Bureaucrat-turned-politician and chief of Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement (JKPM) Shah Faesal took to Twitter to say that he would be celebrating his 36th birthday and it is something that most Kashmiri youth do not get to see. The tweet got a befitting reply from Meghana Girish - the mother of a martyr who lost his life, while saving the lives of many in Kashmir.

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Meghana Girish, mother of Major Akshay Girish Kumar, who was martyred in Nagrota on November 30, 2016, has hit back at Shah Faesal requesting him to contribute to spreading peace and patriotism if he can, while reminding him that her son was way younger when he lost his life.

Her tweet read, “My son was way younger than you and many of our soldiers much younger than him. They gave their lives to protect our citizens in J&K. Contribute to spreading peace and patriotism if you can. Happy birthday. Stay blessed.”

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Major Akshay Girish Kumar was martyred in Nagrota, Jammu after terrorists, disguised in police uniforms, attacked an army unit three kilometres away from the corps headquarters. He was an officer in the 51 Engineer Regiment.

On that day, Major Girish led a quick reaction team (QRT) at about 6.15 am to fight off three heavily-armed terrorists who had managed to sneak into the officer’s residential quarters by killing four soldiers at the entry gate. The families, which included children, were at risk.

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Major Akshay, who was with the 51 Engineer Regiment of Bengal Sappers since 2003, came from a long line of army men. His father retired as a wing commander while his grandfather retired as a colonel from the Indian Army.

Earlier Meghana Girish had raised the fact that the Army was naming her son under the “Mention in Despatches (MID)” category, as opposed to awarding him the Shaurya Chakra — as recommended by his commanding officer for his “gallant action”.

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The Shaurya Chakra is the Army’s third highest peacetime decoration while a MID is just an official report mentioning a soldier’s gallant action in an attack.