New Delhi, Aug 01: Scores of Kashmiri Pandits paid rich tributes to the illustrious son of Kashmir, Major Sushil Aima, at his memorial in Haryana for his supreme sacrifice.
Among others Ashok Bhan, noted Supreme Court Senior Lawyer and a prominent Kashmiri leader, Kashmir peace lovers (KPL) coordinator :Ajay Pandita, Dr Anil Vaisnavi President Gurgoan Kashmiri Association, All India Kashmiri Samaj :Vice President Rohit Dhar, and academicians, civil society activists, artists and veterans paid glowing tributes to Major Aima.
It was On 01 Aug 1999, night, when Major Sushil was making preparations for his departure for Delhi next morning, his unit was given a task to blunt a possible attack by a large group of Pakistani terrorists and foreign mercenaries assembled on a nearby hill. The credible intelligence confirmed that this group had plans to attack a village in the vicinity in Poonch district, largely inhabited by members of one particular community.
Maj Sushil assessed situation and planned an operation. Under his leadership the army unit 17 RR -cordoned off the area and launched an all-out attack. Maj Sushil and his troops engaged in a fierce encounter that lasted for over seven hours, and ended up with a hand-to-hand fight, with heavy losses on the intruders. Two terrorists fell to the bullets of Major Sushil, but in the later stage of the encounter, he was fatally wounded when a bullet hit him in his left temple. However, in a rare display of raw courage, holding the revolver in his left hand, Maj Sushil shot dead the third terrorist who had fired the fatal shot at him. Then he provided cover to a colleague, who had been grievously injured in a grenade blast and helped him crawl to safety.
It took five militants to pin him down after a 15-minute hand-to-hand close quarter combat in which he managed to kill three militants. In this operation, Major Aima and his commandos killed a total of five hardcore Pak militants and recovered four AK rifles, five bag fulls of IED and explosives with a large quantity of ammunition. Thus, Maj Sushil at the age 32, with a promising future ahead of him, was martyred, defending his motherland and country’s constitutional dharma.
Major Aima fought valiantly till his last breath against the Pakistani intruders and joined the select ranks of the martyrs of the great Indian army. When the body of the deceased hero was brought to his house at Palam Vihar in Delhi, thousands of people had gathered there to be with the bereaved family in its hour of grief. They stood there, men and women, in silent sorrow. Not many had seen or known the young army officer, but here was India, paying its homage, to a martyred son of India.
Maj Sushil Aima was given the nation’s second highest peacetime gallantry award, “Kirti Chakra” for his exceptional courage, leadership and supreme sacrifice. Maj Sushil Aima is survived by his wife Smt Archana Aima, daughter Ridhi, son Siddharth.
