india

Updated: Jun 17, 2019 15:10 IST

Shashikala had lost her brother several months ago, but when she got married a few days ago, she had 50 brothers giving her a unique bidayee from her parents’ home.

The colleagues of martyred Air Force Garud unit commando Jyoti Prakash Nirala, who was killed fighting extremists at Bandipora, Jammu & Kashmir, on November 18, 2017, attended the wedding of his sister and, in a unique gesture, they kneeled on the floor in two rows, hands on the floor, palms facing up, creating a path so that their ‘sister’ could walk to the bridegroom and exchange garlands.

Nirala had gunned down two extremists, Ubaid alias Osama, the nephew of Lashkar commander Lakhvi, and Mahmood Bhai. He died saving the lives of injured fellow commandos. For his sacrifice, he was given the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime military decoration for courageous action, on Republic Day, 2018. His mother Malti Devi and wife Sushma received the award from President Ram Nath Kovind.

The martyred commando was the only son among four children of marginal farmer Tej Narayan Singh of village Badiladih, in Karakat block of Rohtas district. Later, Singh fixed the marriage of his third daughter Shashikala and sent an invitation to the Air Chief Marshall and the Garud commando unit. It was a courtesy gesture on the father’s part.

What a surprise he got when about 50 commandos of the Garud unit reached Singh’s house two days before the wedding and took charge of all the arrangements. They contributed Rs 5 lakh for the wedding expenses, and participated as brothers in Lava Merava, Chhatra Dharayee, and other marriage rituals. The commandos belonged to different parts of the country, and the bride said that she felt her brothers had come from all across India.

The overwhelmed parents said, “We lost one son, but got 50 sons today. These sons filled us with love and respect and assured us that we are not alone and helpless. Today, the entire nation is with us. God bless you, my children.”

Bridegroom Sujit Kumar of Dehri, a loco pilot in Bengaluru, and his father Uma Shankar Yadav, also a railway employee, said that they felt honoured by this match with a martyr’s family.