republic Day celebrations. “Of those who are being honoured, five are war widows and three are mothers of unmarried soldiers who laid down their lives for the sake of the country”, said Mr. Subramani.

Dakshayani, Nirupa Madappa, Salma Shafeeq, Sarala, Jyothi Bai, Yallammal, Lakshmi and Saroja will receive the felicitation on the occasion.

Dr. Dakshayani, a resident of Vijayanagar II Stage, is the wife of Lt.Col. N.S. Yogesh of 6 Rashtriya Rifles. He was killed in an army operation against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir on May 11, 1996. On receiving specific information about the presence of two terrorists, Yogesh immediately led his men and cordoned off the village. When the house in which terrorists had taken shelter was being cordoned off two terrorists rushed out and fired indiscriminately. In the encounter that followed Lt.Col. Yogesh sustained a bullet wound in the abdomen. Disregarding the bleeding injury he followed the second militant and in the firing that followed, the militant was injured but Lt.Col. Yogesh succumbed to his injuries. The Government recognised his contribution by way of conferring him gallantry medal posthumously.

Nirupa Madappa, a resident of Ramakrishna Nagar, is the wife of late Major Ganesh Madappa of 36 Rashtriya Rifles. Maj. Ganesh Madappa was directed to carry out a raid on a suspected militants’ hideout at Bachchru village in Badgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on September, 27, 1995. Major Ganesh Madappa immediately had the house cordoned off and he rushed to block the exit. Shocked militants rushed out and started firing in desperation. Maj. Ganesh Madappa boldly engaged the militants at a close range. As a result, he suffered bullet injuries. Yet, he charged at the militants killing one of them before collapsing. He later succumbed to his injuries and was awarded the Shaurya Chakra posthumously.

Salma Shafeeq is the wife of late Major Shafeeq Mahmood Khan Ghori. Maj. Shafeeq Mahmood Khan Ghori (Artillery) died on July 1, 2001 while fighting terrorists in Boban Watsar forests of Jammu and Kashmir. Major Shafeeq Mahmood Khan Ghori was posthumously awarded the Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation for his meritorious service.

Sarala, wife of late Sepoy Naik Kiran Kumar, will also be honoured on Tuesday by the district authorities. Her husband laid down his life fighting terrorists in Kashmir on January 9, 2008.

Jyothi Bai is the wife of Sepoy Sakriya Naika who was killed by terrorists on May 13, 2003 in Kashmir.

Yallammal is the mother of late Sepoy S. Vasu. Sepoy Vasu laid down his life on July 1, 1990 while fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir during Operation Rakshak.

Lakshmi is the mother of late Sepoy Hema Chandu. Her son died fighting terrorists at Surankot in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on August 26, 2001.

Saroja’s son Sepoy A.P. Prashanth died on December 31, 2003 fighting terrorists in Kashmir during ‘Operation Rakshak II’.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / January 25th, 2010