Another martyr returns home

kanpur: a phone call on friday evening informing about the killing of major avinash bhadauria by terrorists in kashmir turned the birthday celebrations of his younger brother amit into a day of mourning at his kanpur house. the body of major avinash, the martyr will arrive in kanpur on saturday night. amit was eagerly waiting a phone call from his elder brother avinash on friday to wish him a `happy birthday'.major avinash, son of bahujan samaj party (bsp) leader ganga singh bhadauria had always been keen to join the army. his dream came true when he got selected for training in national defence academy, khadakwasla, pune in 1990. a grief stricken amit singh who is working in a multinational company in mumbai told this newspaper, "i have come home to celebrate my birthday with my family. we were all eagerly waiting a call from avinash bhaiya from doda, a village in jammu and kashmir. as soon as i heard a voice from army headquarters, i became very happy. i hoped that bhaiya would come on the line and wish me. however, in the next few seconds, my expectations were shattered when an army officer told me that avinash had been injured in a terrorist attack". after this message, amit somehow tried to control himself and hid this news from avinash's wife shalini. he told his father about the incident and planned to rush to kashmir. however, another phone call from army headquarters told him that major avinash had died due to gunshot injuries in an encounter with terrorists in doda district. hearing this, mother of avinash, mrs aruna singh and wife shalini fainted. the house was then enveloped with sounds of cries and sobbing. avinash completed his schooling in seth anandram jaipuria school and higher secondary from the central school in 1990, he took admission in ppn college in science discipline. luckily, he got selected in the nda the same year. he was then commissioned in 18-madras unit. keeping in view, his training profile, he was posted at hathigarh, a naxalite affected area in assam. later, he was posted to jamnagar, kutch near the indo-pak border in gujarat. having a good record, avinash was posted in `8 rashtriya rifles' in doda district of jammu. avinash was married to shalini in 1997 and has a two-year-old son dhruv. amit nigam, a fighter pilot and friend of avinash said, "i met avinash during the officers training in khadakwasla. he was an active and a bold man. he had a zest to end terrorism from the country". avinash had won the award `battalion cadet captain' during the course. nigam said avinash was liked by all the instructors during the training course. he always stood first in his courses and was very helpful. although nigam opted for the air force and avinash opted for the army, both remained good friends. nigam said, "i have lost my best friend, but i still cant' believe that he is no more". he recalled that avinash had told him on telephone that he would be going home to kanpur in october on the occasion of diwali.