hero Lt Col Niranjan ... appreciate the action of Kerala Government

This man is a real hero and easily the hero of Indian ‘Hurt locker’ – Hurt Locker released in 2008  is an American war film about a three-man Explosive Ordnance Disposal (bomb disposal) team during the Iraq War.  Before you read more – here is a reason to condemn and perhaps stop buying the Telegraph & heartily appreciate the Kerala Government.

Pathankot was  under siege.  All newspapers  reported on 1^st  page of the 4 militants killed.  One of the four infiltrators killed in the operation was shot dead as he was climbing over the 10 ft high concrete wall of the air base. Some of our army men sacrificed their lives in protecting the Nation.  Indian Express reported that strips of Ponstan painkiller tablets  found on the bodies of the four terrorists who were killed showed that they were made in Karachi. Syringes as well as vials of injectible Neurobion were also found.  

While some press reported it correctly – some journalists criticised  that only sketchy details were made available unlike the Mumbai.  This article in Telegraph, pains, makes one get madly angry too.

It reads :  Martyrs make myths. The converse could quite equally be true. When an individual joins the armed forces, he, almost by definition, puts his life at risk. A soldier or an army officer can actually die while doing his duty. But do all army personnel who die while doing their duty deserve to be treated like martyrs? The death of E.K. Niranjan, a lieutenant colonel in the Indian army, during the operation in Pathankot is a case in point. He is the only officer to have died in the operation. Niranjan was the head of the bomb squad, but during the combing operation to clear the area of explosives, he was not wearing a blast-shield uniform. He fell victim to a simple booby trap planted by the terrorists. Niranjan also chose not to use specialized equipment like remote-controlled robots to move a dead body. Owing to this act of bravado, or stupidity, he lost his own life and had five of the soldiers with him seriously injured. Yet the last rites of Niranjan were performed with full State honours, with thousands paying their respects to him. No one is asking the question: does he deserve to be honoured?

The question transgresses the customary injunction regarding not speaking ill of the dead. But the transgression is urgently required because it opens up a line of enquiry, seldom pursued, concerning the falling standards of discipline and security in the Indian army. The attack on the Pathankot air base exposes the lax security and the appalling state of alertness. The fact that a lieutenant colonel went into an operation without following the required safeguards shows that discipline and routine are not being followed. As a result, a life was lost and serious injuries took place. The army is, or should be, one of the institutions commanding the highest respect in the country. But the behaviour of its officers - their persistent pursuit of their own interests, their lapses in discipline, and even of integrity among some of them - is reducing the army to an object of ridicule. This can only spell danger for the nation. An officer like Niranjan should be taken to task even after his death, so that an example is set for others not to break discipline and risk lives. The impression gaining ground is that the entire defence top brass, from the defence minister downwards, is involved in an attempt to cover up the lapses. There is no better vehicle for that than the making of a martyr. 

Does that incense you ….. !!  - to my another article on Indian Army, a good friend, a very knowledgeable person had sent me this response of Brig AN Suryanarayanan (Retd.) who had seen action in 1965 and 1971 wars.  While the article in Telegraph is to be condemned, especially for the usage ‘stupidity’ – this response should be circulated to more and more of our friends.  Spare Military Casualties from Cynicism: Brigadier A.N Suryanarayanan's Response

How Niranjan died :- The soldiers had killed two terrorists in same spot and as a standard procedure the body has to be inspected thoroughly (even inserting probes in to their chest cavity and stomach) by the NSG explosive disposal squad, which is headed by Niranjan. Normally terrorists hide explosives in their body which is meant for inflicting further damage.

Nirajan approached the first body and cleared that of for handling as it did not have any hidden explosives. The solders dragged the second body a little towards Niranjan for him to inspect and clear. But the second body had a chest belt based explosives hidden, which gets triggered once the belt is disturbed. Niranjan quickly realized that it got activated and screamed the solders to take cover.  He then rolled over to the dead body, lifted the body in air and was trying to through it away. By then explosion got triggered and ruptured our national hero's both hands, chest cavity, one side of face and eye.

The reason why he was not wearing protective gear was that, it was a major combing operation by walk in a vast 1500 acres forest type land. The bomb disposal gears are so heavy with all that protective gears and non flexible. It is impossible for an NSG commando to have that put on in a live operation underway in a terrain like that. I saltute the fallen spirit and we all Indian say, you will live through us.... your every drop of blood will continue to flow through us... You, our immortal hero... we salute you !

We join the Brig and salute the real Hero Lt Col. Niranjan. A web search on Brigadier Suryanarayanan only led me to   Brigadier Dr C R Suryanarayan, a Chennaite;  one of the pioneers of radiation treatment in India, having started the first Radiation Medicine Centre in the Military Hospital at Delhi in 1957, as Chief Medical Officer.  For his contribution to the field of chemotherapy in cancer treatment, he was  given a lifetime achievement award by the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University.

Read this too :  The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to adopt the family of Lt. Col. E.K. Niranjan, the NSG commando who was killed in the Pathankot terror attack.  The State will pay a solatium of Rs. 50 lakh to the family. His wife, Radhika, will be given a government job and the entire education expenses of his daughter, Vismaya, would be borne by the government. The Cabinet took up the issue as the first item of the agenda, also decided to carry out renovation to the 10-km Kollengode-Elampilassery road leading to Niranjan’s house at a cost of Rs. 4 crore.  Making an announcement here soon after a Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Cabinet ratified the recommendation of Labour and Skills Development Minister Shibu Baby John to rename the Elampilassery government ITI as Lt. Col. Niranjan memorial government ITI.  Similarly, the stadium coming up as part of the Palakkad Medical College campus would be named after the commando.

Now, please do read the first para again !!!! Saluting the Nation’s bravest son

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

8^th Jan 2016.