Major Sushil Aima
‘HAIL, YE INDOMITABLE HEROES, HAIL !’
By Shyam
Kaul (Safapuri)
In mid-eighties, when young Sushil Aima, a 12th
class student,
sought admission to the
National
Defence
Academy, he did not inform his parents
or any other member of the family. He feared
that with the exclusive artistic background of
the Aima family, nobody would approve of it.
But after he was selected in 1985, Sushil
reluctantly went to his father and gave him the
news, fearing that the answer would be a firm
‘No’. But that did not happen. His father,
Makhanlal Aima, an insurance officer, did not
get angry, but he did appear visibly surprised.
‘Papa’, Sushil told him, “joining the army has
been my dream and today my dream has come true.
I assure you I will not disappoint you. I will
make a good soldier”.
Major Sushil came from a gifted family of
Srinagar. His uncle, late Mohanlal Aima, was
among the moving spirits of the post-1947
revival of Kashmiri music. He lifted the
Kashmiri “chhakri” from its plebeian moorings
and gave it popularity and respectability among
the high-born Kashmiris. Through the medium of
newly established radio station in Srinagar, he
was instrumental in bringing out the “sufiana”
music from the “diwankhanas” of the elite and
taking it to the homes of common people.
Omkar Aima, another uncle of Sushil, was a stage
personality before he moved on to
Bombay
films, starting with the lead role in first-ever
Kashmiri feature film, ‘Mainzraat’.
Satish Kaul, a cousin of Sushil, carved a place
for himself, both in Hindi and Punjabi films.
Another cousin, Alok Aima, has made a name in
Hindi and English theatre in
Dubai.
Sushil was commissioned in the army in 1988, as
the years rolled by, he grew into a fine
soldier, and, when the moment of ultimate
challenge came, he touched the pinnacle of
valour, which any soldier anywhere in the world
would be proud of. In his brief career he earned
the praise of his superiors for his bravery,
initiative and leadership qualities, especially,
during his stint in Doda district in
Jammu and Kashmir,
one of the worst militancy-affected areas.
In 1997, Sushil was given the rank of a Major.
In 1999, when he was 32, with a promising future
ahead of him, he was martyred in Poonch sector
of Jammu and Kashmir, defending his motherland.
He fought valiantly till his last breath against
the Pakistani intruders, and joined the select
ranks of the martyrs of the great Indian army.
In his death, in the prime of his youth, Major
Aima covered himself with glory, and brought
honour to his family, his people and his
country. For a country, no glory can be greater
and nobler than that brought by its soldier sons
who lay down their lives while defending the
honour of their motherland. Sushil Aima
immortalised himself as one such soldier son of
India.
The first day of August ’99 was hot and humid.
Makhanlal Aima and his family were home at Palam
Vihar (Haryana), trying to ward off the
oppression of the sultry weather. But they were
also eagerly awaiting the arrival of Sushil, who
was to join the family to celebrate his fifth
wedding anniversary, the next day, August 2.
But Major Sushil did not arrive. He never did.
Instead came a stupefying shock, a message from
the army, that he was no more. He had been
killed in an encounter with Pakistan-backed
mercenary terrorists in Poonch, where he was
posted, on the eve of his wedding anniversary.
Late at night, when Major Sushil was resting
after having made preparations for his departure
for
Delhi
next morning, news was brought to him that a
large group of foreign mercenaries had assembled
on a nearby hill. It was learnt that the group
had plans to attack a village in the vicinity,
largely inhabited by members of one particular
community.
A hurried conference was held. It was decided to
go into action, surround the terrorists, and
then launch a full-blooded attack, to be led by
Maj Sushil. The young officer and his jawans
soon made contact with the enemy and a fierce
encounter followed. It lasted for seven hours,
and ended up with a hand-to-hand fight, with
heavy losses among the intruders. Two terrorists
fell to the bullets of Major Shushil, but in the
later stage of the encounter, he was fatally
wounded when a bullet hit him in his left
temple. Holding the revolver in his left hand,
he also 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 was then that Major Sushil’s end
came.
When the body of the deceased hero was brought
to his home at Palam Vihar, hundreds 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.
Makhanlal Aima, holding in his arms his
nine-month old grandson, Sidharth, was a picture
of restraint and dignity. His friends, crowded
round him with words of sympathy and
consolation. In a choked voice he told them, “it
is an irreparable loss to all of us, and a
perpetual agony for the two small kids and their
young mother. But I also think of scores of
other parents and relatives, who, like us, have
been receiving the dead bodies of their soldier
sons from the battlefront. I don’t consider it
as mere death. It is martyrdom. A moment of
pride and honour for all of us.”
Later when Major Sushil’s body was taken for its
last rites, Palam Vihar was transofmred into a
sea of people. Thousands of them lined the road,
among them school children too, whose schools
had been closed for the day. Businessmen closed
their establishments and shops to join the
funeral procession. From ministers of Haryana,
led by Revenue Minister, Kailash Sharma, to the
local sarpanch, Ranjit Singh, there was hardly a
civil or army dignitary, who was not there to
bid farewell to Major Sushil Aima. His officers
and colleagues in the army were there in full
strength.
It was a spontaneous gush of sorrow. It
overwhelmed the Aima family. Omkar Aima could
contain himself no more. With tears trickling
down his cheeks he thought of the dark days, a
decade ago, when the eruption of terrorism in
Kashmir, had driven out the entire Pandit
community from the Valley. At that time no
fleeing Pandit knew where he would find safe
refuge. Everyone of them wondered whether he
would be owned anywhere and whether he would
belong anywhere.
Walking alongside the cortege of his nephew,
Omkar felt Major Aima was the son of
India
and the exiled Pandit community belonged to the
whole of India, and every nook and corner of the
country was its home.
Held by his grandfather in his arms, little
Sidharth was made to light the pyre of his
father, who had been described as the “bravest
of brave” by a senior officer of his, Maj Gen A
Mukherji. Who knows what dreams Major Aima had
dreamed for his little son and four-year
daughter, Ridhi. But one can be sure that he
died with the confidence that a grateful nation,
he left behind, would give them a happy
childhood and a secure future.
A few days later a special function was held at
Rohtak where Haryana Chief Minister, OP Chautala,
handed over a cheque of Rs 10 lakhs to Archana
Aima, widow of Maj Sushil. The hearts of Omkar
and Makhanlal Aima, who were present, brimmed
with gratitude for the people of Haryana, Maj
Sushil’s adopted state. But a gnawing feeling
rankled deep down in their hearts. Sushil was
born and brought up in
Kashmir,
and he was martyred on the soil of
Kashmir. And yet, the chief minister of
Jammu and Kashmir,
Farooq Abdullah, did not have a word of sympathy
or condolence to convey to the bereaved Aima
family.
Sushil has gone to eternal sleep, as did many
brave soldier sons of this country during the
summer of 1999, after shedding the last drop of
their blood for the honour and integrity of
their motherland.
On Fame’s eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn ground,
The bivouac of the dead
Source: Kashmir
Sentinel
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